SPECIAL REPORT
Top 100 Profile
Leading By Creating After Just Four Years, Newcomer Confie Seguros Sets Bold Plan to Go National By Focusing on the Hispanic Market; and It’s Well on Its Way By Lori Widmer
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n Spanish, “confie” means “confidence” or “trust.” That one word echoes the principles used by the founders of Confie Seguros, the fledgling company that is now part of Insurance Journal’s 2011 Top 100 Independent Property/ Casualty Agencies list. And it’s barely four years old. How a company this young has grown to a point where it places No. 21 on the Top 100 list is no small feat. Starting with an idea and a financial partner, Confie Seguros, founded in 2008, has grown exponentially. The company reported $380 million in total P/C premiums written for 2010, and is generating on a run rate basis over $160 million in revenues. Not a bad
Top 100 Agency Profile Agency Name: Confie Seguros, trading under Freeway Insurance Headquarters: New York, N.Y. Year Founded: 2008 Additional Locations: California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Nevada and Florida 2010 Total P/C Premium Volume: $380,000,000 % Personal: 100% 2010 Revenues: $125,000,000 Principals: John Addeo, CEO Mergers/Acquisitions: 15+ No. of Employees: 1,500 No. of Insurance Carriers Represented: 40+
way to start a business. So how did the company climb so high in such a short time? If you ask the management team, comprised of John Addeo, CEO, Mordy Rothberg, founder and president, and James Schlomann, chief financial officer, it’s all in the focus. This company’s focus — the Hispanic market. History That specialization began with founder Rothberg, who studied the needs and habits of the Hispanic customer for a number of years. Six years ago, he developed what is now the company’s current business plan targeting the Hispanic market. He tested the marketplace, learned the buying habits of the Hispanic customer, and developed a product niche around the results. He also looked at location. “We identified eight to 10 geographic areas we wanted to be in that had a large Hispanic market. Nevada was one of them.” In early August, the company announced the acquisition of Las Vegas-based Family Insurance Center, an insurance brokerage that the Confie Seguros team believes has a strong platform that will allow for further expansion throughout Nevada. Joining him in 2007 was
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Addeo, no stranger to the insurance brokerage world. Addeo has over 35 years of experience in driving successful acquisitions and business operations at companies such as Alliant Resources Group, a company he founded and built to over $200 million in revenue, driving 12 acquisitions. Addeo also served as chief operating officer of USI Insurance Services, where he led 90 acquisitions of insurance brokerages, growing that company into the sixth largest in the United States. Confie Seguros boasts a strong partnership with Genstar Capital, its San Francisco-based private equity firm, of which Confie is a portfolio company. With Genstar’s financial backing, Confie Seguros was established in 2008, when the company acquired its first platform — Westline Corp., based in California, a state densely populated by a Hispanic population. Westline was a good choice — it’s become the largest distributors of non-standard auto insurance products, now operating 30 retail offices in California. Just under four years later, the company is operating in nine states — California, Arizona, Texas, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Nevada and most recently Florida. In October, Confie Seguros announced that it entered the Florida market with the acquisition of Trustway Insurance
Agencies, an insurance brokerage with 28 retail locations throughout the state. Today the company trades under the name Freeway Insurance, which is the name of its operations in California, Arizona, and Texas, and what will be the name of the company once it goes national. Why Confie Seguros then? “The goal was to be the trusted advisor to the Hispanic community with regard to insurance-related products,” says Rothberg. Management Being a trusted advisor starts with a winning team. At the helm are some of the most veteran players in the insurance brokerage community today. continued on page N8 www.insurancejournal.com