Business Moves

Kibble & Prentice Joins RiskProNet

Seattle-based Kibble & Prentice has joined RiskProNet International Inc., a network of 29 major independent brokers across the United States and Canada.

Kibble & Prentice, with offices in Seattle and Bellevue, has a staff of more than 200. It offers commercial insurance, employee benefits, executive benefits, business succession planning, retirement planning and private client services.

“As one of the largest regional brokerage firms in the Northwest, we are independent and are committed to staying that way,” said Mark Vaughn, vice president of operations for the property/casualty division. “We see affiliation with RiskProNet and its network of regional agencies with similar goals as a way to accomplish that objective, while expanding the services we can provide to our clients.”

Kibble & Prentice will bring strength to RiskProNet, said RiskProNet Executive Director Gary Normington. “Kibble & Prentice has an established reputation as a firm that assists clients in making sound decisions that create value and manage risk,” he said. “RiskProNet is designed to help our members share best practices, and we look forward to having Kibble & Prentice as part of our network.”

Kibble & Prentice works with Northwest businesses to provide a single source for property/casualty insurance, employee benefits, retirement plan services, executive benefits, and business continuation planning services. For individuals, the firm provides private asset management, personal property and liability risk management services, trust and estate planning services, long-term care and disability planning services. More information is available via the Web at www.kpcom.com.

RiskProNet partners in 2004 had combined revenues of $688 million, giving the organization significant market strength. Each partner is an equal owner in the association, which gives its members the geographic diversity and shared knowledge base to serve clients with national, international or highly specialized exposures to risk. Total written premiums in 2004 were more than $6.5 billion. Through its partnership with the International Insurance Brokers Association, RiskProNet members can serve clients with operations in more than 300 cities in 110 countries.

USI Holdings Finalizes Purchase of Calif. P/C Operation

USI Holdings Corp. has announced the closing of the acquisition of Burlingame, Calif.-based retail property/casualty firm operating as Winthrop Insurance Plans. This operation has been providing employee property/casualty solutions to middle market businesses in the San Francisco area since 1984. The acquisition is expected to contribute approximately $800,000 of revenues to USI on an annual basis.

David Eslick, chairman, president and CEO of USI, said, “Ray (Andreini) has been providing middle market clients in the San Francisco-area with property/casualty solutions for 20 years. The addition of new production talent along with enhanced property/casualty expertise complement our existing San Francisco operation and position us well to cross-sell existing clients and attract new business. With the successful completion of each acquisition, USI reinforces our commitment to cross-selling, diversifying revenues and providing a single source for the highest quality products and service to all our clients. I am pleased to welcome Ray Andreini and his team to USI.”

Founded in 1994, USI is a distributor of insurance and financial products and services to businesses throughout the United States.

GNW-Evergreen of Los Angeles

Completes Phase 2 of Merger

Los Angeles-based GNW-Evergreen Insurance Services LLC announced completion of phase 2 of its merger.

The newly completed 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art insurance facility in Encino, Calif., will allow GNW-Evergreen Insurance Services the physical space needed to manage a full range of commercial and personal insurance with improved efficiency. The 10 year leased facility is located at The Almar Building, 16030 Ventura Boulevard.

The GNW-Evergreen staff consists of more than 70 insurance professionals and is a provider of comprehensive insurance solutions for businesses and individuals throughout the greater Los Angeles area, including Orange, Riverside and Ventura counties.

GNW-Evergreen is a union of two long-established Los Angeles-based insurance brokerages. The eight principals of the newly combined limited liability company include Bill Switzky, David Albaum and Paul Meshekow from Evergreen Insurance Services Inc., as well as Chuck Gelfand, Jeff Newman, Karen Oxman, Mike Newman and Rob DiPaolo from GNW Insurance Services. Those seasoned principals possess more than 250 years of combined aggregate insurance experience in the Southern California insurance marketplace; this expertise will contribute significantly to GNW-Evergreen’s reputation as one of Southern California’s premier insurance agencies.

“The new total is far greater than the sum of the parts,” said principal David Albaum. “The completion of our newly combined office facility is the last step in the merger of two fine agencies with complementary synergy. We feel we now have the platform on which we can continue on a sustained basis to expand our portfolio of products and services for the benefit of our clients.”

The entertainment industry is but one of the many industries GNW-Evergreen serves, providing crucial insurance coverage for location and studio shoots for film and television productions as well as major events like the Emmy Awards. The agency was also called upon to handle various insurance aspects of both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

“This is an exciting time for our organization,” said company principal Chuck Gelfand. “The opportunities and service our new facility affords our clients is unparalleled in our history.”

“Because society is so complex, we all realize that more can go wrong; this creates a real need for ever increasing sophistication in one’s insurance planning,” Albaum said. “The industry keeps creating insurance products for exposures that were not envisioned 10 years ago, such as Internet liability and workplace violence coverage. It is important for our clients to be made aware of these concepts.”

The new office facility includes a state-of-the-art conference training center that will be available for insurance industry needs. For more information about the company, call the GNW-Evergreen office at (818) 257-7400.

Burns & Wilcox Adds New Mexico Office

Burns & Wilcox, the nation’s largest independently-owned specialty insurance wholesaler, underwriter and managing general agency, has opened a new service center in Albuquerque, N.M. Announced by Burns & Wilcox Chairman, President and CEO Alan Jay Kaufman, the expansion represents Burns & Wilcox’s continuing growth strategy to offer global insurance resources through local service centers.

Commercial Underwriter Sandy Sherman will be responsible for the underwriting and marketing of the new service center. The new Albuquerque, N.M., service center will operate in collaboration with Burns & Wilcox of Scottsdale, Ariz., under the direction of Vice President/Branch Manager Michael Maharaj.

Burns & Wilcox of Albuquerque, N.M., is located at 6700 Jefferson NE, Bldg. B, Suite 23, Albuquerque, N.M. 87109. Contact by phone: (505) 468-0525 or (866) 643-8538 or fax: (505) 468-0544. Visit the Burns & Wilcox Web site at www.burnsandwilcox.com.

David Morse Opens Reno Office

David Morse & Associates, a national claims administration and independent adjusting company based in Los Angeles, has announced the opening of a new office in Reno, Nev. This new office provides Property and Casualty field adjusting services in the Reno – Sparks – Tahoe area.

“We were planning to open in September, but the word got out early and assignments started to come in, so we moved everything forward by three weeks,” said Lisa McNamee, claims supervisor for Nevada.

DM&A’s lead adjuster in Reno is Antoinette Brandt. David Morse, founder and chairman of DM&A, stated “Antoinette’s 14 years of experience in Reno adjusting claims for a major carrier is just what we need to meet the increased demand for quality claims services in Nevada.”

Assignments can be made by phone to (866) 742-6988, by fax to (866) 742-6989 or by e-mail to centraldispatch@davidmorse.com.

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