News

As of January 1, 2017, Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Diversified Insurance Solutions has become a 100% ESOP-owned insurance brokerage firm.

Jim McCormack, the principal prior owner of the company, stated that selling to a third party was never really an option:

“We have always had the mission and vision of staying independent. We think it’s very important for our associates, our clients and our other constituencies, including our carriers, that we’re able to make decisions locally without following someone’s rules that are out of Chicago or Baltimore or wherever it might be.”

CFO and COO Karl Cumblad noted that it was Mr. McCormack’s legacy concerns which really drove the reasons for selling to an ESOP:

“For some,motivation is pure profit. When those motivations are different than that... many owners in his situation, I believe, have that same pride in the organization they built and the desire for that organization to continue after they’re no longer involved.”