After both partners of MILIFE Insurance & Investment Inc. died within one year of each other, one year later OM Financial Inc. announced that it had reached an agreement with the firm’s new owners to acquire MILIFE. The deal was announced in early April. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
MILIFE was initially a Desjardins Group franchise and later an Industrial Alliance managing general agency (MGA). When acquired by OM Financial, MILIFE had 400 brokers in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Adding these numbers to its own, the acquisition brings the total number of OM Financial-contracted brokers to 2,600, says Vikram Sundaram, senior vice president with OM Financial.
Aiming for the top
OM Financial ’s three-year plans include successful broker recruitment. Already a leading MGA in Canada’s South Asian community, its five-year ambitions include being among the top five independently owned MGAs in Canada overall.
Sundaram says the firm is contracted with all carriers and travel companies in Canada. “We are expanding in all provinces, including Quebec, and trying to establish our boots on the ground as quickly as possible,” he adds.
Acquisition strategy
The strategy to become one of Canada’s top independent MGAs involves acquisition. It also involves purchasing individual books from retiring advisors. On the acquisition front, he says there is significant opportunity in the wake of carrier pressures and decisions to streamline the number of MGA contracts they maintain.
“When smaller MGAs lose contracts, they will lose interest in the business,” he adds. “They will come to us and they will go to others. That’s going to happen in 2024 and 2025.”
By the numbers, the MILIFE acquisition adds $2-million in first year commissions to OM Financial’s first year commission figures, says Sundaram. (Where MILIFE had three MGA contracts, OM Financial executives say the firm has over 37.) Both firms together have $890-million in segregated fund assets under management, he says, adding that combined insurance in-force business is currently $40-million with OM Financial bringing $32-million to the deal and MILIFE adding another $8-million.
Looking to double number of brokers
By 2025 the firm hopes to nearly double the number of brokers it supports. “We want to acquire as much as we can,” Sundaram says.
The firm is also partnering. It recently signed an agreement with Industrial Alliance to run a career shop for the carrier as a subsidiary of OM Financial.
The value proposition they offer, meanwhile, includes the promise of training, coaching, guidance and mentorship. “We help advisors to increase their volume as well as their commissions each year,” Sundaram adds. “They are extremely happy working with us.”
