Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols Launches Operations

CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Leveraging the deep experience of its partners in helping businesses with their insurance needs, Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols launched operations this month, building its plans for growth around meeting the needs of its wide range of clients.

The insurance brokerage firm specializes in finding quality coverage for businesses of all types and sizes, and aims to continue the pace of growth set by its predecessor firm, Baldwin Connelly. That firm averaged growth in the 15-20% range annually, retaining and gaining clients in the most competitive insurance market in years.

Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols offers insurance and risk management solutions to more than 6,000 individuals, families and commercial clients. The firm's corporate headquarters remains in Clearwater, with an office in Brandon and a planned office in Tampa, and a client base that stretches from Florida to Maine and from the Carolinas to the Midwest. The firm excels in a broad range of traditional and innovative property, liability, and employee benefit capabilities.

The new firm is led by four partners who have an impressive record of success in their combined 100-plus years in the insurance industry.

John Connelly, the managing partner, has nearly 30 years of experience, and is one of the most well known and highly regarded insurance professionals in west-central Florida. His previous firm grew in part by joining forces with top insurance professionals Pat Carlisle and John Fields, who founded Carlisle Fields & Co., and James Nichols, who founded Nichols Insurance Associates, Inc. All four partners are shareholders in the new company.

"Our partners' combination of skills and industry knowledge, coupled with the quality of our 62 employees, provides a tremendous platform for growth," Connelly said. "This is certainly a buyer's market for insurance, and we are succeeding because we can find the best insurance fit for each client. We are very excited about our prospects going forward."

The firm was incorporated in December as Aliant Insurance Group, LLC, using a term that combines the qualities of "reliant" and "alliance," reflecting its commitment to reliability while working as partners with clients. The name is also used by Aliant Bank, an Alabama bank that is partially owned by USAmeriBancorp Inc., the parent company of USAmeriBank, a fast-growing west-central Florida bank.

Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols partners with USAmeriBank to offer bank clients quality insurance services, and the firm is working to develop a similar partnership with Aliant Bank.

For more information, please visit the company website at http://www.ccfninsurance.com, or call 727-723-1111.

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SOURCE Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols