Business Moves – South Central
Texas Wholesale Insurance Coalition
A group of Texas-based managing general agents/brokers has formed the Texas Wholesale Insurance Coalition (TWIC) with the goal of enhancing their markets, attracting Texas retail agency partners, and gaining economic efficiencies necessary to compete with the large national conglomerates.
Six Texas-based insurance wholesalers comprise the organization. The coalition emphasizes that all members are locally owned, have the authority to make quick decisions, and are able to give the attention to their retail agency partners that large brokers are unable to provide.
The wholesale agency members of the coalition are: American Underwriting Managers, Southlake and San Antonio; Ashley General Agency, Conroe; Brecht and Associates, Grapevine; Ramsgate Managing Insurance, San Antonio; Texas Commercial Insurance Facilities, Tyler; and The Parks Group Inc., Arlington and Austin.
TWIC members are large enough to provide the markets agents demand to be successful, yet are small enough to provide the attention agents deserve. The group’s members also believe their retail agency partners will benefit from doing business in Texas with Texans. Combined, the members have been serving the Texas insurance community for more than 150 years.
The coalition’s stated goal is to set the standard by which others are judged.
TAGA Program Managers LLC
Tejas American General Agency (TAGA,) a Texas-based specialist in surplus lines and wholesale insurance services has launched a new program development division, TAGA Program Managers LLC.
TAGA Program Managers will operate under the guidance of J. Ron Ortega, director of Program Development. Ortega has a background of more than 20 years in underwriting, marketing and program development. Ortega and his team of underwriters specialize exclusively in commercial lines. All programs are to be written through “A” rated carriers on a national or regional basis.
The company said that the new division expands the services offered to its existing and prospective agents by giving them the means to create exclusive niche insurance products from their current books of affinity business.
TAGA is a managing general agency established in 1997. It works with more than eighty carriers/markets and approximately 1,000 agencies in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
McCombs Risk Advisors
McCombs Risk Advisors LLC (MRA) announced its launch as a newly created Texas-based insurance services company.
MRA, which will initially have offices in Austin and San Antonio, offers property and casualty brokerage and risk management services along with a full suite of health and welfare services, employee benefits and ancillary consulting services to national commercial clients.
MRA brings together Red McCombs and Rad Weaver of McCombs Partners, the insurance and marketing expertise and national relationships of Trey Watson of W Capital Partners LLC, the existing business and insurance experience of Charles Newman of Principal Risk Advisors Inc., and the accumulation of experience and contacts through years of service and business cultivation from existing relationships and new sales representatives, the announcement said.
Fidelity National Indemnity, Wright Flood
Flood insurance company Fidelity National Indemnity Insurance Co. is being renamed Wright National Flood Insurance Co.
The name change must be approved by the Texas Department of Insurance.
Wright National Flood is a member of The Wright Insurance Group, owned by Aquiline Capital Partners. It was known as WRM America when it bought Fidelity National Indemnity’s flood insurance business in 2011.
The name change is part of a corporate-wide initiative to unify the brands of The Wright Insurance Group and will have no effect on customer service, according to Henry Neal Connolly, president of Wright Flood.
Wright Flood said it has 650,000 flood insurance customers and writes business with 17,000 independent agents.
Wright Flood is based in St. Petersburg, Fla., while the parent, The Wright Insurance Group, is in Uniondale, N.Y.