Hub International To Build Best-In-Class Canadian Employee Benefits Platform

Since January 2018, Hub Acquired Seven Canadian Employee Benefits Brokerages, Including Two Announced Today, with the Intent to Purchase Additional Firms to Reach $100M in Employee Benefits Commission and Fee Revenue by the Start of 2021

Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, announced today its corporate strategy to aggressively assemble best-in-class capabilities and entrepreneurial talent across Canada to develop a complete Employee Benefits solution.

“Hub recognized a mid-market employee benefits void in Canada. While mid-sized companies currently have the option of working with a large brokerage for employee benefit solutions, it’s challenging for those brokers to provide the resources necessary to drive value to the mid-market clients,” said Tina Osen, President of Hub International Canada. “Hub’s shared service model enables our customers to retain a relationship with their local broker while gaining access to the tailored insurance solutions of a leading global brokerage.”

Hub announced two new acquisitions today with the purchase of Optimum Group Benefits & Insurance Services Ltd. (Optimum) based in Coquitlam, British Columbia, and Wm. W. Hammond Insurance Agency Incorporated (Hammond) based in Leamington, Ontario, bringing Hub’s total acquired 2018 employee benefits commission and fee revenue to nearly $20M.  Hub will seek additional capabilities and talent and plans to grow revenue in this division through acquisition and organic growth to $100M by the start of 2021.  Terms of today’s acquisitions were not disclosed.

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“Hub is interested in firms that can bring a new expertise to complement our offerings to aid our customers in attracting and retaining their current and upcoming workforce,” said Mike Barone, President of Employee Benefits at Hub International. “With a ready pipeline of more than 130,000 Property & Casualty customers, we are not in the business of merely acquiring revenue, but rather are seeking talent and firms who want to be a part of our strategy and share our customer-centric, entrepreneurial culture.”

Hammond will join Hub Ontario and report to Gregory Belton, Executive Chairman for Hub’s Wealth Management Employee Benefits and Hub Ontario. Optimum will join Hub TOS, reporting to Carol Mills, Chief Sales Officer of Hub TOS.

In addition to adding talent and capabilities via acquisition, Hub appointed Faizal Mitha as Chief Innovation Officer of Hub’s Canadian Employee Benefits business. Mitha has worked for both major carriers and top employers as well as co-founded one of the fastest growing employee benefits Insure-tech companies in Canada.

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“My focus is on building a best-in-class employee benefits experience using cutting edge, scalable technology solutions such as ground-breaking artificial intelligence and machine learning that will drive the industry forward,” said Mitha. “By creating national best practices through the talents of our exceptional current and prospective acquisition companies, we’ll continue to provide distinct competitive advantages to our large number of Canadian Property & Casualty clients and their employees and our existing Employee Benefit clients.”

With 170 offices in Canada, Hub’s employee benefits Canadian solution includes Voluntary Benefits, Health & Performance, Cost Management Consulting, Group Retirement Services, Employee Communications, Third Party Administration Services, Data Analytics, and Compliance & Governance.  Combined, these services establish the most comprehensive, integrated benefit solution for mid-size companies in Canada.  Additionally, Hub continues to actively seek additional firms and talent to help round out its Insure-tech Solutions, Pension and Retirement Consulting, Actuarial Services for Group Insurance and Retirement Plans, and Human Resources and Disability Management.

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