The brick-and-mortar agency expands into online small commercial market with strategic acquisition
Kernan Insurance Agency acquires SMB Insurance. (Credit: Pixabay/GuHyeok Jeong.)
SMB Insurance, an online insurance agency focused on small commercial insurance, was acquired on July 21, 2020 by Kernan Insurance Agency. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Founded in 2017 by Mike Chapman, SMB stormed into the small commercial market, quickly acquiring over 1,000 policyholders that generated nearly $1.5M in annual premium. Mike and his team did so by providing small businesses in all fifty states and D.C. a fast, completely remote insurance buying experience that they referred to as ‘fast, ridiculously easy small business insurance.’
According to Chapman, now that the sale of SMB is complete, his focus is now 100% on helping insurance companies and other agencies increase their policyholders and revenue through his lead generation business Niche Market Leads.
“Starting and building SMB from scratch was a blast. I learned a lot these past three years. We connected with thousands of dedicated small business owners and helped a lot of them protect and grow their businesses. It’s a good feeling knowing that all the SMB customers are now going to be taken care of by Brad and his team at Kernan Insurance Agency, as they have an incredible insurance background and are passionate about servicing and growing their remote client base. I’m really excited to be shifting my focus exclusively to Niche Market Leads to help carriers and other agencies grow their books of business.”
Kernan Insurance Agency was established in 1993 by Jerry Kernan and specializes in property/casualty insurance and Surety Bonding for small to medium-sized businesses. Their strategic acquisition of SMB Insurance will help them diversify their client base by immediately infusing an online small commercial book of business into their agency.
According to Brad Kernan, “Kernan Insurance has grown organically over the past 27 years. Starting out writing only Surety Bonds and Contractors Insurance we have evolved to a full-service P&C agency servicing a wide range of industries. Today more than ever we are seeing consumer behavior change before our eyes. The online market is something we have been working on for a while as we see more small businesses going to the internet for insurance needs. We do not see this as something that will change the way we do business but an opportunity to work with a whole new set of consumers. Kernan Insurance Agency Inc and SMBInsurance.com will be able to give clients the convenience of working with an online/remote agency while getting the attention and experience a traditional independent agency brings.”
Source: Company Press Release