Three years after its acquisition, MR Gestion de patrimoine et solutions collectives (MR) decided to sell BCI Benefits Coordinators (BCI) to Major Group. The consolidator acquired the third-party group plan administrator (TPA) in July 2022. Neither MR nor Major Group disclosed the news at the time, which was revealed to us by a confidential source.
Louis-François Major agreed to discuss the details in an interview with the Insurance Portal in September. He said that premium volume dictates the rules of consolidation in group insurance distribution. He added that he was counting on his digital tools to attract firms that want to sell businesses like BCI’s. “Our one-stop third-party administrator (TPA) and payor (TPP) solution is attractive to vendors and clients,” he said.
In an interview with the Insurance Portal, Alexandre Moïse, co-founder and president of MR, echoed Louis-François Major's comments on the reasons for the sale. “It's an industry that is undergoing a profound transformation. There is a lot of acceleration. BCI was ripe for this change,” he said. “In group insurance, technology has become inescapable. Players like insurtechs are specializing in group insurance.”
Moïse explained that this transaction allowed his clients to benefit from a platform to self-insure. “We were at a point where we needed to partner with a major player in the industry to take BCI to the next level on the technology front. Major Group has a team dedicated to its own technology. This allowed us to bring a much broader range of services to our clients, not just BCI's TPA solution, but also the third-party payor (TPP) solution for group plans.”
A team effort
Moïse said that this decision was made with his two partners: co-founder Émilie Rousseau and Yan Tousignant-Lévesque. “It's a story of teamwork and partners, each with their own field of expertise.”
Rousseau is a business development manager for business people and business owners. She is also a specialist in multiple cross-selling and solicitation. Tousignant-Lévesque is a specialist and practice leader in group insurance and pension plans. He is also a specialist in business development in this field.
Affinity with the buyer
Moïse said he was previously approached by other players who wanted to acquire BCI. However, the partners felt it was important to continue working with people who share the same values, who are French-speaking players also established in Ontario, with a business model that they can relate to. “Sometimes, consolidation comes from insurers or major players like large consortiums. I thought we could draw parallels with wealth management. We define ourselves first and foremost as financial services entrepreneurs, and it was important to be able to continue in that vein,” said Moïse.
He also underlined the affinity he has long shared with Louis-François Major. “I knew Louis-François before BCI. I knew that he was becoming more and more important in Quebec. He is an entrepreneur like us. We share the same values and mutual trust. At the end of 2020, we sold a large portfolio of Ontario clients to Major Group, and the transition was an immediate success.”
The partnership continues
Solutions collectives remains the business development arm of MR, serving business owners exclusively. “Business owners have specific needs, both for their own management and for the company's needs, whether it be in group retirement or insurance plans, employee assistance programs, telemedicine or human resources,” said Moïse.
Major Group remains a key partner for MR, he added. Moïse also revealed that MR has the exclusive right to serve the direct clientele of Major Group, for wealth management. Major Group also serves other group insurance brokers.
