Marsh & McLennan Agency Acquires Rutherfoord

NU Online News Service, March 17, 12:46 p.m. EST

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC announced it has acquired Thomas Rutherfoord Inc. Financial terms were not released.

New York-based Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA) is a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., which is owned by Marsh & McLennan Companies.

It was formed in 2008 to address the middle market insurance agency business as the alternative to the large client business that the parent brokerage Marsh deals with. MMA operates independent of Marsh. MMA said Rutherfoord, with annual revenue of $81 million, is its largest transaction since November 2009.

In an interview with National Underwriter David Eslickchairman and chief executive officer of MMA. said the plan for MMA is to make it "a very meaningful player in the middle market on a national basis and we are already the 13th largest [insurance agency] on a standalone basis and expect to continue to grow very significantly."

Roanoke, Va.-based Rutherfoord was established in 1916 and is a member of Assurex International, a brokerage network. It has 10 offices and 300 employees. The firm provides commercial property and casualty insurance, risk management, surety, employee benefits, and personal insurance.

According to its Web site, risk management is a major facet of its business.

Rutherfoord's top three executives--Thomas D. Rutherfoord Jr., chairman; Thomas R. Brown, vice-chairman; and George A. "Shad" Steadman III, a Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers board member for more than 20 years and chairman in 2008--will continue to lead the regional business.

All of Rutherfoord's employees will remain with the firm and join the MMA network, MMA said. The firm will continue to operate under the Rutherfoord name for the foreseeable future, MMA added.

"Rutherfoord is an outstanding organization and is regarded among its peers as one of the top insurance agencies in the country; we're excited to add the strength, depth and quality of their entire team to our growing national business," said Mr. Eslick. He said the acquired firm's "focus on client relationships, orientation toward teamwork, quality of employees, discipline of financial performance and market relationships all speak volumes about the integrity of the entire organization."

Mr. Eslick added that Rutherfoord has "a wealth of specialized expertise and capabilities and brings us a strong operation in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic region. That's why we have designated Rutherfoord as our lead brokerage firm in the mid-Atlantic region and the District of Columbia."

Mr. Rutherfoord in a statement said, "Joining Marsh & McLennan Agency represents an exciting opportunity for all the members of our firm to build upon the strong foundation we have forged over the last 30 years."

The merger, he continued, brings a consolidation of talent and resources that "promises to become one of our industry's preeminent national organizations. Together, we will offer greater resources and a broader platform to serve the emerging needs of our clients as they address the increasingly complex risks associated with operating in today's dynamic business environment."

In an interview with National Underwriter, Mr. Eslick said the plan for MMA is to make it "a very meaningful player in the middle market on a national basis and we are already the 13th largest [insurance agency] on a standalone basis and expect to continue to grow very significantly."

He noted that a year into its strategy for growth, the agency is at $171 million in revenue "and we expect to grow fairly significantly."

With the four new partnerships under its belt, he said he expects the pace of acquisition would continue to play itself out into the future. MMA's strategy is to find "good regional platform firms" and then allow the platform firms to make their own acquisitions.

When asked why these multi-million dollar independent agencies decided to forego independence and join MMA, he said their overriding focus was to put their agencies in the best position to provide for their clients and at the same time provide their colleagues opportunities for growth "with some nice rewards."

The MMA model calls for independent authority for these firms to grow their business while giving them the support and resources to continue to grow, said Mr. Eslick.

One issue that has come up often when MMA discusses partnering is assurance that the firms will remain independent, Mr. Eslick noted. He said they have been assured that the leadership of Marsh and the parent company Marsh & McLennan Companies, strongly supports the development of an independent agency company, even having its own board of directors, and the new partners have found that "it is exactly as we told them it would be."