Harleysville, the end of an era

For those agents who have been a little long in the tooth around the Northeast, Harleysville insurance company has been a featured company in many offices. I started working with Harleysville in the late 1980's where they wrote small commercial and personal lines for our agency. They quickly developed into one of our top companies writing complex middle market commercial risks. They were run with a small family like appeal and we grew significantly with them. Today they officially merged with Nationwide a direct writer company that is moving into the independent world. Boy, things do change. I think companies like Harleysville that grew into a top regional will continue to be aquired by bigger companies. It is the evolution of a maturing industry called insurance. As the insurance product continues to commoditize the price of the product will continue to drop. Only the big companies with scale can survive this trend. Look at grocery chains and store chains, does anyone remember Woolco?  Change is never easy but it is the reality and company presidents of regional mutuals surely need to take heed. Until next time be careful out there and know your risks.  K

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