Partners Advantage Acquired By Arthur Gallagher

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is acquiring Partners Advantage Insurance Services in a significant deal that gives the Chicago-based insurance giant a toehold in the insurance marketing organization space.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1993, Partners Advantage is a big IMO providing insurance products, marketing, underwriting, agent development, and recruiting support for the producers and managing general agents.

According to a news release, the Partners' team will continue to operate from their current locations in Urbandale, Iowa, and in Irvine, Riverside and El Dorado Hills, Calif., under the direction of Jeff Leonard, Gallagher's North America Financial & Retirement Services Leader, and John Neumaier, head of Gallagher's Great Lakes Region.

Arthur Gallagher is a global insurance brokerage and risk management services firm established in 1927 and is the third-largest insurance broker in the world. The company acquired about 400 companies in various insurance and consulting company deals since 2010.

"This expands the network capabilities of our Financial & Retirement Services practice and deepens our service offerings by leveraging the leadership Partners Advantage has developed in its specialized wholesale space," said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., chairman, president and CEO.

According to Fortune 500, AGC does business in 35 countries and has nearly 27,000 employees. Founded by Arthur James Gallagher in 1927, the company continues to deal primarily in property & casualty, risk insurance and employee retirement plan services.

AGC was added to the Fortune 500 list in 2016, coming in at 471. Since then, the company rose to 464 in 2017 and 454 in 2018.

Partners Advantage gives Gallagher a big stake in the insurance intermediary space, where IMOs compete for producers and clients.

"Our practice is dedicated to helping organizations and individuals achieve better financial wellbeing outcomes, and we are confident that this partnership will enable us to extend this expertise and commitment to additional clients and prospects," Leonard said. "We are excited that this outstanding team has joined Gallagher and we look forward to their contributions."

"Our independent insurance distributors will continue to enjoy quality service and access to products," said Scott Tietz, CEO of Partners Advantage. "With the additional resources we gain as part of Gallagher, we anticipate great opportunities for our distributors in the future."

A privately held company, Partners Advantage has been growing in its own space. The company merged with AMZ Financial earlier this year to extend its insurance distribution network.

Partners is heavily involved in the indexed space and claims to be "the only firm that has successfully built and launched 10 top-performing indexed life products." Partners is based in Riverside, Calif.

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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