Business Moves

January 24, 2011

Hub International

Chicago-based Hub International Ltd. (Hub), an insurance brokerage firm, has announced several acquisitions.

It has acquired the shares of Hall-Conway-Jackson Inc. and the assets of Cascade Insurance Group Inc., Bothell, Wash.-based insurance brokerage and employee benefit firms, respectively. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

HCJ and Cascade, which share a joint partnership, will become part of Hub International Northwest Ltd. (Hub Northwest). The firms’ two key principals, Thomas F. Jackson and Bob Schmidt, will join Hub Northwest as part of this transaction, reporting to Andy Prill, president and CEO of Hub Northwest.

HCJ was founded in 1935, and is a large retail insurance brokerage in the Pacific Northwest, offering middle market property and casualty, employee benefits and personal lines products and services. In 1989, it formed a joint venture with Cascade. Jointly, they are a full-service brokerage with specialty program expertise in professional liability, restaurants, product recall, and taverns. Capabilities extend to large commercial property developers, shopping centers, manufacturing and habitational real estate accounts.

Additionally, Hub International has acquired the shares of Sander A. Kessler & Associates Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-based insurance brokerage firm. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Kessler will become part of the Los Angeles operations of Hub International Insurance Services Inc. (Hub California). Steve Kessler, Ken Kessler, Joel Davidowski and Lucille Shalometh, principals of Kessler, will join Hub California and report to William Roeder, senior executive vice president of Hub California.

Founded in 1956, Kessler is an independent full-service insurance agency in California. Kessler currently arranges insurance programs for industries, including manufacturing, seafood, meat processing, security guards, recycling, and the solar industry. They alsoplace workers’ compensation risks for these industries.

Hub also acquired the assets of Davis & Graeber Insurance Services Inc., a Redlands, Calif.-based insurance brokerage firm. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The D&G team will become part of the California operations of Hub International Insurance Services (Hub California), and will remain in its existing office. Peter Davis, Marty Davis and Beth Kolpien, the principals of D&G, will join Hub California as part of this transaction.

Established in 1923, D&G is a full-service agency, offering commercial lines, employee benefits, and personal lines products and services to an array of businesses and families in Redlands, Pomona, and throughout the Southern California region.

Finally, Hub has acquired the assets of Benefit Resources Inc. (BRI), a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based retail employee benefits insurance brokerage firm. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The BRI operations will become a part of the Colorado operations of Hub International Insurance Services Inc. (Hub Colorado). George Martin and Jeff Ahrendsen, the principals of BRI, will join Hub Colorado, reporting to Matt Coleman, chief sales officer of Hub Colorado. The BRI team will remain in its existing office in Colorado Springs.

IMA Benefits

Retail insurance broker IMA Inc. has created a benefits practice, IMA Benefits.

IMA Benefits will be the new home of the benefits practice groups in IMA of Kansas, IMA of North East Kansas, IMA of Texas and IMA of Colorado. The small group benefits practice from Signature Select, an IMA subsidiary focused on small commercial and personal lines insurance, has also joined IMA Benefits. The retirement and executive benefits specialists from TrueNorth, IMA’s asset management subsidiary, will also work closely with IMA Benefits. Marcia Benshoof has been named president of IMA Benefits. As Benshoof transitions into the new role of president of IMA Benefits, Bob Reiter will step back into the role of president of IMA of Colorado while retaining his current role of president of IMA Inc.

Topics California Colorado

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