Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Cameron M. Wilson & Associates Promotes Goldberg in Michigan

Feb 10 2015 // Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Cameron M. Wilson & Associates recently promoted Amanda Goldberg to director of marketing and communication. Goldberg’s duties will include maintaining existing and cultivating new...

Texas Insurance Wholesalers Wary of Retail Agent Association MGA

Feb 9 2015 // In mid-November 2014, Texas’ largest association of independent retail insurance agents took the unprecedented step of acquiring a managing general agency as a way of providing its members greater access to...

Brown & Brown Acquires Liberty Insurance Brokers in Philadelphia

Feb 9 2015 // Brown & Brown Inc. announced that its subsidiary Brown & Brown of Pennsylvania LP has acquired certain assets of Liberty Insurance Brokers Inc. and its related affiliate companies in Philadelphia. Terms of the...

Houston-Based Broker, J.H. Blades, Acquires Energy Rival Burke-Daniels

Feb 9 2015 // J.H. Blades & Co. Inc., an energy-focused managing general agent based in Houston, announced it has purchased wholesale broker Burke-Daniels Co. Inc., which also specializes in the oil and gas energy sector. Terms of...

Valuing Agencies Using Multiples of EBITDA

Feb 9 2015 // Multiples of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) has been used for various business valuations, investment decisions, and loan arrangements for many generations so there is nothing new...

Circle of Diversity Serving Nonprofits and Social Services

Feb 9 2015 // Nonprofit and social service organizations are as plentiful and diverse as the world itself. To better serve communities, nonprofits must bend, mold and adapt to rapidly changing conditions and so must the insurance...

E&O Experts: Agents Not Immune to Cyber Segment Exposures

Feb 9 2015 // In today’s digital world of constant communication through methods like email, texting and social media, consumers expect 24/7 access to everyone, including their insurance agent. And while this access can increase...

5 Cornerstones for Advancing the Insurance Industry’s Digital Technology Strategy in 2015

Feb 9 2015 // It is a brand new year, and for many people that means the promise and potential of resolutions, goals and aspirations. This is the time to plan, to dream, to improve. This can be said for individuals looking to shed a few...

Making New Clients Feel like Family

Feb 9 2015 // In today’s competitive market, an effective client onboarding process is the most important step in cultivating a lasting relationship. In order to develop a solid foundation, insurance brokers must make new clients...

Michigan Regulators Suspend Licenses of Insurance Agent, Agencies

Feb 6 2015 // The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) announced it suspended the insurance licenses of Alia Bahoora and her insurance agencies: Assurity Insurance Agency I, Assurity Insurance Agency II,...

How Large Firm Risk Managers Rate Commercial Lines Carriers, Brokers

Feb 6 2015 // While commercial insurers have traditionally relied upon insurance brokers to manage customer relationships, large company risk managers are looking for both parties to work together to meet their needs, according to a new...

North Carolina Agent Charged with Embezzlement

Feb 5 2015 // Insurance agent Amneris Deleon, of Wilmington, N.C., was arrested and charged with one count each of embezzlement by an insurance agent and accessing a computer to defraud or obtain property. Department of Insurance...

Nigohosian Returns to Western Agents Group as VP of Regulatory Affairs

Feb 5 2015 // Ken Nigohosian has returned to Western Insurance Agents Association as vice president of regulatory affairs. Nigohosian will work with the association’s legislative and regulatory affairs advisory committee. He had...

MiddleOak Exiting Personal Lines; Selling Business to Mapfre

Feb 5 2015 // Spanish insurance giant MAPFRE SA has said it wants to expand and is eying acquisitions in both Europe and the U.S. Barely two months into 2015, it has pulled the trigger on one such deal in New England, reports...

Former California Agent Pleads Guilty in $6M Fraud Case

Feb 3 2015 // An Upland, Calif. man has pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and tax charges in relation to a loan scam that reportedly netted him more than $5.9 million. Derek Richard Brewart, 53, a former licensed insurance agent and...

Feds: Wisconsin Insurance Agent Ran $10M Ponzi Scheme

Feb 3 2015 // The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is alleging a Watertown, Wis., insurance agent ran a $10 million Ponzi scheme out of his agency, ISC Inc. The SEC filed a securities fraud lawsuit against 69-year-old Loren...

N.Y., Mass. Adopt Certificates of Insurance Law

Feb 2 2015 // New York and Massachusetts in January became the latest states to enact laws to prohibit improper use of certificates of insurance. On Jan. 28, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill (A.9590/S.6545-A) that would...

Iowa Insurance Broker Plans to Add 90 Jobs over 3 Years

Feb 2 2015 // A Dubuque, Iowa-based insurance broker has announced plans to add 90 jobs over the next three years. Cottingham & Butler President and CEO David Becker tells the Dubuque Telegraph Herald that it could add as many as 45...

Georgia Agent Sentenced to 5 Years for Stealing Insurance Premiums

Feb 2 2015 // A Gwinnett County, Ga. man convicted on charges including insurance fraud has been sentenced to serve five years in prison. According to Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, 56-year-old Ronald Alan Dunn of Loganville was...

4 CAA Agencies Expand Through M&As

Jan 30 2015 // Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) announced that member agencies have expanded their books of business and locations through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) over the last nine months. Together,...