AmeriLife acquiring TruChoice to create ‘a force to be reckoned with’

AmeriLife Group, a national leader in marketing, and distributing life and health insurance products, will acquire TruChoice Financial Group in an industry altering deal.

AmerLife is also acquiring Inforce Solutions in the deal with Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, TruChoice is one of the largest field marketing organizations in the industry. The company partners with life and annuities agencies to provide them with marketing, business support and financial solutions. Inforce, an affiliate of TruChoice, is a national brokerage general agency focused in the life insurance market.

The acquisitions will augment AmeriLife, which partners with top insurance carriers to distribute products through a network of over 300,000 insurance agents and advisors and more than 100 marketing organizations and insurance agency locations nationwide.

The deal is merely the latest blockbuster merger in a distribution landscape that favors scale over independence. AmeriLife is a competitor to Integrity Marketing Group, which is in an aggressive buying spree highlighted by the late-July acquisition of Annexus Group.

Sheryl Moore is founder and CEO of Moore Market Intelligence. The TruChoice acquisition is a major boost for AmeriLife, she said this morning.

“Two of the biggest marketing organizations in life insurance just formed a force to be reckoned with," she said. "It will be interesting to see how many FMOs are left standing when all of this aggregation is over.”

TruChoice was formed through a combination of American Financial, Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange, GamePlan Financial Marketing and The Annuity Store in October 2019. In 2019, the most recent year figures are available, TruChoice generated about $2.8 billion in annuity sales and over $23 million in life insurance product sales.

Expanded annuity production

The addition of TruChoice provides significant opportunity for AmeriLife to expand its annuities production, as well as increase its reach in the fast-growing life insurance market and forge a closer relationship with Allianz Life, AmeriLife said in a news release.

“Today’s announcement brings together two incredible companies that not only share similar values, but also a deep, unwavering commitment to empowering agents and advisors to help their clients live more financially secure lives,” said Scott R. Perry, chairman and CEO of AmeriLife. “We’re excited to welcome Brian Peterson and the talented teams at TruChoice and Inforce to the AmeriLife family and its best-in-class distribution.”

Under the AmeriLife umbrella, TruChoice and Inforce will gain access to a wealth of industry-leading resources, new products, and solutions to expand opportunities for their more than 4,000 financial professionals. Like AmeriLife, TruChoice will continue to maintain its strong relationship with Allianz Life as a non-affiliated FMO as the latter moves to consolidate its focus around its core business of creating innovative products that help clients manage their risk in retirement, the release said.

“This is a great move for TruChoice that puts us on a path to significant growth going forward,” said Brian Peterson, president and CEO of TruChoice Financial Group and Inforce. “I couldn’t be more excited for our employees and the financial professionals we serve. I’m convinced AmeriLife is the perfect new partner to help us drive this exciting expansion.”

“This sale supports Allianz Life’s ability to further focus on our core strengths of providing our independent distribution partners with innovative risk management and retirement solutions for their clients,” said Jasmine Jirele, president and CEO of Allianz Life. “I am also excited that this move will allow TruChoice to accelerate its growth as an independent distributor. We look forward to continuing to partner with TruChoice and expanding our relationship with the AmeriLife group of companies.”

Piper Sandler & Co. is acting as exclusive financial advisor to TruChoice Financial Group and Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America in connection with the transaction, which is expected to close on Nov. 30, 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.