Horace Mann Educators Corporation HMN recently closed the buyout of retirement plan provider Benefit Consultants Group and the subsidiary broker dealer and registered investment adviser BCG Securities (announced on Oct 30, 2018). The acquisition will help the Multi line insurer improve its retirement plan offerings for educators and others providing services to their communities. However, financial details of the transaction have been kept under wraps.
On completion of the buyout, Benefits Consultants will continue to operate under the same name and management. It is important to note here that the acquired company will receive the strategic direction and leadership decisions from Horace Mann.
Cherry Hill, NJ-based Benefit Consultants has been efficiently and effectively aiding its clients with innovative and high quality retirement and investment planning solutions, thereby meeting their specific needs. Given the bigger scale and vision of Horace Mann, Benefit Consultants is expected to reach greater heights. The transaction will combine two companies committed to better retirement solutions offered to respective partners and clients.
From the standpoint of Horace Mann, the integration will enable the insurer to further leverage its core competencies while simultaneously adding new and enhanced abilities to help catering to their clients’ specific needs in the retirement space. Apart from value addition, the buyout is anticipated to assist the insurer to become a one-stop solution for retirement plans and beyond.
The recently completed transaction will be beneficial to both parties in terms of reaping benefits of each other’s strengths. This in turn, will facilitate an experience of sustained growth and success in the future. The acquisition will not only expand the Multi line insurer’s strategic abilities in the retirement market but also offer opportunities to maximize the benefit delivered to clients and partners.
The addition of Benefit Consultants will boost the acquirer’s portfolio and extend its distribution network and scale. Horace Mann has always pursued strategic prospects that help it ramp up growth and enrich its product portfolio. To cater to the requirement of educator employer market, in December 2018, Horace Mann agreed to purchase National Teachers Associates Life Insurance Company for $405 million. The buyout will help the company consolidate its presence as a provider of financial solutions to the education market.
Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) Multi line insurer have lost 13.6% in a year’s time, narrower than the industry’s decline of 23.1%. The company’s investments in better serving the education market and achieving a double-digit return on equity should help the stock rebound and drive it higher in the near term.
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Other Insurers Following Suit
Considering the insurance industry’s all-time high available capital, there has been a slew of significant acquisitions in the space of late.
In December 2018, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG announced the acquisition of Pointer Insurance Agency, which is likely to upgrade its employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations. Further, Brown & Brown, Inc.’s BRO arm Brown & Brown, Kentucky, Inc. bought all the assets of Dealer Associates, Inc in the same month, enabling the insurance broker to grow its Dealer Services team while fortifying its foothold in the Southwest region of the United States.
Last November, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.'s MMC subsidiary Mercer took over Summit Strategies Group.
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