Business Moves
Berkshire Hathaway, MyAssist, Insure America
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has agreed to purchase from Noel Group the assets of MyAssist Inc., a live-agent personal concierge and telematics service-provider, and Insure America LLC, a niche program administrator that provides insurance products to the travel industry.
John Noel, founder, chairman and CEO of Noel Group, will head the MyAssist and Insure America operations and focus on growing the businesses globally.
Peter Eastwood, president of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, said the two firms will help his company extend its brand and create new business opportunities.
Eastwood said corporate customers of MyAssist include Ford Motor Co., Mercedes-Benz USA, Verizon Telematics and other prominent travel and insurance companies. MyAssist provides the owners of these vehicles with in-car support.
Boston-based Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance provides commercial property, casualty, health care liability, executive and professional lines insurance and programs in the United States. It underwrites on the paper of Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity group of companies.
In addition to MyAssist and Insure America, Noel Group owns Compass Properties, a real-estate investment company. Noel Group is based in Stevens Point, Wis., and also has operations in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Noel sold travel insurer Travel Guard International to American International Group (AIG) in 2006. In 2008, Noel sold MultiNational Underwriters to HCC Insurance Holdings, and it was renamed HCC Medical Insurance Services.
Risk Strategies, Singer Nelson Charlmers
Risk Strategies Co., a national insurance brokerage and risk management firm based in Boston, has acquired Singer Nelson Charlmers, a Teaneck, N.J.-based insurance brokerage firm providing coverages in professional liability, employee benefits and private client personal lines. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Singer Nelson Charlmers’ CEO David Singer joins Risk Strategies as managing director, and approximately 35 Singer Nelson Charlmers employees will also join the Risk Strategies team to expand business in the Greater New York market.
USI, Travers, O’Keefe & Associates
USI Insurance Services has closed the acquisition of Travers, O’Keefe & Associates Inc., headquartered in New York. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Travers, O’Keefe’s headquarters will be combined with USI’s New York office. USI’s Albany, N.Y., office will be combined with Travers, O’Keefe’s Saratoga Springs, N.Y., office.
Travers, O’Keefe was founded in 1986 to serve employer needs associated with the management of all employee benefit programs. Its offerings include benefits consulting, human resources services, and compliance and employee support. USI is headquartered in Valhalla, N.Y., and operates out of more than 100 offices nationwide.
Corcoran & Havlin, Sciarratta & Doucette
Corcoran & Havlin Insurance Group in Wellesley, Mass., has merged with Needham, Mass.-based Sciarratta & Doucette Insurance Agency.
Sciarratta & Doucette customers will now be served out of Corcoran & Havlin’s corporate headquarters in Wellesley, Mass., 4 miles from Sciarratta & Doucette’s former Needham location. The combined agencies will serve more than 14,000 clients.
Bloss & Dillard, Agents Insurance Markets
Huntington, W.Va.-based managing general agent Bloss & Dillard Inc. has acquired and operates Agents Insurance Markets Inc., a managing general agent in Richmond, Va. The new acquisition will operate under the Agents Insurance Markets Inc. (AIM) name. Both Bloss & Dillard and AIM offer a variety of specialty and traditional insurance products to independent agents in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia.
OceanPoint, Raymond Insurance
Middletown, R.I.-based OceanPoint Insurance Agency has acquired Raymond Insurance of Coventry, R.I., to expand in the state’s West Bay area.
Kim Raymond, principal of Raymond Insurance, is now vice president of West Bay operations for OceanPoint.
Higginbotham, Talon Insurance Agency
Higginbotham, headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas, and Talon Insurance Agency have merged their operations. Both are independent insurance firms based in Texas providing commercial and personal insurance, risk management and employee benefit services.
Talon Insurance Agency has a 35-person staff at offices in Port Arthur, Tyler and Ft. Worth. Higginbotham has more than 20 branch offices across the state. The combined workforce is 600.