Orange County’s top insurance brokers continued to see stronger business last year, though the pace of revenue gains dropped to about half of the rate the year before.
The 22 largest brokerage firms here posted $477.4 million in revenue, up nearly 7% from the prior year, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The increase follows a 13% growth spurt in 2011.
About half of the firms have their headquarters here, while the rest are OC divisions of companies based throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Most of the entries saw their businesses grow, with 14 firms reporting higher revenues, including six that had double-digit jumps. Three companies said their revenues declined, while two firms held flat. The Business Journal made estimates on three companies.
The list also includes the number of local employees, though those numbers don’t affect the rankings. The figures are broken down to licensed benefits producers, licensed property and casualty producers, and support staff.
Local brokers combined to net 145 hires during the past year through August, an 8% growth to 2,059.
The three largest brokers maintained their spots on the list.
• Newport Beach-based Alliant Insurance Services Inc. came out on top, with a nearly 19% increase in revenue to $64.7 million. The amount generated from its OC operations makes up about 13% of the companywide revenue, which in 2012 totaled about $504 million.
Chief Executive Tom Corbett said improvements in the overall economy and “modest” increases in insurance premium rates helped push along Alliant’s growth.
“But the real big differentiation is that we’re highly specialized in various areas,” he said.
The firm has a number of specialty divisions, including construction, municipalities, technology and energy. Alliant last week acquired Fort Worth-based EnRisk Services Inc., to supplement its existing energy and marine group in Houston.
Alliant has 25 property and casualty producers and six benefits producers in OC, both unchanged from a year ago. It cut 21 support jobs here during the past year, leaving its local support staff at 156.
New York-based investment firm Kohl-berg Kravis Roberts & Co. late last year acquired an unspecified majority stake in Alliant that was held by Blackstone Group LP, a private equity firm also in New York.
Terms of the deal weren’t announced but are estimated to put Alliant’s value at more than $1.1 billion.
• The local offices of Raleigh, N.C.-based BB&T Insurance Services generated $55.3 million last year, up 6% and good for the No. 2 spot. The firm’s Fullerton and Irvine offices operate under the BB&T Insurance Services of Orange County brand, which reflects the late-2011 acquisition of Precept Group in Irvine.
Locally, BB&T has 21 property and casualty producers, 33 benefits producers and 265 support staff.
• The Newport Beach office of New York-based Marsh Risk & Insurance Services was No. 3, with $46.9 million in revenue, down about 2% from a year ago.
It kept the number of OC property and casualty producers unchanged at 17 and hired two benefits producers for a total of 29. It increased its staff by 31, bringing it to 130.
• The Irvine office of New York-based USI Insurance Services LLC brought in $32 million in revenue last year, a gain of about 7% that pushed the firm up one spot to No. 4.
• Tustin-based Wood Gutmann & Bogart Insurance Brokers had $15.6 million in revenue, a gain of about 32% year-over-year. That increase landed the company at No. 12, up four spots.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to bring on many new larger clients in the past 18 to 24 months,” said Kevin Bogart, a partner at the firm who specializes in commercial property and casualty insurance. “We’ve also done a lot in the acquisition area. We have made some formal acquisitions where we purchased a business from another firm, and we’ve also done acquisitions of high-quality local professional talent. When you bring in high-quality people, they tend to bring their relationships with them.”
Recent additions to Wood Gutmann & Bogart have boosted the firm’s OC employment by 37% over the past year for a total of 100.
• No. 18 Pridemark-Everest Insurance Services Inc. in Santa Ana notched $11.2 million in revenue. That was up by more than 38%, the highest percentage increase on the list. The Cedar City, Utah-based company has 57 employees in OC after hiring 19 during the past year.
• Tutton Insurance Services Inc. in Santa Ana came in at No. 20, moving up one spot with an 11% increase in revenue to $8.8 million.
Vice President George McLaughlin said the growth can be attributed to “a variety of factors,” including clients’ improved business and more opportunities for Tutton to partner with new customers.
It’s also due to the “existing customers [who] continued with us despite increasing premiums,” McLaughlin added.
The firm has 51 employees in its sole location in Santa Ana.
• The Anaheim office of Brown & Brown Insurance Services of California Inc., which is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla., was among brokerage firms with revenue declines. The firm had a 6% revenue decline to $7.7 million, a drop that pushed it down to No. 21 from the fourth spot a year earlier.
