M&T Insurance Agency Inc. says it is looking for agency deals in the parent M&T Bank’s expanding footprint in order to bolster fee income and cross-selling.
John Rumschik, recently named president and chief operating officer of M&T Insurance, said he is seeking agency deals in the upstate New York, central Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and District of Columbia markets in which the bank operates. He declined, however, to discuss pending deals or a timetable for acquisitions.
“Ideally, we would like a property and casualty presence throughout the bank’s footprint,” he said. It currently has agency operations in Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y.
The bank also announced last week that it had changed the name of the agency subsidiary to better accord with an expansion from its Buffalo base. The unit had borne the name of the commercial property and casualty agency Matthews, Bartlett & Dedecker Inc. but is now called M&T Insurance Agency. Mr. Rumschik, a vice president at Matthews Bartlett, was promoted to lead the renamed agency.
The name change better brands M&T’s property and casualty products, Mr. Rumschik said.
The property and casualty business generates $10 million of annual revenue, he said. He wants to add revenue through both organic growth and agency deals but would not discuss revenue goals.
“We want to grow the property and casualty presence of M&T,” he said, “and the best way is through agency acquisitions.” Mr. Rumschik said insurance has been a successful product line because M&T’s commercial bank clients want commercial insurance.
“I think, strategically, it makes sense for them [to buy agencies] on the commercial side of the business because of the cross-sell potential,” said Brian Harvey, an analyst at Fox-Pitt, Kelton.
When considering agency deals, Mr. Rumschik said, “we start with the quality of the agents, make sure they have brand-name recognition within their marketplace, make sure they have a similar approach to us — and they have to be able to offer commercial products.”
M&T Bank has been in the insurance business for five years, Mr. Rumschik said. “Insurance increases the fee revenue the bank generates, and it’s associated with low risk,” he said. M&T Insurance also offers personal lines products, including term life, permanent life, disability, and long-term-care insurance. The bank also offers employee benefits.
M&T Bank’s parent, Buffalo’s M&T Bank Corp., has assets of $52 billion and 650 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Its two most recent bank purchases were of Allfirst Financial in Baltimore in 2003 and of Premier National in New York’s Hudson Valley in 2001.
