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NEW YORKMarsh Inc.'s launch of Marsh & McLennan Agency L.L.C. in the next few weeks represents an approach that didn't exist previously at the world's largest brokerage firm--and it will grow through acquisitions, said the agency's top executives.
The agency intends to serve the property/casualty, risk management and employee benefit needs of companies nationwide that generally have less than $100 million in revenue, said David Eslick, whom Marsh named as chairman of the agency on Monday. Click here for related story
Mr. Eslick previously was chairman, president and chief executive officer of Briarcliff Manor, New York-based USI Holdings Inc., a brokerage that similarly focuses on smaller commercial clients. He helped build USI through dozens of acquisitions, took it public in 2002 and remained with the company when it was taken private in 2007 by GS Capital Partners in a $1.4 billion deal.
Marsh & McLennan Agency will use a similar growth-by-acquisition strategy, Mr. Eslick said. "Our goal is to make this a big and important part of" Marsh, he said. "We plan on making this very meaningful."
Mr. Eslick said it is too early to forecast growth targets, and added the agency is building momentum and still drafting its plan for acquisitions. "We will acquire other agencies. If we're going to move the needle for Marsh, it will be through acquisition and consolidation," he said.
"This is a whole different experience" from Marsh's historical focus on large, risk management-based accounts. "What we didn't have in the past is alignment. There is alignment from the top of this enterprise, down to the agency leadership," said Jack Butcher, president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Agency. "We see this as a huge growth opportunity. That view has never been shared by the team as it is now."