Two major independent insurance brokers announced today they are joining forces to become one of the largest insurance brokerages in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The August 1st agreement combines Northridge Insurance Agency (NIA) in the San Fernando Valley with the Scanlon Guerra Burke (SGB) operation in Woodland Hills. In addition NIA brings their office locations in Ventura and Thousand Oaks.
At a time when many other brokers have not experienced much success, SGB and NIA have been moving ahead, adding more tools to the toolbox they use to serve clients. “We are very excited about this agreement,” said James N. Scanlon, CEO of SGB. “We now have a company in excess of $100 million in premiums. There are very few independent brokers of this size in Southern California.”
By combining forces they will have over 70 employees and will be poised to offer all lines of insurance for both businesses and individuals. “The creativity that is being brought to the table by all of these great insurance professionals is going to be phenomenal,” said Stuart Lorch, partner at NIA.
Mario A. Guerra CPIA, one of the owners of SGB, said, “We gave a lot of thought to our message: Coming together to serve you better. Our clients will benefit tremendously with the additional buying power, strength and resources that this combined company will have. We will be providing service without boundaries.”
SGB has shown tremendous growth in the private business sector in recent years. It was started by Scanlon’s father in 1964 and Jim took the business to a new level with partners Mario Guerra, Paul Burke and Justin Schneir as they built deep relationships into the manufacturing and tool industry in Los Angeles County, the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County areas. SGB won awards for its innovative approaches that stressed consulting with clients to reduce risk and lower claims experience.
“We have grown because we stress excellent products, community involvement, ethical behavior and personal relationships with our clients,” said Burke.
“And now we are covering every segment of the market – large, small, personal, employee benefits, safety and loss control,” said Schneir.
In 2009, SGB took a giant leap forward by becoming the master broker for the Household Industries Self-Insured Group, a single pool of self-insured retailers. This was a prescient move that paid off when the number of retailers who are eligible to self insure was expanded. The growth in HISIG has been tremendous.
NIA was started in 1931 in the San Fernando Valley and expanded to three locations. Partners Stuart Lorch, Paul Newman, Paul Roth, Tom Leman and Steve Ruehlen purchased the company in June 2006. NIA offers all lines of personal insurance, business insurance, life and health insurance, and employee benefits.
Both companies have deep connections with the communities where they live and work. We value the fact that we contribute to our communities through our support in non-profit organizations, industry associations, churches and synagogues.
“Our ‘coming together’ is a perfect blend of insurance companies, product lines and expertise,” said Newman. “We bring things to the table they don’t have and they bring what we don’t have.”
Ruehlen said, “Bottom line: our customers will be better served, with access to a broader range of insurance products and services. Business owners not only need an agent who can build an insurance portfolio that meets their specific needs, they need a broker who provides services and expertise that ultimately reduce insurance costs and minimize claims. By pooling our resources, we are now uniquely positioned to meet these needs more effectively and on a much larger scale.”
“With great people in fully staffed branch offices we are better positioned to deliver more products to more people. In addition we are adding even more tools and resources in order to benefit our clients and those on our team.” said Leman.
“Bigger is not always better! But a stronger organization whose culture is driven by a vision focused on the customer’s well being and satisfaction is our goal and our mission. The ownership team is excited about working together to fulfill this mission today and tomorrow,” said Roth.