Business Moves
Cross Insurance, a Bangor, Maine-based subsidiary of Cross Financial Corp., has acquired Appleby & Wyman Insurance Agency, making it the 16th Massachusetts insurance agency to be purchased by Cross.
Founded in 1903, Appleby & Wyman was established to serve the insurance needs of businesses and individuals throughout the U.S. It is licensed in 38 states, including all New England states as well as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, California, Florida and more.
With offices in Beverly and Westford, Mass., the agency provides comprehensive advice in all areas of insurance and benefit needs, such as property and casualty programs, employee benefit solutions, buy/sell agreements, bonds and investment services.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Appleby & Wyman will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cross Financial Corp. and will continue to operate under the same name. Appleby & Wyman executives will continue to manage the Beverly and Westford offices.
Lisa Marciano will serve as president. Christine Sciola and Mary Ann Dignan will serve as vice presidents. Stephanie Murphy will serve as assistant vice president, and Carmen Marciano, former chairman of the board, will assume the position of senior management advisor.
Cross Insurance owns and operates 15 additional agencies in Massachusetts, including offices in Duxbury, Braintree, Norwell, Weymouth and Quincy; two offices in Boston, three on the North Shore, two in Metrowest and three in Western Massachusetts.
Financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.
World Insurance Associates LLC, an independent insurance agency headquartered in Tinton Falls, N.J., acquired Wm. G. Palermo Inc. of Linden, N.J.
Wm. G. Palermo Inc. is a third-generation, family owned insurance agency that was established on March 1, 1944, by William G. Palermo. The firm services its clients’ personal and business insurance needs in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
World Insurance Associates LLC offers personal and business insurance solutions in 46 states. The company specializes in group benefits and insurance for transportation companies, the hospitality industry, coastal properties and high-net-worth individuals, in addition to general commercial clients. It began business in 2012 and now serves customers from 11 offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Hub International Ltd., a global insurance brokerage, has acquired the assets of Brady Insurance Planning.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Based in East Norwich, N.Y., Brady is an employee benefits advisor. Matthew Brady, the principal, will join Hub Northeast following the transaction.
Headquartered in Chicago, Hub International Ltd. provides property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services from offices throughout North America. It maintains a strategy of growing organically and through acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint and strengthen industry and product expertise.
Worley Claims Services LLC, a provider of insurance claims services in the U.S., has acquired Apex Claims Service of New England LLC, a provider of daily and catastrophe commercial and residential property claims based in Westfield, Mass.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
StoneRidge Advisors LLC advised Worley on the transaction.
Founded in 2005, Apex is a property claims adjusting and services provider in the Northeast. The company specializes in providing daily and complex loss adjusting services for regional and national insurance carriers.
The acquisition allows Worley to enhance its ability to service clients in the Northeast, said Worley CEO Jim Pearl.
The agreement with Apex is Worley’s fifth acquisition since 2015. In July 2015, Worley acquired NCA Group, a provider of daily and catastrophe residential and commercial property claims services throughout the U.S.
In October 2015, Worley acquired Charlotte, N.C.-based RJMW Claims Services, a regional provider of daily and catastrophe residential and commercial property claims services.
In July 2016, Worley acquired San Jose, Calif.-based Summit Independent Claim Services, which provides commercial/GA and residential property loss adjusting services.
Most recently, in August 2016, Worley acquired Orlando, Fla.-based Nexxus Solutions Group, a nationally managed repair contractor and service provider network serving the property insurance industry in the U.S. and Canada.
Worley, based in Hammond, La., provides property, auto and casualty claims adjustment services and staffing solutions to national and regional insurance companies, managing general agents (MGAs), third-party administrators, self-insured corporations and clients in the federal or state government sector.
Aquiline Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services, acquired a majority stake in Worley in October 2014.
H.W. Kaufman Financial Group has acquired Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Chlystek & White Services (CWS) Inc., a regional insurance premium audit services company.
CWS will become part of Afirm, Kaufman’s international provider of premium audits, loss control, and risk services. Afirm is based in Fort Collins, Colo.
Each of CWS’s 158 employees will be retained by Afirm, including principal shareholder Mark de Waal, who will act as vice president of sales. He will be based in Grand Rapids.
CWS Inc. has served the premium audit needs of commercial lines insurance providers since 1988, with roots to 1968.
In addition to Afirm, Farmington Hills, Mich.-based H.W. Kaufman Financial Group also includes Atain Insurance Companies, Chesterfield Insurance Brokers, Lochain Patrick, Cranbrook Underwriting, Global Excess Partners, Burns & Wilcox, Burns & Wilcox Brokerage, Burns & Wilcox Canada, Burns & Wilcox Re, R.B. Jones, Royal Premium and Minuteman Adjusters.
Dallas-based insurance exchange MarketScout, which provides agents with access to specialty markets, has sold its workers’ compensation managing general agency business to Specialty Program Group.
MarketScout said it sold the specialty unit, which it said handles $100 million in business, to fund a planned expansion into insurance technology and other MGA ventures. The national unit specializes in underwriting for hard-to-place, high-hazard risks in various industries, including transportation, construction, healthcare, retail and manufacturing.
Specialty Program Group (SPG) said it will re-brand the business as Specialty Comp Insurance Solutions.
The purchase price and terms were not disclosed.
SPG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of global insurance broker Hub International founded in 2015 to expand Hub’s reach into program and specialty business. The group is based in Summit, N.J.
J.M. Wilson has acquired assets from Klinger Associates Inc., an Indianapolis-based wholesale insurance broker. The acquisition will allow J.M. Wilson to increase its brokerage business.
The J.M. Wilson brokerage department has more than 50 combined years of experience.
J.M. Wilson is an MGA and surplus lines broker providing independent insurance agents access to specialty markets for personal and commercial lines.
Two Corpus Christi, Texas-based employee benefits providers, Heavin Insurance Agency and Arvak Insurance Group, have merged and joined the insurance broker network, Leavitt Group, to become Heavin, Otto & Leavitt.
Will Heavin of Heavin Insurance Agency and John Otto of Arvak Insurance Group are co-owners of the agency.
Seeman Holtz Property and Casualty Inc. has acquired Vincent, Urban, Walker & Associates, an independent insurance agency headquartered in Green Bay, Wis.
Doug Walker and his partners at Vincent, Urban, Walker & Associates have served the Green Bay area and beyond for more than 20 years. Their success is expected to strengthen Seeman Holtz’s foothold across the nation and in the Midwest.
Seeman Holtz Property and Casualty targets high-quality independent agencies for geographic expansion and growth.
Florida-based Seeman Holtz provides comprehensive financial and insurance advice to clients nationwide.