Business Moves

Orchid Underwriters, Coastal Agents Alliance

Orchid Underwriters Agency LLC, a Vero Beach, Fla.-based program administrator and wholesale broker of excess & surplus (E&S) insurance focusing on coastal properties, has acquired Coastal Agents Alliance, a managing general agent (MGA) in West Atlantic City, N.J. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Coastal Agents Alliance specializes in catastrophic coastal-exposed E&S homeowners’ insurance and writes in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Orchid Underwriters Agency said this acquisition is an important step in Orchid’s growth and geographic expansion, and that the transaction would help expand Orchid’s reach into the Northeast.

Tim Byrne will remain president of Coastal Agents Alliance and will have a significant ownership stake in Orchid. Byrne will also serve in a senior executive capacity for Orchid. All other members of Coastal Agents Alliance’s management team will remain with the firm, which will continue to be based in West Atlantic City.

Founded in 1998, Orchid Underwriters Agency specializes in providing specialty insurance products for homeowners and other difficult-to-insure properties throughout the United States and the Caribbean. Its product offering include homeowners and condominium property insurance, including umbrella policies, wind and wind only, general and excess flood, earthquake, builder’s risk, and others.

Orchid Underwriters Agency does business in 27 states, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Orchid was acquired by Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based middle market private equity firm, in November 2014.

GEICO

Giant auto insurer GEICO said in April that it is hiring more than 300 associates in 2015 to add to its office in Woodbury, located in Long Island, N.Y., as well as for legal offices located throughout Long Island, N.Y.

GEICO said it is seeking to add positions in liability and no-fault claims, sales, customer service and auto damage, as well as for the Management Development Program, one of its leadership programs. In addition, GEICO is looking to hire more than 40 legal staff in 2015.

The auto insurer’s office in Woodbury, which sits on the North Shore border of Suffolk and Nassau counties, opened in 1973 and has close to 3,000 associates.

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company), a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, serves more than 13 million private passenger customers, insuring more than 22 million vehicles (auto and cycle).

The Holmes Organisation, Hub Midwest

Hub International Ltd. (Hub) subsidiary Hub International Midwest Ltd. (Hub Midwest) has acquired the assets of The Holmes Organisation (Holmes), a Tulsa, Okla.-based multiline property and casualty, employee benefits and personal lines brokerage. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The Holmes team will continue to operate from its existing offices in Tulsa and Little Rock, Ark., and will become part of Hub Midwest, establishing Hub Midwest’s fourth location in Oklahoma. Stuart F. DeSelms, president of Holmes, will join Hub Midwest as executive vice president and chief sales officer.

Arthur J. Gallagher, Integrated Healthcare Strategies

Itasca, Ill.-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Integrated Healthcare Strategies located in Kansas City, Mo., and Minneapolis. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With operations dating back to 1974, Integrated Healthcare Strategies (Integrated) provides strategic human resources consulting services specifically to healthcare organization clients throughout the United States.

Bob Erra and his team will continue to operate from their current locations under the direction of William Ziebell, head of Gallagher’s North Central employee benefit consulting and brokerage operations.

Triton, Phoenix

Triton Insurance Group Inc., based in Margate, Fla., has entered the commercial insurance market with the acquisition of Phoenix Insurance Group, located in Coral Springs, Fla.

Currently, Triton Insurance Group Inc., offers personal lines insurance in the state of Florida and has purchased Phoenix Insurance Group with the intention of bringing its same business model to the commercial insurance industry.

According to Triton Owner and Partner William “B.J.” Michaud, the commercial market is a natural fit for Triton, whose clients are “professionals, business owners, decision-makers, and influencers that have more complex needs than most, in both their personal and professional lives.”

The acquisition will provide Triton access to hundreds of commercial markets and relationships.

Triton Insurance Group is a Florida provider of home, auto, business, motorcycle, umbrella, boat and workman’s compensation insurance.