Business Moves – Midwest
Horton Group, Cassady Neeser & Brasseur
The Horton Group, based in Orland Park, Ill., and Cassady Neeser & Brasseur of South Bend, Ind., have merged effective Oct. 31.
Cassady Neeser & Brasseur, with offices in South Bend and Elkhart, will retain its name and client service teams.
The current partners, Tom Cassady, Gregg Brasseur and Tricia Mentock, will remain and become shareholders of The Horton Group. The agency will continue its 90-year history of leadership in the communities it serves. Tom Cassady will serve as Indiana Division president for The Horton Group.
The Horton Group, founded in 1971, has 300 employees in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Risk Innovations, TAS Insurance Group
Atlanta, Ga.-based wholesale insurance broker, Risk Innovations LLC, announced the acquisition of the workers’ compensation book of business of TAS Insurance Group Inc., headquartered in Kansas City, Mo.
Risk Innovations will continue to operate the location in Kansas City under the continued leadership of Jeff Sandy who has overseen the creation and growth of the workers’ compensation division at TAS since the program’s inception. Sandy will become a partner at Risk Innovations.
Aon
Insurance broker Aon Plc is planning a series of small acquisitions. Aon had suffered lower margins as it invested in its HR services business, the former Hewitt Associates it bought in 2010. However, the company has consistently said the investments in its HR solutions unit, which provides consulting and outsourcing operations for companies, would start to pay off toward the end of this year.
It is now looking at small deals to expand its businesses, and will buy Omnipoint’s workday services company to expand its HR outsourcing line.
“Our targets will tend to be smaller, more like tuck-in acquisitions that will help us improve client serving capability and we will probably use $300-$400 million a year doing this,” Aon Chief Executive Greg Case told Reuters.
Aon’s insurance unit includes Aon’s retail insurance brokerage and reinsurance business, while the HR solutions unit includes its consulting and outsourcing operations.
Aon said it was on track to meet its long-term targets of operating margins of 22 percent in the HR business and 26 percent in insurance.
The company also said it will launch the first multi-carrier corporate health exchange — another area it has invested in — in the current quarter.
The health exchange will help corporate employees choose their health insurance coverage and insurer from an online marketplace. Copyright 2012 Reuters