Core Insurance, Risk Management
GlobeNewswire | August 31, 2023
Risk Strategies, a leading national specialty insurance brokerage and risk management firm, today announced that it has acquired Benefit Design Group LLC, a retail agency specializing in health, life and retirement solutions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Based in Portland, Oregon and led by Joel Biernat and Dennis Warneke, Benefit Design Group (BDG) is an independent insurance agency specializing in health insurance solutions for businesses, individuals and seniors. With a client base across Oregon and Washington, the firm serves businesses seeking tailored employee benefits programs across a wide range of industries, including aged care, education, hospitality and manufacturing, as well as individuals and seniors.
“As a national specialist in the increasingly complex world of employee benefits, we’re always seeking new partners who can add to both our geographic presence and expertise,” said John Greenbaum, National Employee Benefits Practice Leader, Risk Strategies. “It’s why we’re excited to bring Joel, Dennis and the BDG organization into the Risk Strategies family.”
BDG offers a broad array of products to its individual and group insurance clients including medical, dental, life insurance, Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans, among others. BDG as constituted today, was formed in 2017 when Biernat merged the firm with Warneke’s company, The Warneke Group, LLC. That firm primarily specialized in providing services and products for employers offering group employee benefits to their employees.
“We’re extremely excited to join Risk Strategies,” said Biernat, President, Benefit Design Group. “We know that being part of a true specialty brokerage with national scale will bring a myriad of benefits to our people, business and especially our clients.”
The purchase of BDG adds to Risk Strategies’ presence in the Pacific Northwest. It builds upon the firm’s previous acquisition of the Fournier Group, a full-service commercial and personal lines retail insurance agency.
About Risk Strategies
Risk Strategies is the 9th largest privately held US brokerage firm offering comprehensive risk management advice, insurance and reinsurance placement for property & casualty, employee benefits, private client services, as well as consulting services and financial & wealth solutions. With more than 30 specialty practices, Risk Strategies serves commercial companies, nonprofits, public entities, and individuals, and has access to all major insurance markets. Risk Strategies has over 100 offices including Boston, New York City, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Grand Cayman, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Nashville, Washington DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco. RiskStrategies.com.
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Life Insurance, Insurance Technology
PR Newswire | August 29, 2023
LIBRA Insurance Partners (LIBRA), the largest independently-owned life insurance marketing organization (IMO) in the United States, announces a partnership with Highland Capital Brokerage (HCB), a national life insurance and annuity distribution company and a subsidiary of Osaic.
"Highland Capital Brokerage is a formidable organization and we are excited they have selected LIBRA as their strategic partner to help facilitate its growth and expansion initiatives," said William (Bill) Shelow, CLU®, ChFC®, CPCU®, LLIF, president and CEO of LIBRA.
HCB provides risk management strategies and solutions to help financial professionals protect and grow their clients' assets. As a national life insurance, annuity, disability, and longevity planning firm, HCB distributes these solutions across the wealth spectrum to both institutional and independent partners.
"The partnership with LIBRA is an important step in Highland's evolution. Our diversified sales organization will rely on the vast array of carriers and their products to provide risk management solutions to our clients," said Teague Wright, president of Highland Capital Brokerage. "We look forward to taking advantage of the breadth of tools and resources this affiliation makes available."
HCB is comprised of more than 300 employees nationwide with an exceptionally talented and tenured team.
"I have enjoyed having an association in various capacities with Highland Capital Brokerage since its inception. They embody everything that LIBRA and our partners symbolize," said J. Craig Collins, executive vice president and chief relationship officer of LIBRA. "Teague and her senior leadership team have built a first-class organization and will greatly complement the markets we serve and the carriers we represent. Their interest in LIBRA further demonstrates the great value that we bring to our partner firms with our focus on delivering industry-leading tools and resources that support their efforts."
Shelow added, "I believe this affiliation elevates the stature of both organizations."
LIBRA Insurance Partners takes a true partnership approach with each of its valued relationships with the core belief in "the strength of many and power of one." With unique reinsurance ownership opportunities, agent retention programs, business development consulting, live training events and robust sales and marketing resources, the firm provides an unparalleled community of comradery and commitment to the success of each of its shareholders.
By way of partnership, HCB further expands upon its expansive resources and capabilities with direct access to several additional proprietary advanced planning tools and benefits, including:
exclusive facultative underwriting program with RGA Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA)
established relationships with an expanded lineup of affiliated carriers and reinsurers
a dedicated medical director
product white papers and benchmarking tools
a proprietary quick quoting and informal processing platform
About Highland Capital Brokerage (HCB)
Highland Capital Brokerage is a national life insurance, annuity, disability, and long-term care distribution company providing point-of-sale support, advanced marketing, and creative estate- and business-planning techniques to financial advisors and insurance professionals. We deliver these services in an efficient, client-focused environment that extends to carrier and product expertise, underwriting negotiation, and complete back-office processing. Highland offers objective access to major insurance carriers, advanced planning support, expertise in risk underwriting, and back-office processing to insurance brokers, financial planners, and various institutions such as banks, wirehouses, and certified public accountant firms. To learn more about Highland Capital Brokerage, visit www.highlandbrokerage.com.
About LIBRA Insurance Partners (LIBRA)
LIBRA Insurance Partners is an insurance marketing organization dedicated to serving independent insurance producers, brokers, and financial institutions. Formerly known as LifeMark Partners and BRAMCO Financial Resources, and through the merger with Insurance Designers of America (IDA) in 2022, the firm exists to leverage strategic relationships, expertise, and innovation to expand life insurance distribution for the benefit of all stakeholders. LIBRA Insurance Partners is dedicated to the ongoing development and enhancement of resources to differentiate partner agencies from the competition. Its firms benefit from robust proprietary service offerings, unparalleled partnership, product expertise, and access to industry-leading technologies and tools, including expansive underwriting support resources. To learn more about becoming a LIBRA partner firm, visit www.LIBRAInsurancePartners.com or call (410) 837-3022.
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Risk Management, Life Insurance
PR Newswire | August 11, 2023
Vitech Systems Group announced that it has been named a Leader of U.S. life and retirement (L&R) policy administration systems (PAS) in the ISG Provider Lens™ Insurance Platform Solutions report for the third year in a row. This report is conducted by Information Services Group (ISG) and offers an L&R PAS provider quadrant analysis and a comprehensive comparison of strengths, challenges, and competitive differentiators.
Vitech's V3locity cloud-native platform was commended in the study for its end-to-end functionality, flexible and agile operationalization, and robust support of group insurance benefits. Its capabilities enable quick time to value, straight-through processing, and an excellent user experience for employees, employers, and brokers.
Ashish Jhajharia, the author of the report, noted, "Vitech's V3locity cloud-native platform, which caters to the market with a system created exclusively for the group benefits area, offers a high degree of configurability, capabilities across the value chain and enhanced functionalities for carriers operating in this category."
According to ISG, L&R PAS quadrant Leaders possess a comprehensive product and service offering, a strong market presence, and an established competitive position. They also represent innovative strength and competitive stability.
"We are thrilled that Vitech has once again achieved the prestigious recognition of Life & Retirement Insurance Platform Solutions Leader by ISG," said David Burns, Vitech's CEO. "Receiving this recognition for the third consecutive time is market validation that our focus on innovation and unwavering commitment to providing market-leading capabilities and services continues to bring exceptional value to our customers and their beneficiaries."
V3locity is Vitech's cloud-native administration, engagement, and analytics platform. It is a transformative suite of complementary applications that offers full life cycle business functionality and robust enterprise capabilities. It marries core administration with a revolutionary digital experience. Its modular design enables flexible, agile deployment strategies. V3locity employs a cloud-native architecture that leverages the unique capabilities of AWS to deliver a solution with unparalleled security, scalability, and resiliency.
About Vitech®
Vitech is a global provider of cloud-native benefit and investment administration software. The organization helps their insurance, retirement, and investment clients expand their offerings and capabilities, streamline their operations, gain analytical insights, and transform their engagement models. Vitech employs more than 1,400 professionals, serving the world's most successful insurance, retirement, and investment organizations. An innovator and visionary, Vitech's market leadership has been recognized by industry experts, such as Gartner, Celent, Aite-Novarica, and ISG. For more information, please visit vitechinc.com.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including more than 70 of the top 100 enterprises in the world, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry's most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit isg-one.com.
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