Alera Group, a national employee benefits and wealth management firm, has ramped up its M&A activity with the purchase of Fall River Employee Benefits and Trilogy Group Benefits.
Fall River is a benefits broker on the Colorado Front Range, with a specific focus on self-funding, compliance, and HR technology. The firm helps clients approach benefits with a holistic perspective with aggressive cost containment strategies, through a service model that supports both employers and employees throughout the benefits process.
“By joining Alera Group, we are able to grow and bring even more tools and innovative ideas to better serve our clients,” says Kristen Russell, CEO of Fall River.
Trilogy is an agency that specializes in group healthcare, dental and vision, as well as ancillary benefits. Trilogy provides hundreds of clients throughout Pennsylvania with customized benefit strategies.
“As part of Alera Group, we will be able to offer our clients more resources and tools than ever before,” says Michael Alfonso, president of Trilogy Group Benefits.
Alera did not disclose the financial terms of either deal.
The industry has seen an uptick in consolidation over the last few years, most notably Aon’s recent acquisition of Willis Towers Watson for $30 billion. The merger created the world’s largest commercial insurance broker. M&A activity in the space has been driven primarily by the expanded role of private-equity and other financial institution backed buyers.
Insurance dealmakers announced $12.5 billion in transactions during the fourth quarter of 2019, according to PwC data, the strongest quarterly total in nearly two years. However, the annual total for 2019 was $19.9 billion, 51% of the record set in 2018.
