Latest Agencies Headlines

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

Soft Market, Recession Delivers Stronger Managing General Agencies

May 17 2010 // Managing general agents have a positive attitude about what’s to come in the next year. The soft market and recession forced many MGAs to get better at what they do, says Mark Rothert of the Portland, Ore.-based Ron...

The Competitive Advantage: Opportunity Knocks

May 17 2010 // When I first started as an underwriter a few decades ago, I was truly amazed at the coverage knowledge so many of the older underwriters had. The most remarkable underwriters knew their stuff. They were great resources for...

M&A Wrap Up: The Rollercoaster of M&A

May 14 2010 // January deal activity started out strong but continued to decline in February and further in March. Nonetheless, first quarter merger and acquisition (M&A) activity bested last year’s first quarter performance...

Payan Elected Chairman of Associated Risk Managers International

May 14 2010 // Craig A. Payan has been elected to serve as chairman of the board of directors for Itasca, Ill.-based Associated Risk Managers International Inc.Payan is president of PA&T Insurance and Financial Services, an...

Brown & Brown Acquires Four Connecticut Insurance Agencies

May 14 2010 // Florida-based Brown & Brown Inc. has acquired four retail insurance agencies in central and southeastern Connecticut with combined revenues of $7.2 million.The acquired agencies are McCutcheon Burr & Sons, of...

Ohio Insurance Agent Education Council to Discuss Code Revisions

May 13 2010 // The Ohio Insurance Agent Education Advisory Council will hold a meeting on May 19, 2010, at 10 a.m. The agenda includes a discussion on revisions to Ohio Administrative Code.The Insurance Agent Education Advisory Council...

What Agents Think Makes a Great Insurance Carrier Field Rep

May 13 2010 // Independent insurance agents often rate a carrier with great field representatives higher than others — sometimes elevating them to their “Top 3” carriers. While the performance of insurance company field...

Marsh Names Denney as ‘Networks Leader;’ Mills for Networks Service

May 13 2010 // Marsh’s London office announced that it has appointed Martyn Denney to the newly-created role of Networks Leader. He will be responsible for the strategic development and positioning of Marsh’s broker network...

Crump Adds to Atlanta Team: Sherwin, Duran, Yoss, Feldhaus

May 12 2010 // Crump Insurance Services, Inc. has invested in new talent for its Atlanta brokerage location. Terry Sherwin has joined Crump as the Atlanta office leader; and property brokers Alex Duran, Jordan Yoss and Carl Feldhaus have...

Argo Launches Alteris for Managing Agents; Names Schenck President

May 12 2010 // Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products, has formed Alteris, Inc., a services provider for managing general agencies.Alteris will offer managing...

Gelia to Chair New York Agents’ Group

May 11 2010 // Insurance agent David M. Gelia has been elected chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York (IIABNY).Gelia, executive vice-president of United Insurance Agency in Amherst, has served as...

Mercury Partners with Personal Lines Growth Alliance

May 7 2010 // The Personal Lines Growth Alliance (PLGA), a coalition within the independent agency system, announced that Mercury Insurance Group is a founding financial partner.Mercury is the first of many insurance carriers that will...

Ex-Agent Gets Five Years for Connecticut Fraud

May 6 2010 // A Connecticut financial adviser has been sentenced to five years in prison for defrauding more than two dozen clients of more than $2 million and losing the money while gambling in casinos. Thomas Cipriano was sentenced...

3 Arrested for Georgia Insurance Agent’s Death in Louisiana

May 6 2010 // Three people have been arrested in the death of a Georgia insurance agent who was killed during an early morning holdup at a Waffle House restaurant in Baton Rouge, La.Sgt. Don Kelly says 21-year-old Antonius Jones of...

CRC Employees in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania Resign

May 6 2010 // CRC Insurance Services Inc. (CRC) – the largest wholesale insurance broker in the United States – released a memo to its customers stating that a number of CRC employees in Illinois, California and Pennsylvania...

H.W. Kaufman Financial Group Acquires US Reports

May 5 2010 // H.W. Kaufman Financial Group, a privately held company headed by Alan Jay Kaufman, has acquired Colorado-based US Reports Inc. – a national loss control inspection, premium audit and risk management services firm.US...

Court Says CalPERS May Pursue Lawsuit Against Rating Agencies

May 5 2010 // The largest U.S. public pension fund has won a court ruling allowing it to proceed with its lawsuit accusing the three biggest credit rating agencies of assigning “wildly inaccurate and unreasonably high”...

Main Street America Expands Product Lines To Grain Dealers Mutual Agents

May 4 2010 // The Main Street America Group has introduced its products to nearly 200 independent agents who represent new affiliate Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Co. throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.Specifically,...

Networked Insurance Agents Acquires AmCom

May 4 2010 // Grass Valley, Calif.-based Networked Insurance Agents, a subsidiary of Strongwood Insurance Holdings Corp., has announced its acquisition of AmCom Insurance Services Inc. AmCom, established in 1996, is a full service...

74% of Nation’s Top Insurance Companies Are Hiring

May 4 2010 // The insurance industry employment outlook for 2010 is guarded, but cautiously optimistic, according to a new survey that also revealed 74 percent of the nation’s top insurance companies are currently hiring.“In...