Business Moves

Associates of Glens Falls, Loomis & LaPann

Associates of Glens Falls Insurance, an independent agency in Glens Falls, N.Y., announced that it has acquired Loomis & LaPann Inc., an insurance brokerage unit of regional commercial bank Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Loomis & LaPann, based in Glens Falls, traces its origins back to 1852. It focuses on amateur sports management, developing insurance programs designed for state high school athletic/activities associations, state high school coaches associations, the U.S. Olympic Committee national governing bodies and amateur sports groups/associations. Currently Loomis & LaPann insures more than 100,000 high school coaches.

The Loomis & LaPann name will stay intact, and Loomis & LaPann’s Sports Senior Vice President Greg Joly and other associates will join the Associates of Glens Falls Insurance staff and work out of Associates’ office in downtown Glens Falls.

Founded in 1967, Associates of Glens Falls Insurance offers personal and commercial property/casualty insurance as well as life/health insurance. The agency reports approximately $26 million in premium volume.

Woodruff-Sawyer, Capstone Insurance

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co., an independent brokerage based in San Francisco, announced that it will be acquiring Capstone Insurance, the property/casualty brokerage division of Newton, Mass.-based financial services firm EBS Capstone.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Once the transaction is complete, Capstone Insurance will be rebranded as Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. New England and will operate from a Newton office. It would be the first East Coast location for Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. which currently has offices in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

EBS Capstone will continue on separately with its non-P/C brokerage businesses after the transaction, offering investing and financial services and employee benefits services.

Founded in 1918, Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. offers insurance, employee benefits and risk management services. The firm has approximately 425 employees.

U.S. Risk, Matias Underwriters

U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc., a managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler based in Dallas, announced that it has acquired Matias Underwriters LLC in Boston. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Matias Underwriters is a workers’ compensation program administrator providing underwriting, marketing, and policy management services for its carrier partners.

As part of the transaction, U.S. Risk has named Glenn Matias, who has been serving as Matias Underwriters’ president and chief executive officer, as National Practice leader and vice president for the Workers’ Compensation Division of U.S. Risk.

Matias will manage the Boston, Dallas, Houston and Sarasota, Fla., Workers’ Compensation Divisions, which have the ability to write both primary and excess workers’ comp for an expanded number of classes in all 50 states.

Matias brings with him more than 27 years of experience in the insurance industry and specializes in developing and managing workers’ comp niche programs. At U.S. Risk, he will focus on increasing overall workers’ comp writings by reinvigorating and strengthening U.S. Risk’s current carrier relationships and expanding the carrier lineup designed for the workers’ comp needs of underserved markets and industries.

Orchid Underwriters, Platinum Partners

Orchid Underwriters, a Vero Beach, Fla.-based managing general agent providing excess & surplus (E&S) insurance for coastal properties, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Platinum Partners, a Peabody, Mass.-based wholesale brokerage focused on the high net worth personal lines marketplace.

The transaction is expected to close in January 2016. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002, Platinum Partners provides independent insurance agents with access to the high net worth market, in both the admitted and nonadmitted spaces. The transaction expands Orchid Underwriters’ reach into the New England distribution network, as well as the high net worth market, which includes high-value homes, valuable articles (fine arts, jewelry, wine), personal umbrellas, automobiles (collector’s cars, high-performance driving events), watercraft, aviation, and other specialty products.

With this acquisition, Orchid Underwriters will expand into 15 new states, extending the firm’s footprint into 43 states. Orchid Underwriters will now have an office in Peabody, in addition to its headquarters in Vero Beach and an office in West Atlantic City, N.J.

Platinum Partners’ employees will join Orchid Underwriters, and Platinum Partners President Tim deRosa will become a member of Orchid Underwriters’ senior management.

Founded in 1998, Orchid Underwriters provides specialty insurance products for homeowners and small businesses in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Risk Strategies, Re-Solutions Intermediaries

Risk Strategies Co., a privately held, national insurance brokerage and risk management firm, has acquired Re-Solutions Intermediaries LLC, a reinsurance specialist focused on assisting healthcare organizations around the world manage risk.

Headquartered in Minneapolis and founded by President Tony Plampton, Re-Solutions provides analytics, consulting and creative reinsurance solutions for the health, accident, life and disability insurance industries. Re-Solutions will be established as a new division under Risk Strategies’ national Healthcare Practice.

In June, Risk Strategies also acquired Dubraski & Associates, a national player providing insurance and reinsurance solutions to the healthcare industry in all areas of the business.

In October, Risk Strategies announced a significant investment by new majority owner Kelso & Company to build-out its national practices and accelerate growth in key strategic areas. Risk Strategies operates from more than 20 offices across the country.

Hub International, Forest Financial Group Inc.

Chicago-based global insurance broker Hub International Ltd. (Hub), has acquired the assets of Forest Financial Group Inc. (FFG). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Based in Lake Forest, Ill., FFG specializes in employee benefits consulting.

FFG was founded in 1998 by Nicholas T. Gialamas, president and CEO. He will join Hub Midwest-West as area president and report to Neil Hughes, president and CEO of Hub Midwest-West.

J. Smith Lanier, Rogers, Parker & Associates

J. Smith Lanier & Co., an independent brokerage firm, has announced a stock merger with Rogers, Parker & Associates Inc., of Florence, Ala., effective Dec. 1.

Rogers, Parker & Associates Inc. traces its origin to 1898, when agency owners contracted with United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company (USF&G). Rogers, Parker & Associates Inc., has represented USF&G (St. Paul/Travelers) longer than any other insurance agency in the state of Alabama, according to the company.

J. Smith Lanier & Co., headquartered in West Point, Ga., is an employee-owned company that was founded in 1868. The company has since grown from a three-employee local agency to a major regional firm employing more than 600 employees in eight divisions and 22 branch offices. J. Smith Lanier & Co. offers commercial and personal lines insurance, employee benefits, surety, aviation and risk control.

All Risks, Specialty Risk Underwriters

All Risks, Ltd., a nationwide independent wholesaler, has acquired Specialty Risk Underwriters (SRU), a national program administrator in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Specialty Risk Underwriters has developed a variety of accident insurance plans and national comprehensive packages for sports organizations, school districts, colleges/universities, camps, special events and individual students. SRU joined All Risks, Ltd. effective Nov. 1. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Kent and JoAnna Lynch, founders of Specialty Risk Underwriters, have joined the Alive Risk division of the National Specialty Programs unit of All Risks as directors of the Accident Medical Programs. They will continue to operate from St. Petersburg, running the operations, marketing and underwriting of their national products.

Accident medical products are available to students of intercollegiate sports, public, private, and parochial schools; catastrophic accident for schools and sports organizations; accident for athletes, coaches, trainers and invited guests; accident for volunteers and staff members of childcare programs; accident for volunteers at events, as well as K-12 voluntary student accident plans. International travel medical insurance is also available.

All Risks, Ltd., based in Hunt Valley, Md., offers insurance products with a full service platform of brokerage, contract binding, exclusive national programs and specialty personal lines products for retail insurance agents and brokers nationwide.

TLB, Leavitt Group

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based TLB Insurance has affiliated with Leavitt United Insurance Services, of which TLB will now be a subsidiary.

As a subsidiary of Leavitt United, TLB will continue to operate locally.

TLB is a longtime member of United Valley Insurance Services, which provides insurance company relationships and resources. TLB Insurance was formed in 1994 as a full service independent insurance agency. It has served its clients from its Walnut Creek location since 2006.

Leavitt United Insurance Services is part of Leavitt Group, a privately-held insurance brokerage.