Business Moves

Pinnacle, Schumann

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Pinnacle Brokers Insurance Solutions Inc. has merged its operations with E M Schumann Risk. The change took effect on February 1.

Ed Schumann has become part of the ownership and management team at Pinnacle. He will be responsible for heading up the acquisitions and association marketing of Pinnacle Brokers in Northern California. This transaction puts Pinnacle at more than $30 million in premiums placed.

Konecki, Leavitt Group

Solana Beach, Calif.-based Konecki Insurance Brokerage combined operations with the Leavitt Group’s San Diego office.

In the combined operations, John Konecki will serve as executive vice president in the commercial insurance division, and Carolyn Konecki will serve as a vice president in the personal insurance division.

Konecki Insurance Brokerage was formed by John Konecki in 1990 with Farmers Group of Companies. In 2003, Konecki formed an independent agency, Konecki Insurance Brokerage. In 2012, the agency relocated its offices from San Diego to Solana Beach, Calif. The Leavitt Group is a national privately held insurance brokerage.

Bolton, Preferred Specialty

Pasadena, Calif.-based Bolton & Co. acquired Preferred Specialty Insurance Services, an independent insurance agency in California’s San Gabriel Valley.

Preferred Specialty President Todd Jackson is joining Bolton & Co. as vice president. Jackson and his team will relocate to Bolton’s Pasadena office. Bolton & Co. is an employee-owned insurance brokerage and a partner of Assurex Global.

Answer Financial

Home and auto insurance seller Answer Financial Inc. has broken ground on a 32,775-square-foot facility in Knoxville, Tenn., that will serve as the company’s primary sales center.

The office will have capacity for more than 400 employees, which the company said will support current staff and future growth. The company expects the facility to open for business by fall 2013 and plans to hire more than 100 people at this location over the next two years. Answer Financial, owned by Allstate, also opened a sales office in Chattanooga, Tenn., last December.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Argus Benefits

Itasca, Ill.-headquartered insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquired Argus Benefits in Atlanta. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Argus Benefits offers employee benefit consultation and insurance brokerage services for mid-size corporate clients throughout the southern United States. Argus Benefits CEO Robert W. Taylor Jr. and his associates will continue to operate in their Atlanta and Jacksonville, Fla., locations under the direction of David Ziegler, Eastern region executive vice president of Gallagher’s employee benefit consulting and brokerage operations.

Lake Norman, Aquesta Insurance

Mooresville, N.C.-based Lake Norman Benefits acquired an employee benefits practice unit from Aquesta Bank and its subsidiary Aquesta Insurance Agency Inc., based in Cornelius, N.C.

Aquesta Insurance is an independent insurance agency offering mostly commercial and personal property/casualty insurance. Aquesta said the business unit being sold focuses on employee benefits, including medical, supplemental life and disability insurance.

Keystone Insurers Group

Burchfiel Overbay & Associates Insurance Agency of Sevierville, Tenn., operating as BOA Insurance Agency, is now a partner to insurance broker Keystone Insurers Group. The agency is Keystone’s 18th franchise partner in Tennessee.

Keystone also recently added another new partner in the Southeast region. Skelton-Morris Associates, a Hartwell, Ga.-based insurance agency, is the 11th Keystone Insurers Group partner in Georgia.

Schroeder Agency, Neace Lukens

Schroeder Agency of Rushville, Ind., became Louisville, Ky.-based insurance agency Neace Lukens’ seventh location in Indiana.

Neace Lukens, a member of Assured Partners Inc., now has 26 locations. All Schroeder employees will remain in their current positions, and the firm will operate from its current Rushville location. Schroeder has been specializing in personal lines and property/casualty insurance for more than 50 years.

Scottish American, Buckingham Badler

New York-based investment fund Scottish American Capital acquired managing general agent Buckingham Badler Associates, also of New York.

Buckingham Badler is based in Staten Island, N.Y., with additional offices in Islandia on Long Island, N.Y., and Saugerties in Ulster County, N.Y.

Scottish American Capital is an investment fund formed by a group of high-net-worth individuals to invest in and actively manage a privately held insurance distribution business in the United States. Its previous acquisitions include Orange County, Calif.-based MGA Yates & Associates.

Cross Insurance, Skillings Shaw

Cross Insurance, a subsidiary of Maine-based Cross Financial Corp., and one of the largest independent insurance agencies in New England, acquired Skillings Shaw & Associates, a Lewiston, Maine-based bond specialty agency providing fidelity and surety bonds.

Skillings Shaw & Associates will operate as an independent subsidiary of Cross Financial, retaining its name and product line.