Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Pennsylvania Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty in $8.2M Promissory Note Scam

May 1 2017 // An insurance agent pleaded guilty Thursday in a promissory note scam that bilked nearly 80 clients out of $8.2 million. John Hogan, 77, of Swissvale, Penn., entered his pleas to five counts of mail fraud in the scheme run...

M&A Review: Deal Activity Slows, Demand Remains Healthy

May 1 2017 // Deal count for the first quarter of 2017 was down relative to the first quarter of both 2015 and 2016. There were 102 announced transactions in the first quarter of 2017, compared to 124 in the first quarter of 2016 (a...

Commercial Auto – The Long Road to Profitability

May 1 2017 // The commercial auto market has a long road ahead to reach profitability after five consecutive years of underwriting losses from 2011-2015. While many insurers upped rates in 2016, the year appears to be coming in with...

Online Rideshare Insurance Offering Debut by CoverHound

May 1 2017 // CoverHound is getting into the rideshare insurance business. The online insurance comparison shopping platform has partnered with several large carriers to offer auto insurance quotes in 24 states for people who drive for...

Ohio Jury Says American Family Agents Are Employees; Insurer Disagrees

Apr 28 2017 // A federal jury in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 18 determined that thousands of agents with Madison, Wisconsin-based American Family Mutual Insurance (AmFam) are employees, not independent contractors. According to a news...

Michigan’s Meiers Lombardini Lemanski Agency Joins Keystone Insurers Group

Apr 28 2017 // The Meiers Lombardini Lemanski Agency of East Lansing, Michigan, has joined Keystone Insurers Group. The agency becomes Keystone’s seventh partner in the state. The agency, which was established in 1976, is co-owned...

tKg Hires Walker to P&C Eastern Division in Charlotte

Apr 28 2017 // Surplus lines wholesale brokerage tKg has hired Mark Walker to serve as vice president and broker in the company’s P&C Eastern division, based in Charlotte, N.C. Walker has more than 22 years of experience...

Arthur J. Gallagher Acquires Oklahoma’s Commercial Insurance Brokers

Apr 26 2017 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Commercial Insurance Brokers LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Formed in 2012, Commercial Insurance Brokers is a group of insurance producers...

Chubb’s Greenberg Clarifies Criticism of Wholesale Brokers

Apr 26 2017 // In the London and other wholesale insurance markets, the practice of some brokers bundling similar accounts into high-volume portfolios to be more efficient and attract underwriters while still expecting bigger brokerage...

Canada’s Economical Strengthens Executive Team, Realigns Operations

Apr 26 2017 // Waterloo, Ontario-based Economical Insurance announced two additions to its executive team. Fabian Richenberger will join the company as executive vice president, Commercial Insurance, and Kelley Irwin will join as senior...

Vertafore Acquires Analytics Firm RiskMatch

Apr 25 2017 // Insurance technology firm Vertafore said it has acquired RiskMatch, a Connecticut-based business intelligence and analytics company that provides portfolio management and placement services to insurance brokers and...

Motorists Mutual, BrickStreet Mutual Finalize Joint Venture

Apr 24 2017 // Ohio-based property/casualty insurer Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. and West Virginia-based workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. Inc., have been granted regulatory approvals to affiliate...

Breckenridge Insurance Services Welcomes Property Investor and Real Estate Owned Expert Thomas Elder, AU, ASLI to Team

Apr 24 2017 // Atlanta, GA, April 24, 2017 — Breckenridge Insurance Services announced insurance executive Thomas Elder, AU, ASLI, has joined the company as senior vice president/senior broker. Elder—a 17-year veteran of the...

Q&A With Florida Commissioner Altmaier, an Agent Turned Regulator

Apr 24 2017 // Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier is just about to complete his first full year in the position since taking over for Kevin McCarty last May, and there hasn’t been a dull moment since he took the...

Ford Joins Texas Agents Group as Continuous Improvement Director

Apr 20 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) announced that Angela Ford has joined IIAT as the director of continuous improvement. Ford has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, managing all...

CoverHound Launches Online Rideshare Insurance Offering

Apr 20 2017 // CoverHound is getting into the rideshare insurance business. The online insurance comparison shopping platform has partnered with several large carriers to offer auto insurance quotes in 24 states for people who drive for...

Specialty Brokers AmWINS and Partners Specialty Group to Merge

Apr 19 2017 // Specialty insurance brokerages AmWINS Group Inc. and Partners Specialty Group LLC have agreed to merge. Partners will become part of the AmWINS Brokerage Division, bringing an expanded geographic presence that complements...

Connecticut’s Business Risk Partners Hires Stein and Rathore

Apr 19 2017 // Specialty underwriter and program administrator Business Risk Partners (BRP), headquartered in Windsor, Conn., has added two new members to its Professional Liability (E&O) and Operations team. Jennifer Stein was named...

Big ‘I’ Advantage Promotes Pierson to Assistant Vice President

Apr 19 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”) Advantage unit has promoted Virginia “Ginny” Blake Pierson to assistant vice president. Pierson will lead the department’s...

Worldwide Broker Network Adds Members in Germany, Croatia

Apr 17 2017 // Worldwide Broker Network (WBN)* announced the addition of two members in Germany and Croatia, bringing the network of independent insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting firms to 109 in 101 countries. Based on...