Business Moves

FM Global, FM

FM Global announced it will now be known simply as FM.

The commercial property insurer on July 17 unveiled its new name and “titanium” logo at the company’s midyear meeting.

The company said FM, with the new tagline “Protect Your Purpose,” will serve as the parent brand for its flagship mutual insurance company and commercial property insurer AFM, now known as FM Affiliated.

The company’s cargo insurance business, boiler and machinery reinsurance business, and a new renewable energy unit will also incorporate the new FM brand name.

Applied Systems, Planck

Insurance software firm Applied Systems acquired Planck, an artificial intelligence (AI) company for the insurance industry.

Planck provides an AI-based data platform for commercial insurance. It works with U.S. insurance companies, helping them streamline the commercial underwriting process for the small-medium business market and enabling them to instantly underwrite any policy.

Applied is a provider of cloud-based insurance management systems serving agents and brokers throughout the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Planck was launched in 2016. It is based in New York and Tel-Aviv and has about 80 employees.

Over the past 18 months, Applied has released its first versions of AI-powered features in select Applied and EZLynx products, while also experimenting with various AI capabilities through its Applied AI Lab in collaboration with some of the industry’s largest agents and carriers. The company said these use cases have highlighted significant opportunities for reducing inefficiencies and unlocking the value of data.

Applied said it aims to enhance the speed and quality of critical business processes, including marketing, sales, underwriting, renewals, servicing, and advisory services acquisition.

Origin Specialty Underwriters Agency, Agricultural Insurance Management Services

Illinois-based specialty insurance broker Origin Specialty Underwriters Agency has acquired Agricultural Insurance Management Services (AIMS), an agribusiness insurance-focused managing general underwriter based in Bow, New Hampshire.

AIMS does most of its business in the Mid-Atlantic and East Coast regions and is currently licensed in more than 30 states. It helps agents place insurance for farms, ranches, equine operations, estate farms, and commercial growers of agricultural products.

AIMS offers a variety of farm-related coverages, including homes, barns, farm equipment, auto, and liability from national carriers.

Industry veteran Clark Lindley founded AIMS in 2000 and serves as president. Clark and the firm’s underwriting manager, Tammy Hooker, have more than 50 years of underwriting and carrier experience in the agriculture sector.

Origin Specialty is an MGU that targets small and mid-sized risks including restaurant, hospitality, excavation, and worker’s compensation risks. Origin is a partner company of Beyond Risk, an independent risk management services provider.

World Insurance Associates, Affiliated Insurance Managers

Insurance broker World Insurance Associates acquired the business of Affiliated Insurance Managers (AIM) of Warwick, Rhode Island.

AIM was founded in 1937. Today the agency is primarily focused on commercial lines, while also providing insurance to individuals and families, in southern New England.

Sean P. Daly, CPCU, president and CEO of AIM, said that joining World means AIM will have additional products and services to offer customers.

World is headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey. World is ranked #15 on the Top 100 P&C Agencies by Insurance Journal and #19 on the Top 50 Personal Lines Agencies and #19 on the Top 50 Commercial Lines Agencies by Insurance Journal.

Deland, Gibson Insurance Associates, Atchue Insurance Agency

Independent insurance agency Deland, Gibson Insurance Associates in Wellesley, Massachusetts, has acquired Atchue Insurance Agency, located about 35 miles away in Worcester.

Founded by Earl V. Atchue, Jr. in 1982, Atchue Insurance Agency has grown from an operation Atchue ran out of his home to a well-established Park Avenue firm offering commercial, personal and life insurance and employee benefits across Worcester County.

Both agencies are family-run. Chip Gibson and Ted Gibson are fourth-generation leaders of Deland Gibson, while the next generation of leadership from within the Atchue family is represented by A.J. (Andrew J.) Atchue, who has been named managing director.

A.J. worked at the agency during high school and college, joining the agency full-time in 2015 after three years working in commercial lines at Harleysville/Nationwide Insurance Company in Worcester, and a stint with the American Hockey League in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Atchue team will remain at the current Worcester office at 190 Park Ave.

Deland, Gibson has offices in Wellesley, Franklin, Dennis Port, Duxbury, and Worcester.

Novatae Risk Group, Denali Specialty Group

Novatae Risk Group has acquired the assets of Denali Specialty Group LLC of St. Louis, Missouri.

Founded in 2019, Denali is a full-service insurance intermediary that is backed by decades of experience accumulated by its leadership.

Denali has a primary niche in investment properties and an additional focus on cannabis, excess worker compensation, and student housing.

The organization is led by Michael Eichhorn, Kerri Senger, and Paul Krutek.

OpenRoad

New classic and modern collector vehicle insurer, Dallas-based OpenRoad, has begun offering coverage across select U.S. states.

OpenRoad will be centered around Midwest states with coverage becoming available across Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The collector vehicle insurer aims to add an additional 12 states before the fall and ultimately plans to offer coverage countrywide.

OpenRoad’s insurance program includes specialized coverages tailored to the unique needs of classic and modern collector vehicle owners, with many protections not available through standard auto insurance programs.

OpenRoad said its pricing models also accounts for the reduced accident frequency often associated with collector vehicles, resulting in lower insurance rates for their owners.

OpenRoad CEO Richard Hutchinson is an insurance industry veteran with over three decades of experience including executive leadership roles at Progressive, Hagerty, and Forge. He was president at

Hagerty for nearly six years.

Hub International, Swanson Insurance Agency

Chicago-based Hub International Limited announced it acquired the assets of Swanson Insurance Agency Inc. and Swanson & Associates Inc. (collectively, Swanson Insurance Agency).

Located in New Orleans, Louisiana, Swanson Insurance Agency is a locally owned, independent insurance agency serving the New Orleans community and its surrounding areas. The Swanson Insurance Agency team will join Hub Gulf South.

Swanson Insurance Agency will be referred to as Swanson Insurance Agency, a Hub International company.

NFP, Southern Insurance Agency

NFP, an Aon company and property/casualty broker, benefits consultant, wealth manager and retirement plan advisor, announced the acquisition of Southern Insurance Agency LLC (SIA), a commercial property and casualty broker located in New Orleans.

Louis Faust, founder and president of SIA, will join NFP as a senior vice president and report to Meg McSherry, managing director and property/casualty leader in NFP’s Atlantic region. SIA offers a variety of P/C solutions and services for middle-market companies, including general liability, commercial property, business auto and cyber liability coverages.

Hub International, Wade Associates

Hub International Ltd. has acquired Wade Associates, an independent agency with offices in North Carolina.

Wade specializes in property/casualty insurance for construction, manufacturing, health care and technology sectors. Cheryl Nabell is president of the agency. Nabell and the Wade team will now be part of Hub Carolinas and the agency will be known as Wade Associates LLC, a Hub International company.

Wade has offices in Davidson, New Bern, Raleigh and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Costello Insurance Associates

Heffernan Insurance Brokers has acquired Costello Insurance Associates in Tempe, Arizona.

Pat Costello and his team of five employees will continue to service their new and existing customers

Costello services clients throughout the U.S. in obtaining coverage for corporate and pleasure aircraft, including jets, gliders, and drones, as well as operations such as flying clubs, flight schools, and airports.

Heffernan is an independent insurance brokerage headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Truckee, Bakersfield, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; Seattle and Olympia, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri; and in London.

Jewelers Mutual Group, Union Life & Casualty Insurance Agency

Jewelers Mutual Group acquired Union Life & Casualty Insurance Agency in Phoenix, Arizona.

JM Insurance Agency Partners Inc., a Jewelers Mutual Group company, will join with UL&C.

UL&C has been in the insurance business since 1965, specializing in pawn and related industries.

Policyholders of Jewelers Mutual are members of Jewelers Mutual Holding Co. Jewelers Mutual is headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, with other offices in Dallas, Texas and Miami, Florida.