Business Moves

Neace Lukens, Lent Agency

Neace Lukens, a Louisville, Kentucky based brokerage firm, recently acquired the Lent Agency, a Dayton, Ohio insurance agency.

The merger will add 12 Lent Agency employees, including four producers, to the Neace Lukens staff. These employees will join seven Neace Lukens employees at their Daytona, Ohio office. The new firm will referred to as Lent-Neace Lukens.

The Lent Agency has more than 2,000 commercial and personal lines clients. The agency offers property and casualty insurance through such insurers as the Cincinnati Insurance Co., the Westfield Group and Acuity Insurance Group. The agency also offers employers risk management and employee benefits services.

Richard Lonneman, managing partner of Neace Lukens’ Cincinnati office, said the acquisition is part of the firm’s plan to grow throughout the Midwest.

Neace Lukens has 150 agents and 500 employees located throughout Kentucky, Ohio, Cleveland, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Arizona and Georgia. It also has satellite offices in Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Tower Group, Navigators

Tower Group has acquired the renewal rights to the middle market commercial package and commercial auto business of Navigators. Terms were not disclosed.

The portfolio of policies sold by New York-based Navigators involves gross written premiums of approximately $33 million. Tower Group said it expects the deal to contribute $25 million in gross premiums written on an annualized basis.

The transaction does not include Navigators’ global or life sciences products, which are also underwritten within its NAV PAC division.

“Due to the current market conditions, our middle market commercial package business found it challenging to achieve scale without sacrificing underwriting quality,” said Stan Galanski, president and CEO of The Navigators Group. “We felt that this book of business is better associated with a company that has far greater existing presence in this segment.”

Tower Group CEO Michael H. Lee said the acquisition will “allow us to continue to expand our middle market commercial product offering into certain niche classes of business.”

The underwriting personnel hired from Navigators will join Tower Group’s recently formed customized solutions business unit.

Lockton in China

Insurance broker Lockton has received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open a new branch office in China, based in Beijing.

The new office will be run by Alex Jiang, who will be joined by a number of associates. He will report to Gerry Callaghan, CEO and president for Lockton’s Greater China operations.

Jiang joined Lockton in March 2010. He has overseen Lockton’s wholly owned foreign enterprise license application process for the Beijing office. Jiang was previously assistant general manager and head of Financial Risks Practice and Corporate Business Practice in Northern China for HSBC Insurance Brokers.

Lockton said the Beijing branch office will operate as a full-service broker, offeringÊ specialist insurance and reinsurance services as well as risk management expertise and knowledge to Chinese-based companies. In particular it will focus on professional liability, property/casualty and international insurance in and around Beijing.

This is Lockton’s second branch office in China.

Brown & Brown, Nies Insurance

Florida-based Brown & Brown Inc. has bought the assets of Nies Insurance Agency Inc. of Portland, Ore.

With annual revenues of $2.7 million, Nies Insurance Agency has served the needs of clients in the greater Portland/Vancouver, Wash., area for 39 years. Gerald L. “Jerry” Nies, currently president of Nies Insurance, and his team will continue to serve their clients from their Camas and Battle Ground, Wash., offices.

Topics Ohio China