Under one roof, APCI will speak for nearly 60% of the U.S. property-casualty market. It has 160 employees as a result of the merger and an operating budget of $53 million per year. It will have member companies domiciled in 49 states with Alaska being the exception.

2018 was a major year for insurance agency mergers and acquisitions, and 2019 is starting off to a similar beat.

The respective memberships of the American Insurance Association (AIA) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) have approved a merger. As of Jan. 1, 2019, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCI) will house the combined organizations.

AIA and PCI formally indicated that the possibility of a merger could happen in June 2018, but David A. Sampson, president and CEO of APCI, revealed that the idea was first proposed in July 2017. (He held the same title with PCI prior to its merger with AIA.) He added that both organizations' boards recommended the transaction, and it was overwhelmingly approved by both organizations' members.

A compelling case for members was the accretive value the merger would entail. Sampson says members will benefit through an "unparalleled footprint" that will "represent the membership at the state and federal level, and even in international regulatory venues."

APCI's new beginnings

As a result of the merger, the initial board of directors will be a combination of AIA and PCI's board. The current AIA board chair, Anthony J. Kusczinski, president and CEO of Munich Reinsurance America Inc., will serve as the new APCI board chair. He will be followed by Pete McPartland, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Sentry Insurance, and chair of the board of governors of PCI.

APCI's first board meeting will occur later this month. Its legislative agenda is still being harmonized, but Sampson anticipates the following will be key priorities in 2019:

The tort and legal environment around the country;
Preserving risk-based pricing;
Long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP);
Cultivating greater space and opportunity for private flood markets; and
Reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA)

Under one roof, APCI will speak for nearly 60% of the U.S. property-casualty market. It has 160 employees as a result of the merger, an operating budget of $53 million per year and will have member companies domiciled in 49 states with Alaska being the exception.

Sampson believes the association will come to policy decisions much more quickly now and proactively shape the debate on the issues with a "united industry voice."

"The focus was really on how can we combine the best of these organizations so that the industry is much better prepared to shape the future discussions of how the industry responds to all of these issues," says Sampson. "I think it's a real testament to the vision of both board leaderships to focus on what's [the] best positioning for the industry and the future given how rapidly the industry is changing with technology and innovation, as well as the emerging threats to the industry with increased natural disasters and catastrophes we've seen in recent years."

Special Reports /

AIA, PCI merge into the American Property Casualty Insurance Association

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