Business Moves
Risk Strategies, H.W. International
Global specialty brokerage Risk Strategies reported it has acquired the U.S. and Canadian operating entities of global insurance holding company, H.W. International B.V.
Based in New York City, Hugh Wood Inc. (U.S.) provides commercial lines, personal lines, and group benefits with a focus on real estate, marine, ports, metals, fine art, international, and Japanese global clients. Hugh Wood Canada Limited is based in Toronto, Ontario, and is a niche specialty broker focused on complex commercial lines placements and personal asset protection.
HWI expands Risk Strategies’ practice in the commercial marine space, including in developing insurance for global cargo transit and inventory risks, blue and brown water marine hull, liability coverage for vessel owners, and marine liabilities for those clients involved within the marine industry.
HWI also brings specialty expertise to the Risk Strategies fine art practice in a variety of collectibles, including coins and stamps, for a wide range of clients from commercial dealers to private collectors. The Canadian retail operation adds specialty expertise in several industry and commercial and private lines coverages.
The transaction marks the end of a strategic review, and subsequent sales process, by HWI of its North American operations, which started in 2021.
TAG Financial Institutions Group acted as advisor to HWI.
Risk Strategies has more than 30 specialty practices serving commercial companies, nonprofits, public entities, and individuals. It has more than 100 offices including Boston, New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Grand Cayman, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Dellwood Insurance Group
Michael Price and Kean Driscoll, two former executives with American International Group (AIG) have launched a nationwide excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance holding company, Dellwood Insurance Group.
New Jersey-based Dellwood will be dedicated to property/casualty wholesale brokers with an emphasis on small and middle enterprise (SME) risks.
Dellwood is backed by RenaissanceRe, PartnerRe, Starr Insurance, and Central Insurance, along with more than $250 million in capital.
Individual investors in the entity include Dominic Addesso, David Delaney, VJ Dowling, Jim Hays, and principals from Stone Point Capital, according to the company’s launch announcement.
Driscoll will serve as president and chief underwriting officer. Driscoll’s background includes serving as CEO and president of Validus Holdings from 2012 to 2019. He spent 2019 to 2023 at AIG in New York as global chief underwriter, global head of reinsurance strategy and global property chief underwriting officer.
Price spent almost five years from 2018 to 2023 at AIG in New York in various roles with General Insurance including CEO, chief operating officer, and deputy chief underwriting officer. Prior to AIG, he spent more than nine years at Arch Insurance in senior positions in underwriting and operations. Earlier in his career, he worked at The Hartford.
Addesso will serve as Dellwood Insurance Group’s non-executive chairman. He currently serves in advisory roles with Clearview Risk Holdings, Core Specialty Insurance Holdings, BMS Re and BMS Group.
Howden Tiger Capital Markets & Advisory served as Dellwood’s financial advisor and Foley & Lardner served as Dellwood’s legal advisor.
Alkeme, Wharton Lyon & Lyon
California-based insurance broker Alkeme acquired Wharton Lyon & Lyon, a retail insurance agency headquartered in Livingston, New Jersey.
Founded in 1912, Wharton Lyon & Lyon is a third-generation insurance agency providing risk management services along with property/casualty, life, health and group insurance. The firm also provides banking and mortgage insurance consulting through a separate division created in 2009.
The agency has an additional office in Eatontown, New Jersey.
The executive team includes Bruce Gilson, chairman; Robert Sileno, president; Phyllis Walsh, executive vice president; and Patricia Browne, secretary.
The deal expands Alkeme’s reach on the East Coast. Since its founding in 2020, Alkeme has completed more than 40 acquisitions and currently operates out of 35 locations in 16 states.
Alkeme is ranked by Insurance Journal one of the top 40 largest independent agencies.
Alkeme was formed in 2018 when eight brokerages based throughout southern California left a cluster arrangement to create a new affiliate group. In early 2020, they merged together and found a capital partner in private equity manager GCP Capital.
Acrisure
Acrisure has formed a New England region, encompassing its businesses in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Acrisure’s New England presence includes 27 office locations, with nearly 400 employees serving more than 57,000 customers.
The company also operates an office in Boston’s Back Bay, home to colleagues working in innovation, marketing and cyber services.
Paul Plunkett will serve as managing partner of the New England region. Plunkett is a Vermont native and former principal with Hickok & Boardman Insurance Group, which joined Acrisure in 2019. He has four decades of industry experience in commercial and personal insurance.
The creation of the New England region is one of the final steps in the company’s unifying all of its acquisitions and businesses under the Acrisure brand, according to Greg Williams, chairman and CEO of Acrisure. The company previously announced the formation of Southeast, Great Lakes, South and West regions.
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Acrisure also has locations in Europe.
Plummer Insurance, Classic One Insurance
Plummer Insurance Inc. reported it has acquired Nebraska-based Classic One Insurance from Riverstone Bank.
Classic One Insurance will remain at its current Scottsbluff, Nebraska, location for the immediate future, but will eventually move to Plummer Insurance’s new location in Gering, Nebraska.
Plummer Insurance was established in 1984 by Steve and Helen Plummer. The agency currently has nine locations in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado and offers multiple insurance products, including home, auto, farm, life, health, crop, bonds, business/commercial, truck, and specialty insurance, by several insurance companies.
Midwest Builders’ Casualty, Waypoint Mutual
Midwest Builders’ Casualty Mutual Co., a large, regional, specialized workers’ compensation insurance carrier, has changed its name to Waypoint Mutual.
Kansas City, Missouri-based Waypoint Mutual has served as a specialized niche workers’ compensation carrier for the last 42 years. The carrier will continue to be headquartered in Kansas City and maintain licenses in 31 states.
The name change aligns with the multi-state reach of the company and its continued expansion beyond the construction market.
Waypoint Mutual will remain a monoline workers’ compensation without changes in coverage, territory, or operational philosophy.
John Crowley, president and CEO of Midwest Builders’ Casualty, said the company will continue its commitment to exceptional service.
Higginbotham, Glenn Harris & Associates
Fort Worth, Texas-based independent insurance firm, Higginbotham, has doubled its presence in Oklahoma by adding Glenn Harris & Associates.
Glenn Harris & Associates of Oklahoma City was founded by Principal Glenn S. Harris in 1987. The firm provides customers with one-on-one service and education from dedicated teams offering the best available coverage at competitive rates.
Glenn Harris & Associates customizes solutions for each client’s needs from a range of carefully selected carriers. The agency provides all types of personal insurance coverage, such as homeowners’, auto, motorcycle, RV and renters’ insurance, and business insurance solutions, such as commercial property, umbrella, EPLI, errors and omissions, inland marine, and professional liability.
Higginbotham opened its first out-of-state office in Oklahoma City in 2017.