P/C, benefits brokerage to launch in California

SAN MATEO, Calif.--Private equity fund Trident IV L.P. is committing up to $100 million to form Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, a new property/casualty and employee benefits broker in California.

Edgewood will be headed by John G. Hahn and Dan R. Francis. Mr. Hahn will leave his current spot as president of BISYS Commercial Insurance Services in San Francisco as of June 30. He is the former president and chief executive officer of Tri-City Brokerage Inc., which BISYS Group Inc. acquired in 2003. Mr. Francis is former president and CEO of ABD Insurance and Financial Services Inc. of Redwood City, Calif., a unit of Greater Bay Bancorp.

In an interview, Mr. Hahn said that Edgewood, headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., will handle a range of property/casualty brokerage accounts but will focus particularly on high-tech, biotechnology, real estate, construction and hospitality risks. It will also have a "significant" employee benefits brokerage business, he said.

Edgewood is in the process of completing a brokerage acquisition that will provide it with a platform for expansion in California, said Mr. Hahn, adding that he expects to make additional acquisitions and have about six offices operating in Northern and Southern California by year's end.

Edgewood will limit its operations to California for the foreseeable future, he said.

Trident IV is managed by Stone Point Capital L.L.C. of Greenwich, which has raised $8 billion in private equity for insurance and financial services investments.