NU Online News Service, March 30, 10:23 a.m.EDT

A veteran of the insurance industry is coming out of retirementto launch a holding company that aims to acquire surety agenciesbecause this is a prime opportunity for agents to sell theirbusiness.

Robert S. Goldstein, the former chairman and CEO of themanaging general agency BenefitPort Mid-Atlantic, is launchingUnique Insurance Concepts LLC, a Palm Beach, Fla.-based holdingcompany.

Goldstein, who sold BenefitPort Mid-Atlantic to a unit ofGoldman Sachs Group Inc. three years after buying the firm fromMarsh & McLennan's MMC Capital in 2005, says this is a“marvelous opportunity” for agents interested in selling theiragencies.

As the Bush-era tax cuts are expected to end this year, agentsneed to take the opportunity to sell their agencies now tomaximize returns on their years of effort before capital-gainstaxes increase.

Despite being in retirement, Goldstein says insurance remains inhis blood, and he is always in search of a good opportunity.

With agents seeking avenues to capitalize on their years ofwork–and with economic realities pointing to the need for thefederal government to seek more revenue to close the deficit gap–hebelieves now is a great time to launch this new venture.

Goldstein would not go into detail about his backers or thecapital arrangements, but the game plan for Unique InsuranceConcepts is to create a national network of surety andsurety-related P&C insurance agencies throughacquisition.

He says the vision for the culture of this new venture is tocreate partnerships through developing a network of agencies thattake advantage of the vacuum created by the large insurancebrokerage firms, which acquire to fill strategic gaps in theirregional offices.

Unique Insurance's targets will be agencies that specializein the surety business or P&C firms “that work well withsurety” agencies, such as an agency that specializes in contractorswho need bonds to fulfill construction contracts.

He says there is a clear vision to put together a company of lowloss ratio, profitable agencies that provide for customers in acompetitive market.

“A high level of customer service is at the core toeverything,” adds Goldstein.

Another aspect of Unique Insurance will be offering principalseither an opportunity to continue with the firm in a seniormanagement capacity or to take a buy-out. Sellers will not beobligated to remain with the firm and take an earn-out of futureprofits the agency may produce as their compensation for thesale.

Unique Insurance will also offer those agencies that have beenunable to modernize their technology an opportunity to become up todate. He stressed that the new venture will focus on efficiency andproductivity–and that is best achieved through moderntechnology.

He notes that it is also a great way to keep quality peopleand pay them more as the operation grows in efficiency.

“We improve the morale of an agency by making it work better andincreasing the production of good, quality business,” he says.

Unique Insurance has yet to announce any acquisitions, but thefirm has a healthy pipeline of prospective candidates. He expectscontracts to be issued in the near future.

In the meantime, the firm's website is nearing completion andGoldstein believes the future is bright for thisventure.

“We want to be a national presence, coast to coast, and our corebusiness will be bonds,” says Goldstein.