Local insurance firm acquired

Oct. 20--TRINITY -- A local insurance firm that's grown to one of the nation's largest in its field has been sold.

The Assurance Group, headquartered in Trinity, was recently acquired by Integrity Marketing Group, the nation's largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products.

Founded by Ed Shackelford in 1988, the Assurance Group has grown into one of the nation's largest insurance marketing organizations, which is a type of company that offers insurance products to independent agents.

Curt Klein, chief marketing officer for the Assurance Group, said the sale is not expected to impact the day-to-day operations of the company, which has 120 employees and a network of about 600 independent insurance agents spread around 30 regional sales offices in 22 states.

"We're a $250 million company. They're a $2 billion company," Klein said of Integrity Marketing Group, which is based in Dallas.

The Assurance Group will maintain its brand and local headquarters, and all 120 of its employees will receive company ownership.

"They're able to give us a lot of resources we can plug into, like additional insurance products and additional insurance carrier relationships," Klein said. "They've got a more robust back office. So we can do what we do best, and that's sell insurance.

Integrity Marketing Group also purchased the Assurance Group's sister company, Leads2Success, which provides insurance leads to its agents.

Shackelford founded Piedmont Brokerage, which became the Assurance Group, out of his garage. As the company grew, his family got involved in the business.

His wife, Beverly Shackelford, founded Leads2Success in 2004, and the company today is led by their daughters, Brooke Mitchell and Brittany Bowles.

The Assurance Group has averaged about 40% annual sales growth in recent years, primarily focused on the senior market, selling Medicare, annuities and life insurance products.

Ed and Beverly Shackelford will become managing partners with Integrity Marketing Group. He said that with the acquisition, the firm went from about 600 affiliated agents to becoming part of a network of about 275,000 agents who sell products from about 300 insurance carriers.

"It gives us a lot better position in the marketplace to better serve the consumer," Shackelford said. "It's just a collaboration of resources and just helps everyone. Bigger is better."

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