Business Moves

Burnett Holdings, QBE

New Orleans-headquartered insurance wholesaler Burnett Holdings Inc. (Burnett) was acquired by QBE Holdings Inc. (QBE), part of Sydney, Australia-based QBE Insurance Group, effective Dec. 31, 2008.

The company will continue to operate under the name of Burnett & Co. Inc., and its management team will remain unchanged. With immediate effect, Burnett will act solely on behalf of QBE Marine & Energy Syndicate 1036 at Lloyd’s as a full binding coverholder for all classes of business.

Burnett, with offices in New Orleans and Houston, is headed by President John Burke. The firm specializes in underwriting marine and energy business, and its product offerings include control of well, oil and gas liabilities, and social services liabilities. Under the agreement, Burnett will have the ability to offer lead or follow subscription lines with its QBE facility, as well as the capability to place the remainder of the account with other markets on a facultative basis. The company will continue to consider both on- and off-shore exposures.

Established in 1886, QBE Insurance Group is rated “A+” by Standard & Poor’s. Active in both insurance and reinsurance, QBE operates out of 45 countries, with a presence in all key insurance markets.

QBE Marine and Energy 1036, headed by Colin O’Farrell, managing director, has an underwriting capacity of £215m for 2009. The syndicate underwrites a worldwide account, specializing in hull, energy, liability, specie, cargo, political risks, war and allied risks.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., PartnerSource

Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquired retail insurance broker and consultant PartnerSource Inc. in Dallas.

Organized in 1994, PartnerSource specializes in the design, implementation and ongoing support for nonsubscription programs, an alternative for Texas workers’ compensation, for their clients with operations in Texas.

PartnerSource also provides non-medical employee benefit programs. Its national and multi-national clients are generally in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, food service and hospitality industries.

Bill Minick, Russell Huber, Richard Johnson and their associates will continue as a separate operating unit under the direction of Mike Henthorn, South Central regional manager of Gallagher’s retail property/casualty brokerage operation.

G4S, National Unity

North Carolina-based G4S Compliance & Investigations formed a partnership with National Unity Insurance Co., a Texas-headquartered company specializing in providing liability insurance for Mexican private and commercial auto while traveling in the United States and Canada.

Under the agreement, G4S will work with National Unity to proactively reduce fraud. By partnering with G4S to enhance its current services, National Unity has access to a Special Investigations Unit with a national scope, according to the companies’ announcement. Working with National Unity, G4S has developed an integrated program to efficiently and effectively conduct their entire field SIU and suspect claim investigations, including surveillance and task-oriented assignments, using G4S’ CaseTrak technology to manage the entire process.

G4S Compliance & Investigations is the largest employer quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has a secondary stock exchange listing in Copenhagen. G4S has operations in more than 110 countries and more than 570,000 employees.

Powter Insurance, O’Neal Insurance

Powter Insurance, based in McKinney, Texas, announced it acquired the O’Neal Insurance Agency of Burleson, Texas. O’Neal Insurance Agency owner Jerita O’Neal will join Powter, bringing many years of experience in property, casualty and group benefits insurance to Powter. The acquisition is Powter’s second in the Ft. Worth/Arlington market.

CEO John Powter said his firm is continuing to target agencies to acquire those that enhance his agency’s cross-selling abilities and provide value to the combined customer base.

Infinity Insurance

Infinity Insurance announced it opened a new 325 seat call center in McAllen, Texas. The facility houses claims and customer service representatives who are trained to handle calls from Infinity’s large base of Spanish-speaking customers from across the United States.

The company estimates that more than half of its customers are Hispanic in targeted urban areas, and reports that many of those customers prefer to interact in Spanish.

Infinity broke ground on the project seven months ago and has been operating the call center from a temporary space in McAllen during construction.

Alabama-based Infinity Insurance is a national provider of personal automobile insurance and part of the Infinity Property and Casualty group of companies.

BancInsure

Oklahoma-based BancInsure’s insurance and risk management products are now available to Texas bankers through their local independent insurance agents, the company announced. BancInsure is a full-line independent insurer specific to financial institutions.

The Texas Bankers Association (TBA) was a founding partner in BancInsure more than 22 years ago, and BancInsure and Texas Bankers Association continue a strong partnership, the company said.

Headquartered in Oklahoma City, BancInsure holds an “A-” (Excellent) with a stable outlook A.M. Best rating, is endorsed by 18 banking organizations and is licensed in 48 states.

CAA, Western Insurance Agency

Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) welcomed Tom Boren Insurance Agency Inc., dba Western Insurance Agency of Copperas Cove, as its 38th member agency. Western Insurance Agency has served the Texas hill country for more than 30 years with a complete line of insurance products, including auto, home, business, life and health insurance.

CAA also congratulated member Mark Bridges, of Edmond, Deaton & Stephens of Amarillo (a division of Duncan, Fraser and Bridges Insurance Agency Inc.) and son of CAA Immediate Past President Bill Bridges, for being installed as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of the Panhandle.