“This is the first time that I have seen an insurer sell to a broker in 37 years in the business,” says the founding president of Lemieux Assurances, François Lemieux. (Photo: courtesy)
Long gone are the days when François Lemieux went door to door to sell insurance.
His independent brokerage firm, Lemieux Assurances, took control of Beneva’s entire agricultural portfolio on Monday.
“They were the ones who contacted me to sell me their agricultural insurance,” says the man who founded his company in Lévis in 1989. “It’s the first time I’ve seen an insurer sell to a broker in 37 years in the business. I felt privileged.”
The president believes that Beneva had “fallen into this agricultural niche by accident” during the merger between SSQ Assurances and La Capitale. The insurer therefore wanted to get rid of this portfolio which insures farm buildings, equipment and animals. This area was not central to Beneva, according to him.
“It was the perfect marriage, because I am 100% independent, without affiliation with an insurer, I have an agricultural department and I already covered the same territory, from Quebec to Montmagny to the American border” , he judges.
François Lemieux specifies that this transaction was the easiest among the 22 acquisitions he has made in the past. “They transmitted the information into our telephone system and we contacted the customers to meet them,” he says. It was simple. The advantage for us is that we already have a large agricultural department and that we add income without having to really increase the existing team.
Even bigger
With its 115 employees and a turnover of $125 million annually, Lemieux Assurances has established itself as one of the leading independent brokerage firms in Quebec. The SME has 11 offices, the most recent of which is in Boucherville.
“I am targeting 200 million in revenue within five years,” notes the entrepreneur. I foresee other acquisitions. We are looking for offices that have no ties with insurers. This limits my playing field, but there are still a lot of possibilities.”
Consolidation in the world of insurance will continue, believes François Lemieux. He maintains that insurers are less keen than before to do business with small firms. They want larger volumes. The cost of technologies is another factor which militates for the grouping of small firms according to him.
“I was 22 years old when I founded my company and at the time, there were 13 insurance offices in Lévis, while now there are only three.”
Representing 67 wholesalers and insurers, Lemieux Assurances is banking on expansion in the territories already covered and on a varied range of protections, including automobile, home and commercial, to continue its growth.
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2024-04-09 22:07:28
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