Core Insurance, Insurance Technology
PRnewswire | July 11, 2023
NSM Insurance Group, the nation's leading specialty insurance provider with more than $1.5B in premium across 25+ niche insurance programs in the U.S. and U.K., today announced the completion of its acquisition of Shield Commercial Insurance Services. Based in Palm Desert, CA, Shield specializes in insurance solutions for the general contractor and construction liability space.
"We are energized to continue our series of strategic acquisitions in the U.S. and U.K. with Shield," said Bill McKernan, President of NSM Insurance Group. "Shield is a fast-growing and best-in-class business with exceptional underwriting and a profitable track record. They are a perfect fit for our B2B portfolio of dynamic, specialized businesses. We will accelerate their growth by expanding their geographic footprint and national distribution with our robust network of 15,000+ agent partners across the country."
Shield is exclusively focused on underwriting business for small and mid-sized contractors, offering coverages for General Liability, Excess Liability, Workers' Compensation, Inland Marine and Contractors Professional & Pollution Liability.
"We're thrilled to join the NSM family of specialty insurance brands and further enhance and bolster our offerings to meet the unique needs of contractors," said Robert Anderson, President and Co-Founder of Shield Commercial Insurance Services. "Over the last two decades, we have delivered innovative products for this niche segment and have built a tremendous reputation with agents and carriers alike — which has fueled our explosive organic growth over the last five years."
Over the past 33 years, NSM has developed a winning formula for building the industry's most successful and sustainable programs, consistently outperforming competitors and driving industry-leading growth and profitability over the last four years. This latest acquisition complements NSM's robust portfolio of specialty insurance programs and brands for the commercial P&C industry and consumer insurance — backed by the company's state-of-the-art resources, including IT, operations, marketing, HR and finance.
About NSM Insurance Group
NSM Insurance Group is the nation's leading specialty insurance provider, exclusively focused on building successful insurance programs. For more than 30 years, NSM has been committed to delivering industry-specific insurance programs that help agents meet the unique needs of their customers and fuel market growth through innovative development, underwriting, distribution and claims expertise. The company has built more than $1.5 billion in premium across 25+ specialty insurance programs and brands in the U.S. and U.K. focused on collector cars; pets; social services and behavioral health; addiction treatment; coastal condominiums; towing and garage; trucking; sports and fitness; professional liability for contractors, architects and engineers; habitational; medical stop loss and managed care; staffing; and workers' compensation. For more information on NSM, visit nsminc.com.
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Risk Management, Insurance Technology
PRnewswire | July 17, 2023
Today, HawkSoft welcomes Canopy Connect into its Solution Partner program. HawkSoft has worked with Canopy Connect in an informal capacity for several years, including a joint project involving API connectivity platform, InsuranceGIG that enabled automation between HawkSoft's agency management system and Canopy Connect's insurance verification system. This announcement celebrates the formal recognition of Canopy Connect as a key player in solving pain points for independent insurance agents including an ever-increasing portion of HawkSoft's customer base.
More than eight thousand insurance agents use Canopy Connect to easily collect verified insurance information from their prospects. Agents can send custom links that allow prospects to sign into an insurance carrier and securely share their policy details with the agency. All policy information, drivers, vehicles, and dwelling information can be exported directly into HawkSoft's insurance platform via an API connection through InsuranceGIG. Canopy Connect enables insurance professionals to demonstrate their expertise on navigating risk with a more complete view into a prospect's existing or prior policies.
"We share a common vision of helping agencies grow and removing friction from the agent and client experiences," said Tolga Tezel, founder and CEO at Canopy Connect. "That's why we're excited to be a Solution Partner with HawkSoft, which empowers us to deliver great experiences to agencies together."
"Independent agents need to become trusted experts for their policyholders," said Rushang Shah, CMO at HawkSoft. "To do that, agents need to intimately know their clients and their specific risk management needs. Canopy Connect makes this simple by automatically ingesting verified insurance information from each client's current personal and commercial policies. Agents no longer have to hunt and verify data from different carriers and policies."
Agencies that use HawkSoft as their management system can receive 10% off of Canopy Connect for the first year of service.
About HawkSoft
Since 1995, HawkSoft is a leader in management systems for independent insurance agencies that want effective workflows and a delightful experience for staff and policyholders. Created by independent agents, HawkSoft continues to evolve as a cutting-edge system that powers thousands of agencies. HawkSoft offers the following promise to insurance agents: your investment in HawkSoft will pay for itself in the first year. Learn more about HawkSoft's unique father-and-son story at www.hawksoft.com/story.
About Canopy Connect, Inc.
Canopy Connect enables insurance agencies to collect verified insurance information directly from carriers in seconds, resulting in a better client and agent experience. Through its consumer consent-driven data sharing technology and secure cloud infrastructure, Canopy Connect enables insurance agencies, agents, carriers, lenders, and insurance innovators to deliver delightful, intelligent, and frictionless insurance services.
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Core Insurance, Claims
Business Wire | August 08, 2023
Reliance Matrix, a leading absence and employee benefits company, has partnered with insurance tech company Zywave, the leading provider of cloud-based, digital agency management systems for brokers. Zywave’s CPQ – Employee Benefits solution, which will now feature Reliance Matrix dental and vision products, is designed to make quoting and placing plans simple and streamlined.
“A partnership with Zywave is a huge win for everyone,” said Matthew Ennis, Director, Strategy, Product & Marketing. “Brokers have the opportunity to quote and place our plans for their clients with ease thanks to the greater efficiency that Zywave offers, and Reliance Matrix benefits from new exposure generated by having a presence on this game-changing platform.”
Reliance Matrix and Zywave are aligned in their posture as technology-driven companies. This collaboration keeps Reliance Matrix on the cutting-edge of insurance technology and readies the enterprise for the digital revolution of the industry, which shows no signs of slowing down.
“By placing our products on the Zywave platform, Reliance Matrix has opened itself up to a host of new business,” Ennis asserted. “The sheer volume of quotes Reliance Matrix will now be able to access could never be matched through traditional quoting methods. This partnership illustrates our commitment to staying at the forefront of industry technological advancements.”
About Reliance Matrix
Reliance Matrix delivers employee benefit, absence management and workforce productivity solutions through the financial stability of a top-rated insurance carrier, the proven innovation of an absence TPA, and the daily commitment of thousands of team members across America. Where larger competitors offer size, we inspire confidence and long term engagement through integration, reliability and dedication to providing customized solutions. Born in 1907, Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company is a leading provider of employee benefits, absence management and retirement savings solutions. Matrix Absence Management traces its roots to Silicon Valley at the dawn of the tech boom. Seamless and secure, we innovate and deliver products and programs to help individuals, employers, brokers and fiduciaries protect and nurture those most important to them. Reliance Matrix is a member of the Tokio Marine Group. Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc., the ultimate holding company of the Tokio Marine Group, is incorporated in Japan and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Tokio Marine Group operates in the property and casualty insurance, reinsurance and life insurance sectors globally. The Group’s main operating subsidiary, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire (TMNF), was founded in 1879 and is the oldest and leading property and casualty insurer in Japan.
About Zywave
Zywave leads the insurtech industry, fueling business growth for its partners with cloud-based sales management, client delivery, content and analytics solutions. Zywave’s all-in-one platform provides customizable, user-friendly options that enable insurance professionals to build a unique solution to fit their specific growth goals—their own Modern RevOps Machine. More than 15,000 carriers, agencies, and brokerages worldwide—including all of the top 100 U.S. insurance brokerages—use Zywave solutions to enhance client services, achieve business growth and promote greater health, wellness, risk management and safety. Additional information can be found at www.zywave.com.
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