DALLAS – Integrity Marketing Group, LLC (“Integrity”), the nation’s largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products announced today it has acquired Dallas-based American Group Insurance Brokerage Services (“American Group”). As part of the acquisition, American Group President and Owner Shane Van Loon will continue to lead his business while also becoming a Managing Partner in Integrity. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
American Group was founded more than 35 years ago by Shane’s father, Howard Van Loon, with original offerings focused on group health insurance. Over the years, they grew to include individual and Medicare insurance products. Eventually, Shane joined the family business to establish their annuity and life insurance division. American Group has expanded from those humble beginnings to support more than 5,000 agents who expect to produce over $30 million in annual paid premium during 2020.
“The Van Loon family has been an insurance industry icon for decades, and this partnership between Integrity and American Group is one of the most exciting partnerships I’ve ever been part of,” said Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity. “This is an incredible example of partnering with great people who have a strong business and really coming together to make a larger impact. We will continue to honor Howard’s legacy by taking what he and Shane have built and providing them with our proprietary tools and resources to unlock the ‘Integrity Effect’ to take our combined business to new heights.”
“Integrity and their other partners have shown us the pathway to growth the partnership provides, and despite our successful track record, we just knew we could not get there on our own,” said Shane Van Loon, President of American Group. “Integrity knows the industry. They know what the agents need to be successful. We could’ve stayed on our own, but when you have a chance to join the number one team in the industry, you take it. There is no way we could achieve the same level of growth without them.”
By joining the Integrity platform, American Group will be able to maximize growth by utilizing Integrity’s expansive partner resources. These include IT, human resources, compliance and full-service advertising and marketing services. Their agents will receive access to valuable technology solutions, including enrollment, online quoting and CRM capabilities with Integrity’s proprietary MedicareCENTER platform. In addition, all of their employees will be offered meaningful company ownership through the Integrity Employee Ownership Plan.
“One of the biggest benefits of partnership are the resources that translate directly to our agents,” shared Van Loon. “Having access to technology solutions like MedicareCENTER will amplify our ability to manage our clients, access new sales tools and process applications faster than ever before. We’ve always focused on a core group of carriers, but now with Integrity we have access to every carrier in the industry—this directly impacts our agents’ ability to help even more Americans.”
“The Van Loon family epitomizes everything the Integrity partnership is all about, from integrity to family to service to all of Integrity’s core values,” shared Raymond Richard, Managing Partner of Integrity and Co-Founder and CEO of The Pinnacle Benefits Group. “And when such highly regarded companies partner together, there is no limit to the lift they can achieve, especially when the partnership provides access to an exclusive club of the industry’s best.”