Category Archives: Business: Insurance

Press Releases from the Insurance world, What’s new, Popular, Trending and News Worthy. In the ever changing industry of Insurance.

Team Cymru Joins Growing Number of Network Time Foundation Members


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Network Time Foundation

There are few services that generously benefit the entire Internet and everything connected to it.

Network Time Foundation (NTF) today announced that Team Cymru, cyber threat intelligence pioneer and provider of threat hunting and incident response solutions, has joined the foundation as members of the NTP (Network Time Protocol) Consortium, Time Source Consortium, and the General TimeStamp API Consortium.

“There are few services that generously benefit the entire Internet and everything connected to it,” commented Rob Thomas, Founder and CEO of Team Cymru. “NTF builds such a service, making accurate time possible. We are honored to support their important mission and look forward to helping them grow while helping the wider Internet community recognize their importance to us all.”

Network Time Foundation is the home of the NTP Project, which still leads the development and evolution of the Network Time Protocol after nearly four decades, as well as the LinuxPTP Project.NTF provides direct services and support to improve the state of accurate computer network timekeeping in the general community.  The scope of NTF’s work includes helping to craft the precise description of how to exchange time (standardizing protocols and behaviors), writing enterprise-quality software and documentation, understanding and accommodating how things behave in a wide variety of real-world situations, and helping people and organizations know and trust that they have reliable and accurate timestamps.

Team Cymru’s involvement will help accelerate NTF’s Network Time Protocol and General Timestamp API projects. The General Timestamp API project is a newer endeavor garnering much attention, because it allows us to more clearly understand a sequence of events. From being able to reconstruct a series of mechanical failures in a catastrophic incident to determining the root cause of a cyber-attack, accurate timestamps are key. For example, more accurate timestamps on the electrical grid’s computer logs during the 2003 blackout in the Northeast region of the United States could have allowed incident responders to determine what happened faster, reducing the time that people were without power and perhaps even saving lives.

”NTF is excited to begin a much closer working relationship with Team Cymru,” commented Harlan Stenn, Founder and CEO of Network Time Foundation. “For more than 35 years’ time, people and organizations have been relying on our software and, because ‘it just works,’ have been able to ignore who we are and what we do.  As complexities and threats grow and encroach on our infrastructure, it’s great to have a partner like Team Cymru that works hand in hand with organizations that must actively deal with and be aware of today’s threats, helping to identify what are actual threats and what is FUD.”

About Network Time Foundation

Since 1981, the work of the Network Time Foundation has been vital to the infrastructure of our modern world. A 501(c)(3) public benefit organization, NTF develops, produces and maintains the most widely used open-source, precision time software. Secure and reliable timekeeping is essential to record keeping in all industries, from financial to medical and beyond. Without NTF and its projects, the flow of information to Internet devices would slow or even stop. Additional information at https://www.nwtime.org/

About Team Cymru

Since 2005, Team Cymru’s mission has been to save and improve lives by working with public and private sector entities to discover, track and take down threat actors and criminals around the globe. We do this by delivering comprehensive visibility into global Internet traffic and cyber threat activity. Team Cymru collects, processes and aggregates global netflow and 50+ other types of data to give our clients Pure Signal™. This provides the broadest visibility into malicious activity across the Internet. We are seeing more than 500,000 events per second and delivering that information to our users in an actionable way. The most advanced cybersecurity teams and investigators around the world rely on our solutions to uncover the who, what, when, where and why of malicious behavior. They also leverage this global visibility to identify, map, and block malicious infrastructure before the threat even reach an enterprise’s doorstep. Our data is incomparable — Pure Signal™ — and our partners and clients use it to make the world a safer place. For more information visit cymru.com

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Insurance Options Available in the U.S.


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“Besides the minimum required liability insurance that all drivers are required to purchase, there are other policies that can offer coverage in various situations”, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents several types of car insurance policies.

For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/insurance-options-available-for-u-s-drivers/.

Drivers that are living in the US have multiple choices for choosing the insurance policy they need. Besides the minimum required liability insurance that is imposed by each state, there are other types of insurance coverages that drivers might find them useful.

The most common car insurance options are the following:

  • Liability insurance. In most states, the law imposes the drivers to carry at least liability insurance. In case of a car accident, liability insurance will reimburse the costs of repairing the damaged property and the medical bills of the injured victims of an at-fault driver. Drivers not carrying this type of insurance will have to pay the costs for repairs and medical bills from their own pockets. Also, they will have to face the legal consequences of driving without having insurance.
  • Collision insurance. This coverage will pay to repair the policyholder’s damaged vehicle. If the damaged vehicle is declared to be totaled, then the policyholder will be reimbursed with the actual value of his vehicle at the time of the accident. Drivers that own new or expensive vehicles should purchase collision insurance.
  • Comprehensive insurance. This policy will pay to repair or replace a damaged vehicle in an event that is not collision such as, fire, theft, flood, vandalism, etc. In most cases, this coverage will pay damages suffered due to things uncontrollable and unavoidable by the owner.
  • Personal injury protection. Also known as PIP, this insurance policy will provide coverage to the policyholder and his passengers. The costs of an accident can be quite high and in order to pay for the damage, drivers should acquire PIP insurance. This coverage will reimburse the medical bills of the policyholder and his passengers., no matter who is at-fault in a car accident.
  • Uninsured/Underinsured policy. It will pay for the policyholder and his passenger medical bills, lost wages, or other losses in the case the at-fault driver is not found, has no insurance, or has insufficient insurance to cover all the costs.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

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What Should Drivers Know About Car Insurance Quotes


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“Car insurance quotes can help drivers save time and money. Furthermore, the best way to get them is by visiting a brokerage website”, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents some important information drivers should know about car insurance quotes.

For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/what-you-should-know-about-car-insurance-quotes/

Before buying a car insurance policy, drivers are recommended to obtain car insurance quotes. Car insurance quotes are very useful for drivers that want to save time and money. Comparing quotes can help drivers find better car insurance deals.

Drivers that want to obtain quotes should know the following about them:

  • Scanning the market for quotes is crucial. Before buying a policy, drivers should research the market and look for better prices. This can be easily done with the help of car insurance quotes. Drivers should not pay extra for a policy if that policy can be bought somewhere else and at a better price.
  • Car insurance quotes are only price estimates. Car insurance quotes present hypothetical prices for any policy selected by the drivers. The final price of the car insurance policy will be decided after negotiating with the car insurance company agent. Nonetheless, car insurance quotes can help the driver check the car insurance market and see if they have enough funds to get a new policy.
  • Quotes can be obtained from various sources. Insurance quotes can be obtained from car insurance agents or from different websites. However, obtaining quotes online is faster and more effective. Drivers can save time by not having to get quotes by going from one insurance agency to another. It is enough to look for car insurance quotes on a search engine in order to get a list of car insurance companies and brokerage websites that are providing online car insurance quotes for free.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

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New Advisors’ Academy Press Book Explains How to Avoid Leading Money into a Financial Mousetrap—Publication Date, April 14, 2020


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I wrote Three Blind Mice to shine a spotlight on the important topics people need to understand to improve their chances of achieving retirement success.

Scott McLean, who has been in the financial industry for more than 37 years, is the Founder of McLean Advisory Group, host of the weekly radio show Financial Insanity on WBNJ, and a regular guest on top financial TV shows like The Income Generation with David Scranton.

In his new book, Scott explains that the way the financial planning industry is organized could often lead to traps, chaos, and trouble. For example, one might receive investment advice from a financial advisor, have tax returns prepared by an accountant, and estate plan written by an attorney. They’ve taken the right steps, yet the trap has been set.

The problem is, these key consultants hardly ever consult with each other about their mutual customer. They’re basically working with “three blind mice.” Although unintentional, these problems could end up being very real and extremely costly, because the blind mice don’t pay the price; the costumer does.

Scott McLean says, “I wrote Three Blind Mice to shine a spotlight on the important topics people need to understand to improve their chances of achieving retirement success. The book supplies the understanding individuals need to be able to ask their key advisors the right questions, to keep them connected, and have them operating on the same financial game plan—because their financial future depends on it.”

The book’s official publication date is set for April 14, 2020 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. For more information, visit: ThreeBlindMiceBook.com.

About Advisors’ Academy Press: Advisors’ Academy Press, LLC is partially owned by David J. Scranton, and its books are distributed by Simon & Schuster, part of the CBS Corporation. To date, every book published by Advisors’ Academy Press has made the list of Amazon Hot New Releases upon its publication.

For more information contact:

Pam Reimer

pam.reimer@rucls.net or pam.reimer@frontier.net

Phone: (608) 727-2600

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WealthPLAN Partners Turns to Medicare BackOffice® as Resource for Its Financial Advisors


Medicare BackOffice logo

Medicare BackOffice logo

Medicare BackOffice was the clear, easy-to-implement solution for our financial advisors.

WealthPLAN Partners, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), has partnered with Medicare BackOffice® to help its financial advisors and their clients address the growing expense of health care in retirement.

The partnership allows WealthPLAN Partners’ more than 30 Financial Advisors nationwide to refer clients with Medicare questions to Medicare BackOffice, a team of insurance agents licensed, contracted and certified in all 50 states to provide Medicare advice and products. While Medicare BackOffice agents ultimately work directly with consumers, the company’s initial customers are financial advisors or other professionals who want to help their clients navigate Medicare while continuing to concentrate on their primary business.

“As the cost of health care continues to climb faster than the rate of inflation, financial advisors today must address this increased pressure on clients’ financial plans,” said Jeremy Armagost, CFP®, Wealth Advisor with WealthPLAN Partners in Kearney, Nebraska.

“Medicare BackOffice was the clear, easy-to-implement solution for our financial advisors,” Armagost said. “Offering clients health care cost education and management is not only the right thing for advisors to do, it’s also a smart way for advisors to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, because the consumer demand is swelling.”

Brian Hickey, Medicare BackOffice Vice President, said Medicare BackOffice was created to support Financial Advisors and other professionals who aren’t Medicare experts but want to help clients with important health care decisions that can impact their retirement success.

“Financial advisors in particular must mitigate the risk of health care costs, because without the proper planning, a single health care crisis can wipe out years of retirement savings,” Hickey said. “A sound retirement plan should involve ongoing management of health care costs, and for clients age 65 and older, that means reviewing their Medicare plans annually.”

Medicare BackOffice’s Licensed Insurance Agents can help an advisor’s clients with their initial enrollment into Medicare — which can help them avoid costly late-enrollment penalties that can last the rest of their lives.

“In this way, we help financial advisors avoid being blindsided by their clients’ Medicare questions or Medicare rules,” Hickey said.

On an ongoing basis, the Licensed Insurance Agents then conduct free annual reviews of Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement health insurance plans and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plans, looking for dangerous price hikes in premiums and co-pays or drug formulary changes that could be costly.

Medicare BackOffice also keeps its partners up-to-date on important Medicare news and enrollment dates with its partner eNewsletter and provides client-facing materials to help partners educate clients and even market their health care cost-management services.

Learn how working with WealthPLAN Partners and Medicare BackOffice can help you provide your clients with a holistic approach to planning — register to attend a March 26 webinar on how this new partnership can enhance your value.

About Medicare BackOffice

Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Medicare BackOffice is a support service for broker-dealers, independent financial advisors, insurance agents and other professionals, helping their clients find the right Medicare health insurance plan. Professionals simply refer clients to Medicare BackOffice’s team of dedicated insurance agents, who are licensed, contracted and certified in all 50 states to provide Medicare advice and products from insurance carriers that are “A”-rated or better. By making clients’ search for Medicare answers easier and stress-free, Medicare BackOffice strengthens the referring professional’s relationship with clients. For more information, visit http://www.MedicareBackOffice.com. Medicare BackOffice is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program. Insurance services provided by Insuractive, Inc.        

About WealthPLAN Partners

WealthPLAN Partners is a Registered Investment Advisor headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, with branch offices in nine additional states. It was founded in 1989 in order to establish an unbiased financial planning and asset management firm more focused on client success than company sales. WealthPLAN Partners strives to develop innovative solutions to address each client’s situation, focusing on ‘Return on Life’ as well as ‘Return on Investment.’ Our mission is to provide a comprehensive customized financial plan to help guide our clients through the challenges of each phase of their lives. Our philosophy moves beyond simple ‘Buy and Hold’ and basic Asset Allocation, to Strategy Diversification. It looks closely at how investments are managed, how they seek to gain their returns, how they address risk exposures, and perhaps most importantly, what their correlations are with each other.

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Top Factors That Influence Insurance Rates


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“To determine premiums, insurance companies will analyze multiple and various factors. The driving experience and the credit score can significantly influence the price of insurance”, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Car insurance companies will analyze multiple factors, before granting coverage to someone. All of these factors will contour a person’s risk profile, which is the probability of him to make a claim or to be involved in an accident in the near future.

The main factors that determine car insurance rates are the following:


  • The vehicle and its safety rating. Vehicles with high safety ratings will help drivers pay lower premiums. The safety ratings are based on factors like the likelihood of a vehicle to be involved in an accident and how likely a passenger is to be injured in an accident. Also, safety devices will make the car safer and lower insurance rates. To find out about the safety ratings of a vehicle, policyholders can check the websites of IIHS and NHTSA.
  • The driver’s credit score. In most states, insurance companies are allowed to look at drivers’ credit scores in order to determine their insurance rates. Only persons with an excellent credit score will get the best rates, so even having a good credit score is not enough.
  • Address demographics. Insurance companies will be interested in how densely populated is the area, if the traffic is heavy and often congested, car theft reports, road infrastructure, unemployment rate, number of claims in the area and number of lawyers in the area.
  • Driving experience. First-time drivers will always be charged higher premiums. The insurance rates will become lower after several years of driving.
  • The insurance policy itself. Depending on how much coverage and how many add-ons are added on policy, the policy can be cheap or expensive. Policyholders should apply only for policies they actually need.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://carinsuranceplan.org/

Carinsuranceplan.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

For more information, free quotes and money-saving tips, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

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Top Questions Drivers Should Ask Agents During Negotiations


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“Drivers should always ask their car insurance agents more details about the coverage levels, discounts, and how they handle claims”, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

Dealing with car insurance agents can be challenging for many drivers. Even though they present themselves helpful and reliable, policyholders should keep in mind that the main goal of car insurance agents is to sell policies for their companies.

Drivers who are dealing with insurance agents should ask them the following questions:


  • Ask about the available discounts. Most drivers know about several discounts like low-mileage, good driver, loyalty, and others. However, there are some discounts that are less obvious. Policyholders should check with their insurance agents what discounts are available to them and what are the requirements for each discount. Doing this will help drivers figure out how much money they can save.
  • Ask about the coverage levels. Good and honest insurance agents are capable to explain the advantages and disadvantages of several coverage limits. For example, most agents will recommend to drop full coverage on older vehicles or to purchase extra insurance like gap coverage for newer cars. Also, an honest agent will inform the policyholder about the state’s minimum required coverage. Insurance agents who offer high estimates and add too many options in a policy should be avoided.
  • Ask about the covered events. Each policy covers different events. Insurance agents know exactly what events are covered by each policy and they can patiently give more information about this subject to the policyholders. However, policyholders should carefully read the insurance contract before signing it.
  • Drivers should ask what happens to their cars if they are totaled. Having the car totaled can be an unpleasant situation for many drivers. To reimburse the policyholders that got their vehicles totaled, insurance companies can use the actual cash value of a vehicle to repay the drivers, or they can use an agreed value. The last value is agreed by both the insurer and the policyholder before the accident takes place.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

For more information, free quotes and money-saving tips, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

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Gilsbar Names Paul Johnson Senior Director of Population Health Management


“Hank Miltenberger, Gilsbar’s President, and our executive team have always believed that innovative population health management programs are the foundation of a successful, thriving company,” shared Paul.

Gilsbar is proud to announce a recent promotion for our Director of Population Health Management Paul Johnson to Senior Director. This expansion of Mr. Johnson’s role reflects Gilsbar’s commitment to our clients, brokers, and members to consistently improve upon the services we offer and by continually developing innovative solutions to their needs.

“Hank Miltenberger, Gilsbar’s President, and our executive team have always believed that innovative population health management programs are the foundation of a successful, thriving company” shared Paul. “Over the last 10 years we have built a team of over 50 clinicians ranging from Registered Nurses, Dietitians and Social Workers to a Clinical Laboratory Scientist and Doctor of Pharmacy. Our goal is to lower costs for the group, simplify the experience and improve the health of our members. I’m very fortunate to lead such a diverse, intelligent, fun staff who care deeply for the members they serve.”

Ryan Haun, Gilsbar Vice President, shared, “Paul is a natural leader who establishes an environment of quality and performance without sacrificing the care and personal attention to needs that our members want. Combined with his extensive professional healthcare background, these qualities help make his team successful and we appreciate the investment he has made here at Gilsbar. We are fortunate to have him.”

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Life Insurance Commercial Mortgage Index Steeply Drops in Fourth Quarter


Treasury yields – which move inversely with prices – reversed their downward course slightly in the fourth quarter to generate negative price performance. The yield on the 10-year Treasury had climbed up 24 basis points over the quarter.

Trepp, a leading provider of information analytics and technology to the structured finance, commercial real estate, and banking markets has released the fourth quarter 2019 returns for its life insurance commercial mortgage index showing a steep decrease from previous quarters.

The LifeComps™ Index, which benchmarks commercial mortgage investments held by life insurance companies, posted a 0.55 % total return in fourth quarter 2019. This number reflects a significant drop from a third-quarter reading of 2.20 %. The reading was 3.11 % in the second quarter, and 3.15 % in the first quarter. For the full year of 2019, the total return was 1.73%.

Multifamily properties performed best among the four major commercial property types with a total return of 9.81 % over 12 months. The other property types of industrial, office and retail followed. The total returns were 9.34 %, 9.08 %, and 8.79 %, respectively.

Income contributed 1.10 % and price subtracted 0.55 % in the fourth quarter, which was the first quarter of negative price movement since the third quarter of 2018.

“Treasury yields – which move inversely with prices – reversed their downward course slightly in the fourth quarter to generate negative price performance, said Russell Hughes, head of data consortia initiatives at Trepp. “The yield on the 10-year Treasury had climbed up 24 basis points over the quarter,” Hughes said.

“Conversely, in the first quarter of 2020, we see that the coronavirus fears are sending the Treasury headed towards zero. If that steep decline continues, there will be a profound swing back in the Q1 results,” Hughes said.

For 2019, income contributed 4.45 % while price added 4.84 %. Declining Treasury yields over the 12-month period drove the price gain; the yield on the 10-year Treasury ended the period 77 basis points lower.

There are approximately 7,500 active loans in the LifeComps Index with an aggregate principal balance of $147 billion, which represents about a third of the life insurance commercial mortgage market. The weighted average duration is 5.5 years and average reported loan-to-value is 52 %.

For more information, contact Trepp at press@trepp.com or 212.754.1010. Visit http://www.Trepp.com for more information on LifeComps or download our brochure here.

About LifeComps™

The LifeComps™ Commercial Mortgage Loan Index is the only published benchmark for the private commercial mortgage market based on actual mortgage loan cash flow and performance data which has been collected quarterly from participating life insurance companies since 1966. LifeComps provides a quantifiable investment performance index and serves as a benchmark for privately held commercial real estate mortgages.

Trepp

Trepp, founded in 1979, is a leading provider of data, analytics, and technology solutions to the global securities and investment management industries. Trepp specifically serves three key sectors: structured finance, commercial real estate, and banking to help market participants meet their objectives for surveillance, credit risk management, and investment performance. Trusted by the industry for the accuracy of its proprietary data, Trepp provides clients with sophisticated, comprehensive models and analytics. Trepp is wholly owned by Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT).

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AssuredPartners Announces Acquisition of Group Alternatives, Inc.


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AssuredPartners President and COO Tom Riley stated, “We are excited to add the team of Group Alternatives into our Employee Benefits structure. We will continue to grow our presence through Illinois while adding to our national employee benefits resources.”

AssuredPartners, Inc. announced the acquisition of Group Alternatives, Inc. located in Downers Grove, IL. The dedicated team of 10 will remain under the operational leadership of Mike Baker; in addition, the agency reports current revenues estimated at $3 million annually.

Mike Baker of Group Alternatives, Inc. stated, “Since our founding in 1989, it has been our focus to aid employers in establishing and maintaining high-quality employee benefit programs. Joining AssuredPartners will allow our clients to work with our existing team in addition to being supported by an industry leader.”

AssuredPartners Agency President Bill Hayes stated, “The addition of Group Alternatives will strengthen our employee benefits operations. This partnership will continue to deliver the highest level of service with the best solutions for our clients. We welcome the team to AssuredPartners.”

“We feel that Group Alternatives is a skilled and knowledgeable partner. They value providing objective solutions and strategies for their clients and we look forward to collaborating with their team of experts,” stated AssuredPartners Regional President Todd Stocksdale.

AssuredPartners President and COO Tom Riley stated, “We are excited to add the team of Group Alternatives into our Employee Benefits structure. We will continue to grow our presence through Illinois while adding to our national employee benefits resources.”

For more information on Group Alternatives, Inc., please visit: http://www.groupalt.com.

ABOUT ASSUREDPARTNERS, INC

Headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida and led by Jim Henderson and Tom Riley, AssuredPartners, Inc. acquires and invests in insurance brokerage businesses (property and casualty, employee benefits, surety and MGU’s) across the United States and in London. From its founding in March of 2011, AssuredPartners has grown to over $1.5 billion in annualized revenue and continues to be one of the fastest growing insurance brokerage firms in the United States with over 180 offices in 30 states and London. For more information, please contact Dean Curtis, CFO, at 407.708.0031 or dean.curtis@assuredpartners.com, or visit http://www.assuredpartners.com.

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