When Online Really is Not Adequate

WE begin this issue with an old plea: to NYS Legislators: please do not do away with the PIRP programs as they now exist. Current law mandates that these courses may only be taken in-person in the classroom and that an applicant must provide proof of satisfactory completion of this course before a driver’s license can be issued. The purpose of this course is to educate applicants who are seeking to take their road test for a first-time driver’s license. The course, which teaches the rules of the road, basic driving skills, and defensive driving skills, has proven to be successful largely because of its live nature and the interaction between students and the teachers administering the course.   A new law is afoot that, if enacted into law, would create a new section 12-D of the Vehicle and Traffic Law requiring the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to establish and implement an on-line pre-licensing course pilot program.  On line is a bad idea for educating and focusing the attention of errant drivers. Period. We oppose this concept on several grounds and urge the Governor to veto any such bill…. OPTIS reports that there were 490 announced insurance agency mergers and acquisitions during the first three quarters of the year, the highest nine-month total ever, beating the 481 deals announced in 2018.

The data covers U.S. and Canadian agencies selling primarily property-and-casualty insurance, agencies selling both P&C and employee benefits, and those selling only employee benefits.

There were 158 transactions in the third quarter alone, making it the second most-active third quarter ever.  The OPTIS Partners report breaks down buyers into four groups: private equity-backed/hybrid brokers, privately held brokers, publicly held brokers, and all others.

PE/hybrid buyers continue to lead all buyer groups with 66 percent of the total transactions through the first nine months (320 in total). Acquisitions by privately owned agencies were the next most active group, accounting for 20 percent of deals. For the nine-month period, Acrisure led all buyers with 71 transactions, followed by Hub International Limited (37), Gallagher (27), Broadstreet Partners (27), and AssuredPartners (26). The reports break down sellers into four groups: property & casualty brokers, P&C/benefits brokers, employee benefits agencies, and all others. Sales of P&C agencies continue to dominate the seller landscape with 252 announced transactions, followed by employee benefits agencies (123 sales), P&C/benefits brokers (63 deals), and all others (52 transactions)…speaking of M & A activity. Please see the announcement on the opposite page. We are growing and will serve an expanded US market with which we are proud to be associated. –SA