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Insurance Brokers Notch 8.6% Revenue Jump in 2013

Orange County’s top insurance brokers picked up the pace in growing their revenues last year, benefiting in part from a generally improved economy that helped boost business prospects for their clients.

This week’s Business Journal list features the 23 largest brokerage firms with headquarters or significant operations here. It tracks the amount of revenue generated by firms’ Orange County offices, which combined for $519.2 million in 2013, up 8.6% year-over-year.

Last year’s lift, which follows an increase of about 7% the year prior, was the fourth straight revenue gain for the local brokers after down years in 2008 and 2009.

Most of the companies—18—posted revenue increases, 12 of them notching double-digit percentage gains. One firm reported a decrease in revenue, and figures for four companies were unchanged, based on Business Journal estimates.

The list also includes the number of employees at the firms’ OC locations, including benefits producers, property and casualty producers, and support staff. Local brokers reported 2,258 employees, up nearly 4% from a year earlier.

• Newport Beach-based Alliant Insurance Services Inc. again topped the list. It had a 12% increase in OC revenue to $72.4 million. That’s a gain of about $7.7 million, the largest dollar-value growth on the list. Its OC operation made up about 13% of the company’s overall top line, which reached $548.3 million.

“Alliant’s Orange County growth occurred primarily in the construction area,” said Ralph Hurst, president of the National Brokerage Group for the firm. He said Alliant’s “relationships with several private equity firms that invest in the real estate space” helped spur the growth.

Alliant’s Orange County workforce comprises 27 property and casualty producers, seven benefits producers, and 180 support employees. The company has 53 offices and about 1,700 employees.

• BB&T Insurance Services of Orange County kept the No. 2 spot, with an estimated $55.3 million in revenue, unchanged from a year earlier.

The Raleigh, N.C.-based company has an office in Irvine that houses the Precept Group division, which it acquired in late 2011 as part of its California expansion. BB&T has another office in Anaheim that moved from Fullerton this year.

BB&T had no changes to its employee base. It has 21 property and casualty producers, 33 benefits producers, and 265 support members, and has expanded its footprint by adding 70 offices for a total of 170.

• No. 3, Marsh Risk & Insurance Services, grew 5% to $49.2 million. The New York-based company has an office in Irvine that houses 175 employees across support staff and the property and casualty and benefits practices. That’s down by one from a year earlier. The company has 415 offices, up by five from a year ago.

• Revenue at Willis Insurance Services of California Inc.’s Irvine office grew 13.6% to $24.4 million, moving the company up one spot to No. 8. It has two benefits producers, 22 property and casualty producers, and 57 support staff members here.

• Santa Ana-based Tutton Insurance Services Inc. had 11% growth in revenue to $9.7 million. The increase moved it up one spot to No. 19.

Vice President George McLaughlin said Tutton’s growth last year “primarily came from all the sales people bringing new business, as opposed to a few big heavy hitters.”

He also cited an improvement in the general economy as a factor.

“Businesses are making moves to grow, whereas before, they were sitting still and waiting to see what was going to happen,” he said. “What we’re seeing is a lot of growth in payroll and revenue, which insurance policies are based on, and you’re seeing a sort of organic increase in premiums. The brokers are benefiting from the generally improved economy.”

• The Irvine office of San Francisco-based Edgewood Partners Insurance Center slipped four spots to No. 18. The local office had $11 million in revenue last year, down from $14 million. The change was primarily due to the firm opening a new office in Ontario that drew several employees and some revenue from the OC office, said Anthony D’Asaro, managing principal at the Irvine office.

This year’s list has three newcomers, including Huntington Beach-based Confie Seguros Holding Co., which debuted at No. 21. The company’s OC operations accounted for $7.7 million in revenue last year, up about 9%.

It primarily serves the Latino-American population and has grown over the past couple of years largely through acquisitions. It has about 550 locations across the U.S. and had recent annual revenue of about $300 million.

• The San Clemente office of Torrance-based Keenan & Associates made the list at No. 22, with $5 million in OC revenue last year, up from $4.7 million. The company has eight local property and casualty producers and eight benefits producers, plus nine locations companywide, all in California.

• No. 23, SES Insurance Brokerage Services Inc., was also new to the list. It’s moving its headquarters from Orange to Santa Ana this week. The company had $4.7 million in revenue in 2013, up about 3% year-over-year.

President Bill Mecklenburg cited a number of key contributors to the recent growth, including expanding to serve real estate investors.

“Since 2008, private equity funds and some wealthy investors have been purchasing large [amounts] of residential real estate, which many are now turning into rental properties,” he said. “SES researched the space and hired a product manager to run the business in 2013, and it has grown to 10% of our business nine months since the product launch.”

Chief Executive Blair Schrum added that the company has been making strategic hires and is looking to bring on additional talent.

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