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Best Retail Agent/Broker: Revenues <$25M

ALPER SERVICES INC.

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2008 BROKERAGE REVENUE: $7.5 million

EMPLOYEES: 58

When Howard C. Alper founded Alper Services L.L.C. in 1966, he knew he wanted something different.

In addition to offering a full spectrum of property/casualty, employee benefits and financial services to clients, he also wanted to offer specialized expertise and individualized services that helped clients reduce their total cost of risk.

One of the first services Alper began offering clients was a cost-reduction audit in which the broker analyzes clients' prior-year premiums to find any overpayments.

If the audit uncovers errors, Alper will try to recover overcharges for its clients from insurers.

The Chicago-based broker also began offering a workers compensation reserve-reduction program about 20 years ago when it hired its first full-time registered nurse.

The nurse not only assists clients with monitoring and minimizing their workers compensation claims, but also works with insurance adjusters to negotiate reserve reductions where appropriate, resulting in lower premiums for clients.

Customers seem to appreciate these services, as Alper Services was voted best retail brokerage with less than $25 million in revenues in the Business Insurance 2009 Readers Choice Awards.

It is the firm's “team of experts” that really sets it apart, Mr. Alper said.

“It's not that an individual can check an audit and make sure it's right or guide in the monitoring of a workers comp loss reserve, it's that we have people who that's all that they do and they have the background expertise,” Mr. Alper said.

In addition to a registered nurse/occupational health consultant, Alper's team includes a claims management attorney, premium auditors, loss control engineers and risk management consultants.

“All of these people are working for the client in disciplines that are not normally handled or provided to clients in our size range,” Mr. Alper said, noting that the firm's average client has between 100 and 1,000 employees.