Business Moves

U.S. Risk, American Special Risk

Dallas-based managing general agency and surplus line wholesaler U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. has acquired American Special Risk Insurance Services, headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif.

American Special Risk is a managing general agent for professional liability and miscellaneous healthcare risks. The firm will become a subsidiary of U.S. Risk of California Inc. and will report to the U.S. Risk Underwriters Healthcare Division, which offers program underwriting for healthcare accounts.

U.S. Risk’s healthcare product portfolio includes professional and general liability, automobile, umbrella, as well as risk management products and services. U.S. Risk also has specialty underwriting programs for entertainment, staffing, energy, parking and valet services and financial services.

Combined Agents of America, NTX Insurance Group

Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA), headquartered in Austin, Texas, has added its 48th member agency, NTX Insurance Group Inc. Located in North Texas, NTX Insurance Group has seven branch locations and maintains a specialty in the oil and gas industry.

Led by Bobby Beane and Harvey McClendon, NTX Insurance Group includes seven professional independent insurance agencies that specialize in providing high quality property and casualty insurance products for their clients in the North Texas area, specifically in Kilgore, Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Lewisville and Gilmer.

The principals of the NTX Insurance Group have more than 150 years of combined insurance experience. Recently the agency attended the 2011 Travelers Leadership Conference that represents the top 18 agents out of 1,743 in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Arthur J. Gallagher, The BeneTex Group

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., headquartered in Itasca, Ill., has acquired The BeneTex Group Inc., an employee benefit broker located in Georgetown, Texas.

Founded in 1992, The BeneTex Group offers a full range of group employee benefit products and consulting services. BeneTex specializes in providing group medical, disability, dental and voluntary products to their client partners in the south central United States.

Danny Bone, Jason Kloc, Jeff Kloc and their associates will continue to operate from their current location under the direction of John Neumaier, South Central regional executive vice president of Gallagher’s employee benefit consulting and brokerage operations.

SIAA, Joshua Insurance, American Founders Insurance, The Hunter Agency

The Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA) announced 26 new member agencies in August. Of those, three are located in South Central states.

The new South Central members added in August are: Joshua Insurance Agency of Burleson, Texas; American Founders Insurance Group of Tulsa, Okla.; and The Hunter Agency of Monroe, La.

Since its inception in 1995, SIAA has signed more than 3,750 new members.

AssuredPartners, Neace Lukens

Florida-based AssuredPartners Inc. has acquired Neace Lukens, a Kentucky-based insurance agency, as part of a plan to build a national insurance brokerage firm.

AssuredPartners is a member company of GTCR, a Chicago private equity firm that invests in companies in the financial services, technology, healthcare and information sectors.

The deal with Neace Lukens is the first for the Lake Mary, Fla.-based AssuredPartners, which is also seeking other similar acquisitions.

Neace Lukens has $88 million in annual revenue, 150 licensed agents and more than 500 employees. The Louisville-based firm sells property/casualty insurance, employee benefits and risk management services. The agency has 22 offices in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina. The firm will continue to operate under the Neace Lukens name.

Jim Henderson, chairman and chief executive officer of AssuredPartners, said this inaugural deal sets the course for AssuredPartners’ long-term effort to acquire property/casualty and employee benefits brokerage firms across the United States.

Topics USA Texas