Friday’s news that North Carolina-based BB&T would acquire Roseland, New Jersey-based The Crump Group for US$570 million signals a further heating of the already warm space of insurance-distribution M&A. Already the nation’s second-largest bank-owned insurance broker, BB&T Insurance Services will become the largest independent U.S. wholesale distributor of life insurance and a strong number two in wholesale P&C insurance after acquiring Crump. Bank insurance has been something of a sleepy domain in the United States, which has never seen “successful” bancassurance behemoths like ING or Fortis (whoops!) take root. All of Sanford Weill’s wiles could not keep the banking and … Continue Reading →

Earlier this week, EISI, the largest North American provider of financial-planning software by number of advisors, announced its sale to Zywave, a provider of employee benefits and property & casualty insurance software solutions. This deal was most likely brokered between the two private-equity firms that own EISI and Zywave. While it is common for private-equity firms to sell companies in their portfolio after a five-year ownership period, what is atypical about this transaction is the profile of the acquirer: Past acquirers of financial-planning software firms were either large wealth-management technology providers or financial institutions looking to extend their existing middle- and back-office wealth into the … Continue Reading →

Mergers and acquisitions within the financial services technology industry are picking up speed. Momentum is being driven by financial institutions once again focusing on growth, and technology providers looking to take advantage of new market opportunities while deepening customer relationships through more effective cross-selling. Financial institutions are also looking to limit their number of vendor relationships, making it difficult for niche players to compete against larger providers with full product portfolios. The market can therefore expect to see many of these niche players joining forces over the coming months to better meet bank technology needs and offer bundled pricing for … Continue Reading →

OptionsXpress agreed yesterday to an all-stock offer from Charles Schwab, valued at US$1.0 billion. Was this a marriage of convenience, or a case of a target in distressed situation? I’d say probably a little of both. It was a slightly more than two years ago that TD Ameritrade acquired options powerhouse thinkorswim for US$606 million in cash and stock. This purchase changed the dynamics among the big stock brokerages, and Charles Schwab has now responded in kind. There is no doubt that optionsXpress is a clear leader in options. A fair amount of growth has relied on picking up clients who … Continue Reading →