Arrowhead Financial Group Acquires Top Inland Empire Agency

California-based Arrowhead Financial Group has acquired Sawyer, Cook & Co., one of the largest insurance agencies in the Inland Empire with a history stretching back nearly 80 years.

The acquisition of the Redlands-based firm boosts Arrowhead Financial Group’s insurance revenues to $45 million in annual premiums, making Arrowhead the fourth largest provider of business and commercial insurance in the Inland Empire.

The acquisition, which comes roughly seven months after Arrowhead’s acquisition of Corona-based CalBond Insurance Agency and Surety Services, also triples the number of business and personal insurance companies Arrowhead represents.

“The Sawyer, Cook acquisition significantly strengthens our position in the Inland Empire insurance market,” Jim Estes, president of Arrowhead Financial Group, a subsidiary of San Bernardino-based Arrowhead Credit Union, commented. “We are expanding the base upon which we can build.”

Founded in Redlands in 1924, Sawyer, Cook & Co. has 20 employees, offices in Redlands and Lake Arrowhead, and more than 2,000 commercial accounts. It was the ninth largest insurance agency in the Inland Empire prior to its acquisition by Arrowhead Financial Group. While Sawyer, Cook & Co. provided both personal and commercial insurance, its strength is in business insurance, Estes said.

As a result, he said, the insurance services will be divided into two divisions.

The commercial lines, including those obtained through the CalBond acquisition last year, will be marketed using the Sawyer, Cook & Co. name, given the company’s eight-decade history, market penetration and brand recognition. Glenn Goodwin, former President of Sawyer, Cook & Co., will become a Senior Vice President at Arrowhead Financial Group and oversee the new expanded commercial insurance division working closely with Arrowhead’s new bank during its formation.

Arrowhead Financial Group’s personal lines of insurance, meanwhile, will continue to be marketed through CU Insurance Services, the insurance division that has provided personal insurance coverage since 1985. Arrowhead Financial Group senior vice president Sharon Pinkerton, a certified insurance counselor with over 20 years experience in the industry, will manage the personal insurance division. Pinkerton has directed the insurance division since 1997, taking the division from $200,000 in commissions to over $1,600,000.

Arrowhead Financial Group’s insurance is available in offices in San Bernardino, Corona, Lake Arrowhead and Redlands. Web sites for Arrowhead and Sawyer, Cook will be modified in the coming weeks.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions