Hub builds out digital platform with Insureon deal

Hub International is pushing further into the small-business marketplace by partnering with the insurance fintech Bold Penguin Inc. to acquire the retirement assets and technology platform of Insureon Holdings.

Chicago-based Hub will buy Insureon’s digital insurance agency and its brand, while Bold Penguin will take control of its technology stack, in an effort to build out the insurance giant's digital capabilities.

The deal allows clients to shop for and manage insurance policies online, according to a statement Tuesday.

Terms weren’t disclosed.

Insureon is one of the largest independent agencies in the U.S. for digital delivery of commercial insurance to small and midsize businesses. The Chicago-based firm also licenses its technology to other brokerages and independent agencies through its software product.

“This just further enforces Hub’s strength in the small business market segment, where there are more than 30 million small businesses across the United States,” Hub CEO Marc Cohen told Bloomberg in an interview.

Hub has aimed to win retirement plan business from the 600,000 corporate clients it already provides with employee benefits and insurance services. In March of last year, the company launched a new defined-contribution service, primarily for small businesses and startups. Hub had about 10,000 retirement plans in its book of business at the time, but that number was expected to increase.

Hub has steadily grown its retirement assets in recent months. The company inked two major deals in December alone. The first was the $2.3 billion acquisition of Pittsburgh-based Fiducia Group, followed just a week later by the purchase of GRP Financial California, a retirement plan consulting firm that manages $3.4 billion in assets.

The Insureon acquisition builds on Hub’s recent focus on small-business clients.

“The one constant in our ever-changing climate is that customers want choice,” Cohen said in the statement. “This is just the beginning.”