Navacord Corp. and Acera Insurance Services Ltd. announced plans to merge Wednesday, saying that the two firms will have a combined $7.2 billion in retail and group benefits insurance premium and $7.5 billion in retirement assets under management.
Their combined salesforce will be over 5,000, based at more than 150 locations. The deal is expected to close at the end of the first quarter. The organization will eventually operate as Navacord.
“Navacord’s brand is better known in the capital markets,” said Lee Rogers, chief executive officer at Acera Insurance. “Longer term, it does not make sense, in our opinion, to operate a multi-brand strategy.”
The combined firm will continue to seek out both organic and inorganic growth opportunities.
“We want to be the professional advisor of choice in all lines of business possible.” said Rogers “What we have found over the years is that when you have one familiarity with one service provider, it streamlines your decision-making process. It helps you build greater trust, and it also allows us a better awareness around your business, your risk, your personal buying appetite, so we can do a better job in servicing you.”
The two organizations have been on one another’s radar for decades.
“We’ve known the leaders of this business for 25-plus years,” said Shawn DeSantis, president and CEO of Navacord. “We’ve been building relationships over that period of time.”
Talks began 15 months ago.
“[With] our combined size and scale, we can bring a lot more resources and support to our advisors, which in turn, results in a better client experience,” said T. Marshall Sadd, Navacord’s executive chairman. “[Clients] are demanding different products. They’re demanding different coverages. And so you need scale to bring in expertise, to understand where the industry is going and what products the clients are going to want in the future.”
As part of the transaction, Clairvest Group Inc. has signed a deal to sell its minority interest in Acera Insurance.