Latest Agencies Headlines

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

‘Poaching’ Suits Like Aon v. Alliant: Nothing Personal, Just Routine Business

May 11 2017 // An ongoing legal battle between two large national insurance brokerage firms over employee poaching is a byproduct of a hazard faced in the financial services industries where relationships and knowledge of business...

Wells Fargo Weighing Sale of Insurance Brokerage Business: Bloomberg

May 9 2017 // Wells Fargo & Co. is weighing a sale of its insurance brokerage business, which could fetch about $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The San Francisco-based lender has begun reaching out to private...

New Jersey Agent Stults Honored with Woodworth Memorial Award

May 9 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers (IIABA or the Big “I”) has awarded Charles “Cappy” Stults with the Woodworth Memorial Award, the highest honor the association bestows on one of its...

Agency Organic Growth Fell in Q1: Reagan

May 8 2017 // Agencies and brokerage firms reported that their organic growth fell to 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the weakest growth rate since 2011. According to Reagan Consulting’s Organic Growth and Profitability...

Louisiana’s Schilling and Texas’ Shepard Receive Big ‘I’ Awards

May 5 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) honored two agents from South Central states with awards at the annual Big “I” Legislative Conference. Lee Schilling...

Aon Buys International Benefits Brokerage Portfolio of Mayfair Group

May 5 2017 // Aon plc announced it has completed its acquisition of the international health and benefits brokerage portfolio of Mayfair Group, a solutions provider to Indian multinational companies. Terms of the transaction were not...

Rhode Island’s Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Hires Hillberg

May 4 2017 // Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc., an East Providence, R.I.-headquartered independent insurance agency and insurance brokerage, has hired Tim Hillberg as a commercial lines sales...

Most Commercial Insurance Premiums Up in April: IVANS Index

May 3 2017 // Most standard commercial lines products saw an uptick in premiums at renewal in April, with workers’ compensation being the main exception, according to the IVANS Index. Business owners and commercial property...

As Auto Insurance Sales Stagnate, Carriers Turn to Agents: J.D. Power

May 2 2017 // Amid a second straight year of stagnant auto insurance shopping activity and modest rate increases, auto insurance companies have grown increasingly reliant on great customer service, personalized advice and strong agents...

Proposed New York Regulations Crack Down on Title Insurance Industry

May 2 2017 // New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced two new proposed regulations to protect New Yorkers and crack down on unscrupulous practices in the title insurance industry. These new protections were drafted following an...

AmWINS Completes Acquisition of Networked Insurance Agents in California

May 1 2017 // AmWINS Group Inc. has acquired Networked Insurance Agents, a California-based insurance aggregator specializing in the standard lines insurance segment. Charlotte, N.C.-based AmWINS Group is an independent wholesale...

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...