Wachovia Insurance Services Inc. said Monday that it had closed its purchase of Miami-based US Insurance Underwriters, giving it entry into the Miami market through a brokerage that specializes in property and casualty coverage and employee benefits.
Stewart McDowell, the president of Wachovia Corp.'s insurance arm, said in a press release that the deal would help Wachovia gain share in Miami's Hispanic community.
Julio Moreno, who founded U.S. Insurance Underwriters in 1980, will head the Charlotte banking company's Miami insurance operation and report to William Allen, the managing director for Wachovia Insurance Services in Southeast Florida. The deal closed June 30.
Wachovia Insurance Services is the ninth-largest insurance broker in the United States, with annual revenues exceeding $400 million and annual premium placements exceeding $4 billion. It is the third-largest bank-owned insurance brokerage.
