One might think that the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 couldbe an indicator that this year could be a busy one from a mergersand acquisitions standpoint, but an executive with ReaganConsulting believes the current rate of activity over the past fiveweeks will not be sustained.

During the first five days of the New Year, there were a totalof 18 acquisitions announced by brokers, including deals involvingbrokers regarded as major M&A players and some other,lesser-known firms.

This activity came on the heels of a busy December, when a totalof 12 acquisitions were announced, concluding a year that had notseen a significant amount of M&A activity overall.

BrianDeitz, senior vice president for Atlanta-based Reagan Consulting,said that viewing the broad picture, 2011 stands a good chance ofbeing a stronger year for acquisition activity after a quiet2009-2010.

While buyers were looking, sellers were hesitant in 2010,concerned about pricing and their ability to make a decent earn-outover the life of the sales agreement.

However, the recent spate of acquisition activity is not a newwave of deal-making but the culmination of a lot of deals that havebeen in the works as the firms worked to capitalize on lowercapital gain rates.

“The first week is not indicative of the pace for the entireyear,” said Mr. Deitz.

He said there is a feeling of cautious optimism that 2011 willbe a pretty decent year for the M&A market, but the main driverwill be sellers who feel confident about closing the deal.

During the month of December, two of the most prolific insurancebrokerage firm acquirers, Arthur J. Gallagher and Brown & BrownInc., announced seven acquisitions between them.

There were also five other announced acquisitions inDecember:

• Marsh & McLennan Agencies' acquisition of Trion Group.
• USI's acquisition of Mastors & Servant
• Aon's acquisition of Insurance.ie
• Integro's acquisition of Reinsurance Advisory Services.
• Ryan Specialty's acquisition of OakBridge Insurance Services.

Among the deals announced in the first few days of January,Marsh & McLennan Agencies (MMA), a subsidiary of insurancebroker Marsh, said it acquired RJF Agencies Inc. of Minneapolis andAlpharetta, Ga.-based Strategic Benefit Solutions Inc.

Strategic Benefit, a benefits brokerage and consulting firm withapproximately $4 million in revenue, was founded in 1998 and offersa wide-range of employee benefits services to middle marketclients. The firm will operate within the Rutherfoord division ofMMA.

Founded in 1986, RJF has annual revenue of approximately $25million and roughly 150 employees. The firm provides property andcasualty insurance and employee benefits to middle market companiesin a wide range of industries. RJF has specialty practices inmanufacturing, condominium and townhome associations, managementliability, and contractors, among others. All of RJF's employeesand leadership team, including Bill Jeatran, chief executiveofficer, and Tim Fleming, president, will join MMA.

MMA said RJF will serve as the firm's upper Midwest hub.

Chicago-based insurance broker HUB International announced theacquisition of six agencies over a two-day period.

The firm said it acquired Phoenix Insurance Group Grande PrairieInc., based in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, and Farr InsuranceGroup of Venice, Fla.

Established 12 years ago, Grande Prairie arranges commercial andpersonal lines programs for a wide array of customers, with a nichein oil and gas production.

Grande Prairie will become part of HUB International Bartonwithin the HUB International Canada West region.

The three partners of Grande Prairie–Bruce George, Mark Marcotteand Elizabeth Fiegehen–will join HUB Barton as part of thisacquisition, reporting to Richard Burley, vice president of HUBBarton.

In December last year, HUB announced it signed letters of intentto acquire other operations within Phoenix, including Edmonton, RedDeer, Hinton and Drayton Valley, in the first quarter of 2011.

Farr Insurance, founded in 1978, works with approximately 10,000clients throughout the state of Florida, with a large concentrationin Sarasota County. The firm places homeowners, automobile andflood insurance for personal lines customers in the Venice region,as well as commercial insurance programs.

Farr Insurance will become part of HUB International NortheastLtd. The principals of Farr Insurance, Latimer and Cindy Farr, willjoin HUB and continue to operate out of their existing locations inVenice and Sarasota, Fla.

Other deals HUB announced included:

• Benefit Resources Inc., a retail employee benefits insurancebrokerage firm in Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Sander A. Kessler & Assoc., a Santa Monica, Calif.-basedinsurance brokerage firm.
• Hall-Conway-Jackson Inc. and Cascade Insurance Group Inc., bothBothell, Wash.-based insurance brokerage and employee benefit firmsthat share joint ownership.
• Davis & Graeber Insurance Services Inc. of Redlands,Calif.

Daytona Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brownsaid it acquired Balcos Insurance Inc. and M C H Inc. of Seattle,d.b.a. Mike Howard Insurance.

Founded in 1985, Balcos Insurance serves clients throughout thewestern United States. With annual revenues of approximately $3million, Balcos offers a broad spectrum of personal lines andcommercial lines insurance, as well as specialized products andservices for the restaurant and hospitality, automotive service andrepair, construction, and manufacturing and distributionindustries, among other specialty niches.

Mike Howard Insurance, with annual revenues of approximately$500,000, has provided its individual and business clients in thegreater Seattle area and throughout the state of Washington with avariety of personal, life and commercial insurance products andservices since 1992.

With completion of the transaction, Brown & Brown ofWashington will operate from two new locations in Seattle andBellingham, Wash., under the direction of Mark Balcos, principal ofBalcos insurance.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA Inc., a subsidiary of SanFrancisco bank Wells Fargo & Co., said it has acquired PrestigeProfessional Plans, a single office employee benefits insurancebrokerage firm located in Dayton, Ohio.

Serving customers in Ohio since 1985, Prestige Professionalprovides business and individual customers with employee benefitsconsulting and brokerage services including medical, dental, life,vision, disability and various other health insurance plans.

Two firms that are not major acquisition players also announcedsome M&A activity.

Alliant Insurance Services, a specialty insurance brokerage firmbased in Newport Beach, Calif., said that it has acquired New YorkCity-based T&H Group.

T&H Group is a regional full-service insurance brokeragefirm that operated as Tanenbaum-Harber Co. until changing its namein 2010. It was established in 1860 and primarily targets uppermiddle market clients throughout the eastern region of thecountry.

T&H has 242 employees in offices in nine states: New York,New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland,Illinois, Florida and California.

Also announced last week, Kingston, N.Y.-based Ryan & RyanInsurance Brokers Inc. acquired Reis Turck Associates' insuranceportfolio.

The acquisition–the second since Ryan & Ryan opened in2009–increases the firm's annual sales by 25 percent, with aninsurance portfolio that now covers more than 1,100 clients.

In Nashville, Wilson Smith Group, LLC (WSG) said it has acquireda majority of the outstanding shares of the Nashville-basedmanaging general agency Greenwich Transportation Underwriters Inc.(GTU).

GTU has been a leading provider to producers of transportationinsurance, primarily for truckers, for 30 years.

Mark Smith, president and managing member of WSG, called theacquisition “an important and strategic transaction in the growthand development of the Wilson Smith Group.”

Financial terms of all of the transactions were notreleased.