Business Moves

TrueNorth, Gateway Insurance Services

TrueNorth Companies has acquired Iowa-based Gateway Insurance Services, which will adopt the TrueNorth name and brand.

With locations in Ames and Iowa Falls, Gateway Insurance Services has been committed to providing quality insurance products to both communities for nearly 35 years. Like TrueNorth, John Langeland and the Gateway team have established a strong reputation built on faithful service, strategic insight and personalized solutions.

Throughout the transition, Langeland will work closely with TrueNorth Risk Management Specialist Lane Danielsen, to expand the TrueNorth name and firm presence in the Central Iowa area.

Headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, TrueNorth has offices spanning six states.

Alliant, CLS Partners

Alliant Insurance Services has acquired the Austin, Texas-based employee benefits and risk management consulting firm, CLS Partners. The Austin-based firm brings more than 50 professionals to Alliant, bolstering the firm’s presence in the state and continuing its national expansion.

Established in 2008 and led by CEO Clint Scott, CLS Partners provides employee benefits, risk management, retirement, and technology consulting services.

Scott, along with the CLS Partners management team and staff, will join Alliant and continue to service clients from its offices in Austin and Dallas.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., Alliant Insurance Services provides property/casualty, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, surety, and financial products and services nationwide to public entities, tribal nations, healthcare, energy, law firms, real estate, construction, and others.

BKS Partners, Midsouth Benefits

Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners, an insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Tampa, Fla., has partnered with Midsouth Benefits of Atlanta. The merger was finalized on June 22, 2018, and marks BKS-Partners first office in the Georgia market.

Midsouth Benefits specializes in employee benefits including design, marketing, communications and compliance, and has delivered custom benefits programs to Georgia employers for more than 25 years.

BKS-Partners has clients nationwide and has been expanding its footprint across the Southeast.

Also in June, BKS-Partners acquired Cadence Insurance which took the company from Florida into Texas and Alabama.

Chris Timpson, managing director of Employee Benefits at BKS-Partners said the company will make significant investments in Midsouth Benefits.

Midsouth Benefits will inherit the BKS-Partners name upon completion of the transaction.

Federal National, FedNat Insurance Co.

FedNat Holding Co., formerly known as Federated National Holding Co., has rebranded its largest insurance subsidiary to FedNat Insurance Co.

FedNat was founded in Florida in 1992 and through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is authorized to underwrite and place homeowners multiperil, federal flood and other lines of insurance in Florida, and underwrites homeowners’ and dwelling fire policies in Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas through its partnership with SageSure Insurance Managers. The company markets, distributes and services its own and third-party insurers’ products and other services through a network of independent and general agents.

FNIC, formerly known as Federated National Insurance Co., changed its name after receiving approval from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. FNIC, with operations in several coastal states, has filed notice of the name change for processing with the insurance departments in the additional states where it serves policyholders.

According to Michael H. Braun, CEO and president, the name change will match the company’s branding initiative, which includes aligning its holding company, largest insurance company and managing general agency with the same FedNat name that is known to its partner agents and staff.

The company received approval to change its name at its most recent annual meeting of shareholders.

Clegg Insurance Group, Advanced Insurance Brokerage of Florida

Clegg Insurance Group and Advanced Insurance Brokerage, both in the Tampa, Fla., area, signed a deal that will merge the companies’ property and casualty coverage portfolios. Together, the two companies will offer a wider range of products, greater efficiency and improved customer service. AIB will retain its team of insurance professionals and its Anna Maria Island, Fla., location.