December 2022
Eurazeo invests in specialist re/insurance broker BMS – The Royal Gazette
Updated: Dec 28, 2022 07:21 AM
Delighted: BMS chief executive officer Nick Cook (File photograph)
BMS Group, the independent specialist re/insurance broker with an operation in Bermuda, has announced that a definitive agreement has been entered into with Eurazeo, the global investment company headquartered in Paris, for an additional investment in the business.
Announcing the transaction, BMS said the investment values the business at £1.75 billion.
In a separate announcement, Eurazeo said it is to invest up to £355 million in BMS Group and acquire up to 34 per cent of its share capital.
It added that definitive financial information will be disclosed once the transaction has been completed.
Existing shareholders British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, Preservation Capital Partners, management and staff will continue to be invested in the business.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
In the period 2019 to 2022, revenues at BMS have increased from around £100 million to more than £250 million.
BMS has made eight acquisitions over the past three years, the most recent being Eisenar in Spain. Staff numbers have risen by more than 70 per cent to about 900 people across specialty and reinsurance disciplines.
BMS has also recently strengthened the leadership team including Nick Gillett (CEO, BMS International), Eliot Powell (Group CCO), Louisa Erwin (Group head, DEI), Ian Matheson (chairman, Canada), Chris McDowell (CEO, Bermuda), Ted Hodgkinson (chairman, Asia).
Operating across 14 countries, with 28 offices, this additional investment, the company said, will enable an acceleration in BMS’ pace of growth across its core trading divisions as well as focused investment to continue to deliver exceptional results for clients.
BMS’ management team, led by chief executive officer Nick Cook, will all remain in their roles following completion of the transaction, and management and staff of BMS will remain significant shareholders in
NJ Transit agreed to improve Access Link after reaching second settlement with US Attorney
NJ Transit agreed to make improvements to its Access Link services for people with disabilities as part of the latest settlement with the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The lawsuit was sparked after a complainant alleged he dealt with poor telephone performance, plus untimely pickups and drop-offs due to capacity constraints.
“NJ Transit Access Link has capacity constraints that significantly limit the availability of service to ADA paratransit eligible persons, including a substantial number of trips with late pickups, a significant number of trips with late drop-offs, a significant number of trips that were excessive long, and excessive telephone call wait times,” court documents said.
earlier:train stations more accessible to people with disabilities” class=”link “NJ Transit gets $34M to make 5 train stations more accessible to people with disabilities
The terms of the 10-page agreement were announced Thursday. Here are the improvements that have been made:
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In six months, 85% of hold times can be no longer than 2 minutes; in 12 months, it has become 95% of callers.
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Within six months, 90% of individuals calling into any of its paratransit telephone lines shall experience a hold time of no longer than 5 minutes; in 12 months it has become 99% of callers.
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Within six months, the Access Link shall not deny eligible trip requests made at least the day before the trip.
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In six months, at least 88% of all pickups shall occur within 30 minutes of the scheduled pickup time; in 12 months it has to be 94%.
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In six months, at least 95% of all pickups, on a monthly basis, shall occur within the on-time
What will broker M&A activity look like in 2023?
“Given the amount of capital in the market and the number of buyers in the space, we do think 2023 will be an active year for M&A, though maybe not as active as 2021,” said Crites.
Reagan Consulting is a management consulting firm providing strategic consulting, valuation, capital raising, and M&A services to independent insurance brokers and agents. Crites said overall M&A activity this year has “moderated” as higher interest rates make cost to capital much more expensive.
“Will sellers feel comfortable selling now or waiting? It really depends on where they are,” Crites continued. “But we think today’s market can still provide excellent economic returns for folks who have built their business over 20 to 30 years.”
However, “well-run, youthful and specialized” agencies will continue to do well in the 2023 M&A marketplace. “If you’ve established a history of organic growth, everyone will want a seat at the table,” Crites said.
Organic growth dips in Q3 but still strong for the year
Reagan Consulting also conducts a quarterly growth and profitability survey tracking the performance of brokers and agents across the US. The survey’s latest edition revealed that brokers and agents posted their first decline in organic growth in nearly two years. The organic growth rate was 9.5% in Q3 2022, sliding from its double-digit high-water mark of 10.2% the previous quarter.
“We’ve seen accelerating organic growth up until this quarter. We’re still at nine and a half percent organic growth through the first nine months of the year, but it is a slight decline from the peak that we saw last quarter,” Crites commented.
The loss of momentum could be a sign of economic realities beginning to impact the industry. But brokers and agents continue to set a “blistering pace” in 2022, with nearly half (45%) of respondents
Ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX cofounder Gary Wang pleaded guilty to charges and are cooperating with authorities, US attorneys say
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Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud.
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Both have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
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FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried is being transferred to the US from Bahamas.
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud, Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said Wednesday.
Ellison and Wang have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, Williams added in a statement.
the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Ellison and Wang with “a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX,” the regulator said in a press release on Wednesday. The SEC alleged Ellison — at the direction of FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried — manipulated the price of FTT, a token native to FTX. the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also charged Ellison and Wang with fraud, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried was in FBI custody and “on his way back to the United States” where he will appear in court “as soon as possible,” Williams added in his Wednesday statement. The former FTX CEO landed in the US late on Wednesday.
“Let me reiterate a call that I made last week. If you participate in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it. We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal,” said Williams.
Bankman-Fried resigned as the CEO of FTX on November 11, the same day the troubled exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as it failed to secure a rescue following an intense week-long liquidity squeeze.
Bankman-Fried had been on a media apology tour since
Ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX cofounder Gary Wang pleaded guilty to charges and are cooperating with authorities, US attorneys say
-
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud.
-
Both have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
-
FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried is being transferred to the US from Bahamas.
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud, Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said Wednesday.
Ellison and Wang have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, Williams added in a statement.
the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Ellison and Wang with “a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX,” the regulator said in a press release on Wednesday. The SEC alleged Ellison — at the direction of FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried — manipulated the price of FTT, a token native to FTX. the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also charged Ellison and Wang with fraud, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried was in FBI custody and “on his way back to the United States” where he will appear in court “as soon as possible,” Williams added in his Wednesday statement. The former FTX CEO landed in the US late on Wednesday.
“Let me reiterate a call that I made last week. If you participate in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it. We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal,” said Williams.
Bankman-Fried resigned as the CEO of FTX on November 11, the same day the troubled exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as it failed to secure a rescue following an intense week-long liquidity squeeze.
Bankman-Fried had been on a media apology tour since
Can’d Aid donated bikes to students; Pisgah Legal gives back
With Christmas days away, it is the time of giving in Western North Carolina, and several organizations are giving back to the community.
Nonprofit organization Can’d Aid and local volunteers built and donated 100 bikes to the entire first and second grade students at Brevard Elementary School in Brevard, according to a news release. The bikes were built at Oskar Blues Brewery Taproom on Dec. 11 and donated the following day. The in-person donation event included a live demonstration by a Treads+Trails Ambassador and professional mountain biker Jeff Lenosky, who provided a few tips and tricks to encourage the kids to get active outside, the release said.
“Children average seven hours of screen time per day and only one in five gets the daily recommended amount of exercise, ” said Can’d Aid’s executive director Diana Ralston in the release. “Through the Treads+Trails program, Can’d Aid helps combat these troubling statistics.”
Can’d Aid has donated more than 13,000 bikes and skateboards nationally, the release said. For many of the children receiving a donation, this will be their very first bike – providing a valuable opportunity to get outside and be active.
“Ahead of the holiday season, this is the perfect time of year for the donation,” said Ralston. “Seeing the children’s faces is one of the best parts of my job.”
To donate or find out more information, visit candaid.org.
Pisgah Legal Services gives back to the community
According to a news release, donations made to nonprofit Pisgah Legal Services will be matched dollar-for-dollar through the end of the year. Gifts will be used to support the charity’s work to prevent homelessness, stop domestic violence and increase access to health care for local people with low
Arizona Republican lost lawsuit over attorney general race
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has thrown out Republican Abraham Hamadeh’s challenge of election results in his race against Democrat Kris Mayes for Arizona attorney general, concluding that Hamadeh didn’t prove the errors in vote counting that he had alleged.
The ruling on Friday by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen came after Hamadeh’s attorney, Tim La Sota, acknowledged his client had not gained enough votes during his litigation to change the outcome of the race. Mayes finished 511 votes ahead of Hamadeh out of 2.5 million in one of the closest elections in state history.
“You haven’t met the burden,” Jantzen told La Sota shortly before ruling against Hamadeh.
As part of the litigation, the parties in the case were allowed to inspect a sample of 2,300 ballots. Through the inspection, Hamadeh said he gained a net six votes, while Mayes maintained he netted three votes.
“If you extrapolate the numbers, they are not going to get us to 511 votes if you take the sample we have,” said La Sota, who had pushed for a larger sample size.
Hamadeh, whose race is the subject of a separate automatic recount conducted by the state due to the close results, complained in a tweet about election operations in Maricopa County and said his team “will await the results of the count before deciding our next steps.”
Andrew Gaona, an attorney representing Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, said the lawsuit was a “spectacular waste of everyone’s time.”
Under the Arizona law, Hamadeh faced the high bar of proving not just that election officials wronged but that he would have won without their misconduct.
In his lawsuit he alleged that problems with printers in Maricopa County led to a series of issues that disenfranchised voters. He also alleges his race was
Alberta lawyers agree to end legal aid job actions
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Alberta criminal lawyers have voted to end job action in which they were refusing to take on legal aid certificates, following the province’s decision Wednesday to increase their hourly compensation by 25 per cent.
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In a news release Thursday, the Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in Calgary, the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association out of Edmonton, the Red Deer Criminal Lawyers Association and Lethbridge’s Southern Alberta Defense Lawyers Association jointly announced they were pausing their five-month-long job action in light of the increase.
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Justice Minister Tyler Shandro announced Wednesday the hourly rate for lawyers would be increased from $100 to $125 effective Jan. 1.
The increase follows a bump in October from $92.40 per hour made possible by increased federal funding.
The total increase in amounts to a more than 35 per cent increase in the hourly rate.
“We would like to thank Minister Shandro for sitting down with our
US attorney says ‘we are not done’ charging individuals for FTX collapse
Multiple US government agencies held a press conference Tuesday afternoon regarding the indictment of FTX’s former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.
When asked whether the entities will bring charges against other individuals allegedly involved in the FTX collapsedDamian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said during the event, “I can only say this: Clearly, we are not done.”
The meeting convened hours after the US attorney’s office, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) all filed charges against Bankman-Fried” class=”link “filed charges against Bankman-Fried earlier in the day.
This transpired after Bankman-Fried was bankman-fried-has-been-arrested-in-the-bahamas/” data-ylk=”slk:arrested” class=”link “arrested in the Bahamas on Monday night. The SEC charged Bankman-Fried for an alleged “years-long scheme to defraud investors of FTX,” Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said during the conference. Bankman-Fried is being investigated for other securities violations. The US attorney’s office and the CFTC filed charges against him in “parallel actions.”
Williams declined to comment on which FTX-related individuals have cooperated in the investigations to date but reiterated the importance for those who haven’t to “do so and do so quickly.”
“As alleged in our complaint, starting in 2019 continuing through November 2022, Bankman-Fried raised more than $1.8 billion from equity investors on the basis of lies,” Grewal said. “FTX operated behind a veneer of legitimacy that Bankman-Fried created among other things … but as we allege in our complaint, that veneer wasn’t just thin, it was also fraudulent.”
Grewal said since FTX’s inception in 2019, Bankman-Fried had been secretly diverting customer funds to his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research. “As alleged in our complaint, he then misused those funds to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases and large political donations.”
When asked during
Liberty Company Insurance Brokers welcomes new producers, benefits
It was Liberty’s unique corporate culture that drew Cinco in as well. Asked to comment on the opportunity to work with Liberty, Cinco said he was excited to work within the brokerage’s ‘values-based culture.’
“[The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers’] focus on a ‘people first’ culture attracts talented and entrepreneurial professionals as well as great clients,” Cinco said. “I look forward to working in Liberty’s value-based culture and contributing to the company’s growth and success.”
We are proud to welcome Rob Cinco to our Liberty Family as a Producer, Benefits!#LibertyCompany #LibertyFamily #Leadership pic.twitter.com/vBSLUdDHb7
— The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers (@LibertyCoBroker) December 19, 2022
Cinco’s engagement as Liberty’s newest producer, benefits, follows close on the heels of a series of senior appointments at the fast-growing company. Earlier this month, the brokerage named Mercedes Meseck a senior vice president and partner. Last September, he appointed Marshall Heron as senior vice president and national real estate practice leader, while he appointed Michael Lopez as the managing partner for its Santa Rosa, California office last July.
Similar to Cinco, Lopez expressed an affinity for Liberty’s values and values-based approach.
“Every company has a culture, whether by design or letting everyone ‘do their own thing,’” he said of his appointment at Liberty in July. “Joining the Liberty Company, it was very clear to me that [their] culture is by design, and their core values resonate with me deeply: integrity, excellence, caring, kindness, fairness, teamwork, good feelings, and fun.”
Liberty describes itself as ‘fiercely independent.’ It is a family-owned brokerage which focuses on supporting entrepreneurial producers and honing leadership within its ranks.