The 22 largest insurance brokers in Orange County saw a better year all around, combining for increases in revenue, employees and number of offices.
Total revenue generated here by the companies increased 2.7% to $462.4 million for the 12 months through June, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The return to growth comes after two years of revenue declines.
Half of the companies on the list reported revenue increases, eight saw sales decline, and one was flat. Two of the numbers were based on Business Journal estimates.
Employment for the 22 firms increased 2.6%. The increase brings the total OC employees for the firms to 1,984, up from 1,934 a year earlier.
The total includes 318 benefits producers in OC, an increase of 25 from a year earlier. In addition, two property and casualty producers and 23 support staff were added.
The number of companywide offices for the combined group increased by 35, with seven companies adding locations. The increase put the total number of offices at 2,692.
“The last couple of years, there was a lot of hesitancy in growth,” said Wade Olson, chief executive of Irvine-based Precept Group, No. 6 on the list. “People were trying to understand the impact of health reform. Now, as far as 2011 being stronger, looking at 2012 on the health and welfare side, there’s more clarity around how the health reform is going to impact the distribution channel.”
Newport Beach-based Alliant Insur-ance Services Inc. retained its No. 1 spot, growing revenue from its OC offices by 5.3% to $81.3 million.
After cutting employees last year, Alliant boosted its workforce by adding a benefits producer, four property and casualty producers, and 13 support staff members. The broker also added 19 offices companywide, for a total of 60.
The local offices of New York-based Marsh Risk & Insurance Services/Mercer stayed at No. 2 despite a revenue decline of 7.2% to $44.9 million.
The Irvine office of No. 10 London-based Willis Insurance Services of California Inc. saw the biggest percentage gain in revenue—62.5%—to $21.5 million. The growth pushed the company up two spots on the list from last year.
“A new operating division moved into our (OC) office— which created $3 million— and another $3 million from our Long Beach operation transferred into Irvine,” said John Fuhrman, managing partner of the OC office. He said the company saw another $1 million to $2 million of internal growth.
The firm also added seven more property and casualty producers for a total of 23, the biggest increase on the list.
The local offices of No. 5 Aon Risk Insurance Services West Inc. posted an 11.2% increase in revenue, to $28.9 million.
A year earlier, the Chicago-based company saw sales sink nearly 40%, which marked the biggest drop on last year’s list.
Aon now has 40 property and casualty producers here after a 10-person cut.
It boosted its number of benefits producers here by 60% from a year earlier to 40.
Much of Aon’s growth came from last year’s merger with Hewitt Associates Inc., according to Executive Vice President Arthur Schuler. The $4.9 billion deal created Aon Hewitt.
“That certainly added revenue and employees to the Newport Beach and Irvine offices,” Schuler said. “Despite the continuing economic difficulties, we expect our clients’ revenues and projections to be somewhat stable, as well as employee counts and payroll. We expect our existing revenue to follow that stability.”
“Signs of Tightening”
Referring to the general climate of the brokerage industry, Schuler said he “wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘recovery.’”
He said he expects the insurance market to “exhibit some signs of tightening” on expectation of rising premiums.
Precept Group posted a revenue growth of 4.7% to $25.8 million.
Precept’s Olson said the company has seen growth in both new and existing businesses.
“The focus we have is delivering different solutions to our middle-market customers,” he said.
The Irvine-based company provides exclusively health and welfare insurance services. It has 24 licensed benefits producers here, up from 22 a year earlier.
Newcomer Burnham Benefits Insur-ance Services was No. 19 with revenue of $9.3 million, a 26.7% jump from a year earlier.
The Irvine-based company has 23 local benefits producers and 14 support staff.
The other newcomer to the list was Invensure Insurance Brokers Inc. in Irvine at No. 22.
