BAC Risk Management of Plantation has affiliated with Karp Insurance Consultants, also of Plantation, as part of the San Francisco-based USI organization. Karp became a partner company in USI Services Corp. a year ago.
"As the financial services distribution system changed, we needed to broaden our base with a national organization to ensure our longevity and productivity," said BAC principal Robert Colman. "BAC intends to grow its capabilities faster than our clients' needs increase. Affiliating with Karp/USI helps us accomplish this goal."
Karp, which was featured as a Rough Notes Marketing Agency of the Month in June 1996, and its financial planning company--Strategic Asset Management Group--will occupy the Plantation headquarters of BAC Risk Management.
Karp writes a variety of personal, commercial and specialty lines. Among its specialty areas are health care, habitational exposures and the financial services industry.
USI, which has revenues of more than $180 million, has operations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Florida
Palmer & Cay acquires Jacksonville agency
The Savannah, Georgia-based Palmer & Cay has acquired George G. Smith & Associates, Inc., one of the largest agencies in Jacksonville. According to Palmer & Cay, the acquisition makes it one of the 25 largest brokers in the nation.
Smith & Associates was incorporated in 1977 and managed approximately $14 million of insurance premiums for Jacksonville area businesses and individuals prior to the acquisition. Palmer & Cay's Florida division will now manage more than $80 million of insurance premiums and will employ a total of 47 associates, 30 in Jacksonville and 17 in Tallahassee.
Joining Palmer & Cay as a senior vice president and member of the Florida corporation's board of directors is George G. Smith, founder and principal owner of Smith & Associates. Smith started his insurance career in 1959 with Aetna Insurance Company and became an independent insurance broker in 1977 with the formation of Smith & Associates. He will continue managing insurance programs for a number of Jacksonville's leading employers.
According to John E. Cay, III, president and chief executive officer of Palmer & Cay, this latest acquisition is part of his firm's long-range strategy for establishing a network of offices throughout the Southeast.
The 129-year-old Palmer & Cay currently writes more than $450 million in premiums for clients throughout the Southeast. It has more than 425 employees in 15 offices in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
District of Columbia
CPCU chapter donates to Howard scholarship fund
The Washington, D.C., Chapter of the CPCU Society (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters) announced a record $10,000 contribution to its scholarship fund from the Metropolitan Washington Association of Independent Insurance Agents (MWAIIA). The D.C. Chapter, which has over 300 members in the region who hold the prestigious CPCU designation, developed the scholarship program to provide assistance to insurance majors at Howard University.
For more information about academic requirements for the scholarship program, contact Christine Page, CPCU, at (703) 971-7372.*
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1997