Risk Management
PR Newswire | January 10, 2024
Specialty Program Group LLC (SPG), a leading operator of specialty insurance brokerage, underwriting and consulting facilities, announced today the acquisition of the assets of Disaster Recovery Services, LLC and its affiliate, Disaster Recovery & Risk Solutions, LLC (collectively, DRS), a premier provider of disaster preparation, response, and recovery consulting for commercial and public entities. Established with a commitment to aid organizations in their times of need, DRS brings to the table extensive experience in disaster preparedness planning and mitigation, real-time response coordination, forensic accounting and financial recovery services, particularly in responding to adverse events such as fires, floods, and hurricanes. DRS rounds out this comprehensive support with construction project management, grant administration, and procurement consulting.
"Partnering with DRS aligns perfectly with our mission to offer innovative and comprehensive solutions to our clients," said SPG President & CEO, Christopher Treanor. "DRS's expertise in disaster recovery not only complements our existing services but also strengthens our commitment to providing unparalleled support in times of crisis."
With its expertise in handling complex scenarios, DRS has established itself as a trusted partner in providing turnkey solutions throughout the recovery process, whether it involves commercial insurance recovery, FEMA reimbursement, construction project management, grant administration, procurement support, or mitigation and resiliency.
"Joining forces with SPG opens new avenues for growth and allows us to leverage their extensive network and resources," said DRS CEO, John Albrecht.
This acquisition aligns with SPG's strategic goal to diversify and strengthen its portfolio, extending its reach into the critical areas of disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. The enhanced capabilities brought by DRS will help ensure SPG continues to meet the evolving needs of its clients and partners in an increasingly complex risk environment.
About Specialty Program Group
Specialty Program Group LLC (SPG) is a leading specialty platform headquartered in Chicago, IL, with a diverse portfolio of specialty insurance operations spanning underwriting management, digital solutions, wholesale and specialty retail brokerage, and insurance services. SPG has a track record of scaling industry leading businesses by providing access to business resources, technology and process efficiency, capital and investment, deep carrier relationships, and a broad distribution network.
About Disaster Recovery Services
Disaster Recovery Services, together with its affiliate, Disaster Recovery & Risk Solutions, LLC, collectively (DRS), is a leading provider of disaster response and recovery solutions, specializing in helping organizations prepare for and navigate the aftermath of disasters like fires, floods, and hurricanes. They offer a range of services including customized disaster preparedness planning and mitigation, real-time coordination during crises, and post-loss insurance and FEMA recovery guidance. DRS is committed to partnering with clients for effective recovery, helping to ensure organizations are well-prepared and resilient in the face of unforeseen disasters.
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Insurance Technology
PR Newswire | January 10, 2024
Keeper Security, the leading provider of zero-trust and zero-knowledge cybersecurity software protecting passwords, passkeys, privileged access, secrets and remote connections, announces Granular Sharing Enforcements will soon be available for all products in the Keeper® platform. Granular Sharing enables administrators to enforce detailed creating and sharing permissions at the user level. By implementing these permissions, organizations can ensure employees only have access to the resources necessary for their roles, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access, data breaches and lateral movement within a network.
"It's critical for organizations to have security solutions that help them adhere to increasing regulations and compliance requirements," said Craig Lurey, CTO and Co-founder of Keeper Security. "Granular permission control helps organizations enhance their security posture by restricting access to sensitive information and systems. With Granular Sharing Enforcements, it's easier than ever for IT administrators to better control the principle of least privilege and streamline operations within their organizations."
Keeper's added Granular Sharing Enforcement policies provide more detailed restrictions that administrators can apply to users for both creating and sharing records. Most employees do not need access to all of the data or functionalities within an organization, and many industries and geographical regions have specific regulations and compliance requirements regarding data protection and privacy, including HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS and SOX. Granular permission controls enable organizations to align with local and industry regulations by allowing them to define and enforce access policies. This helps in ensuring the organization is compliant with industry standards and legal requirements.
Key features of Keeper's Granular Sharing Enforcements include:
Auditing: Keeper provides clear alerting and reporting on over 100 different event types.
Version control: Only a small subset of users have permissions to update or share records, helping teams ensure information is consistent and accurate.
Seamless access on any device: Keeper provides the same user experience across platforms, ensuring cross functionality and ease of use, whether on web, desktop or mobile.
Encryption: Keeper provides secure sharing with elliptic curve encryption, ensuring cybercriminals cannot intercept passwords or other shared records in transit.
Keeper Administrators can easily customize permissions to best suit the compliance needs of their organization. Administrators modify permissions in the Enforcement Policies section of the Admin Console for the chosen role by selecting Creating and Sharing. Most permissions are activated by default for maximum security. Enforcements have been designed to be simple and powerful, allowing admins to choose the appropriate settings for their unique needs.
Granular Sharing Enforcements will be available for all sharing needs within Keeper's Enterprise Password Manager, Keeper Secrets Manager and KeeperPAM. With Keeper's zero-knowledge password management and security platform, IT administrators have complete visibility into employee password practices, enabling them to monitor password use and enforce password security policies, including strong, unique passwords, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), and other security policies. Keeper Secrets Manager is a fully managed cloud-based, zero-knowledge platform for securing infrastructure secrets such as API keys, database passwords, access keys, certificates and any type of confidential data.
Its latest offering, KeeperPAM, provides next-generation Privileged Access Management (PAM) that is disrupting the traditional PAM market. KeeperPAM delivers enterprise-grade password, secrets and privileged connection management within a unified SaaS platform that is cost-effective, easy to use and simple to deploy. KeeperPAM enables least-privilege access with zero-trust and zero-knowledge security. Enterprises select Keeper because of its strong security architecture, ability to support federated and passwordless authentication with any identity provider, seamless integration into on-premises, cloud or hybrid environments and ease of use across desktop and mobile devices.
About Keeper Security
Keeper Security is transforming cybersecurity for people and organizations around the world. Keeper's affordable and easy-to-use solutions are built on a foundation of zero-trust and zero-knowledge security to protect every user on every device. Our next-generation privileged access management solution deploys in minutes and seamlessly integrates with any tech stack to prevent breaches, reduce help desk costs and ensure compliance. Trusted by millions of individuals and thousands of organizations, Keeper is the leader for best-in-class password and passkey management, secrets management, privileged access, secure remote access and encrypted messaging.
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Life Insurance
PR Newswire | January 10, 2024
illumifin, a leading third-party insurance administration and technology provider, today announced it has acquired Administrative Partners of America (APA), the Third-Party Administrator (TPA) of AmeriLife, a national leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities, and retirement planning solutions.
As one of the largest independent marketing organizations (IMO) in the U.S., AmeriLife and APA administer approximately 230,000 policies that generate $3.1 billion of premiums in life insurance, annuities and Medicare Supplement products annually. APA employs nearly 200 associates in Clearwater, Florida, and Salt Lake City, Utah, all of whom will transition to illumifin as part of the sale.
Peter Goldstein, President and Chief Executive Officer of illumifin, commented, "This is our second life and annuities acquisition that complements our existing TPA business and further transforms illumifin. We are constantly identifying new opportunities that will enhance our value proposition and make us a key strategic partner to our clients. AmeriLife has a solid platform with key client overlap that strengthens our relationships and opens the door for significant expansion opportunities. We are very excited to build a partnership with AmeriLife to help support their future growth efforts."
Scott R. Perry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AmeriLife, added, "illumifin is a great home for our TPA operations, and APA's customers will benefit greatly from access to a broad set of capabilities and scalable services across all lines of business. We're equally as excited to begin a new era of partnership with illumifin, and – together with our carrier partners – introduce new products to market, fuel our collective growth, and continue transforming our industry for years to come."
illumifin was formed by Abry Partners, a leading Boston-based private equity firm, and Hoplon Capital, an asset manager focused on digital transformation and disruption.
About illumifin
illumifin provides third party administration and technology services to individual and group insurers. The company, launched in 2021, blends insurance industry knowledge, technology leadership and operational execution to prepare insurers for the digital future. illumifin is a diverse, passionate and empowered team of insurance specialists committed to the growth and success of its customers. With illumifin, there's a brighter future.
About AmeriLife
AmeriLfe's strength is its mission: to provide insurance and retirement solutions to help people live longer, healthier lives. In doing so, AmeriLife has become recognized as a leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities, and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees across the United States. For more than 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with top insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a distribution network of over 300,000 insurance agents and advisors and 120 marketing organizations and insurance agency locations nationwide.
About Abry Partners
Abry is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $90 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages over $5 billion of capital across its active funds.
About Hoplon Capital
Hoplon pursues proprietary investments focused on the digital economy that are disruptive in their respective end markets including insurance, financial services, IT and consulting services, healthcare, digital infrastructure and media industries.
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