One of the nation’s larger insurance brokerages is taking a shot at Orange County. The Lockton Insurance Agency just opened an office in Newport Beach to serve what it calls a growing number of local clients.
“We do so much business here,it just made sense to open an office,” said Leonard Fodemski, Lockton’s chief operating officer. Up to now, Lockton had serviced many of its Orange County clients, such as Taco Bell Corp., Western Exterminator Co. and El Pollo Loco, from its Los Angeles office.
“A lot of Orange County companies want an agency with an Orange County presence,” Fodemski said.
Lockton is taking 5,000 square feet of space in Newport Beach where its current 10 employees are housed. Lockton has a provision to expand to 16,000 square feet, which it plans to open up in the next few years. By next year, the company plans to have 15 employees and eventually hopes to have 50-plus people working there, Fodemski said.
“The economy is booming. There is a tremendous opportunity for us,” he said.
Lockton touts itself as the largest privately held insurance agency in the nation with $151 million in annual revenue last year, $16.5 million of which came from its California operations.
One of Lockton’s offerings could strike interest locally: The brokerage recently started offering a new product for the homebuilding industry that integrates a general liability policy with a warranty policy.
“It is a product that is long overdue,” Fodemski said. The company developed the policy with Zurich Financial Services Group. As a result of partnering in the development of the product, Lockton is the only agency that is allowed to offer the product from Zurich in the state of California.
“We have a large client base that will benefit from it,” Fodemski said.
Though Lockton considers itself a prominent player, it is still overshadowed by industry leader, Marsh & McLennan Cos., which had $9.2 billion in annual revenue last year and has operations here.
Fodemski said Lockton has been growing its revenue by around 20% a year and will continue that growth.
“And it hasn’t been through acquisitions. We are proud of that. We have no desire to be the biggest. If we did, we would go public and buy a whole bunch (of companies),” Fodemski said.
Lockton, part of Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton Cos., founded its Los Angeles office fives years ago. The office now has around 100 employees. The agency also has offices in New York, Dallas, Denver, St. Louis and Chicago. n
