News from Crawford, Financial Risk Solutions, Alera Group and more. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Financial Risk Solutions, Inc., parent of the Chill-Pro Insurance Program that provides comprehensive commercial HVAC service contract insurance and product warranty insurance, announced its acquisition by DOXA Insurance Holdings, LLC (DOXA), a privately-held holding company based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Financial Risk Solutions will maintain operations under the leadership of Jim Wilson and the staff, retain the Financial Risk Solutions and Chill-Pro® names, and remain headquartered in Chicago, IL. The acquisition of Financial Risk Solutions follows DOXA's two previous acquisitions of MGAs seeking succession plans.

The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research launched a new online learning experience that educates insurance and risk professionals about changes, exclusions, endorsements, and revisions within personal auto. Part of the CISR Program, the Insuring Personal Auto Exposures course provides eight hours of intermediate-level instruction to customer service representatives (CSRs) who have mastered insurance basics. The Insuring Personal Auto Exposures course includes interactive segments and incorporates graphic and video assets to explain challenging course concepts. The online curriculum also provides users with self-administered quizzes and knowledge checks that help ensure understanding of the material.

Risk Strategies, a privately held national insurance brokerage and risk management firm, has acquired Winter Group Inc., a specialty insurance program manager with a focus on the trucking industry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Winter Group is a transportation wholesaler that provides insurance solutions for clients in the trucking and transportation industry, specializing in cross-border transportation risks.

Integrated Specialty Coverages (ISC), a managing general agent (MGA) that builds end-to-end insurance products, has acquired Safebuilt Insurance Services (SIS) and all of its affiliates. ISC is sponsored by an investment vehicle managed by Two Sigma's Sightway Capital.

USI Insurance Services (USI) today announced the acquisition of Wexford, Pennsylvania-based employee benefits services firm, JRG Advisors, LLC (JRG). The company's existing operations will be combined with Emerson Reid, USI's employee benefits wholesale brokerage division. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

A public hearing has been scheduled in regards to Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company's application with the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) to become a mutual holding company. The hearing will be held at the OCI on August 15, 2019.

Formstack, a software-as-a-service (SaaS), has acquired Charleston-based eSignature software provider InsureSign. With the acquisition, Formstack seeks to enhance their existing workplace productivity platform to allow users to easily and securely get documents signed electronically from anywhere on any device without the need for a third-party product. Formstack will immediately begin incorporating native eSignatures into its platform through an integration with WebMerge, which Formstack also acquired in April 2019.

National insurance firm Alera Group announced its acquisition of Austin & Co., Inc., effective July 1, 2019. The firm expands Alera Group's employee benefits and property & casualty expertise. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Austin & Co., located in Albany, New York, has served clients throughout the Northeast for more than 165 years. Their service offerings include employee benefits, commercial and business insurance, and HR consulting services.

International specialty insurer Fortegra Financial announced it has acquired a majority interest in DEFEND INSURANCE GROUP, a CEE automotive specialty insurance solutions provider and claims administrator. Effective July 1, Fortegra acquired a majority stake in Ingenasys, Ltd., the parent holding company of DEFEND INSURANCE GROUP.

Crawford & Company announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Penta Expertise & Consult NV (Penta). Headquartered in Antwerp, Penta delivers a range of highly specialized loss-adjusting services for complex claims, with a particular focus on the construction and engineering sectors. Launched in 2003, it services a broad spectrum of clients, including major insurance carriers, brokers, corporate clients and self-insured entities with operations or activities in Belgium.

Related: Around the P&C insurance industry: July 9, 2019