Deals & People December 22, 2010

MMA Acquires Employee Benefits Firm

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh Inc., has acquired Trion Group Inc.
Reported by

Established in 1999, Trion offers consulting, brokerage, group disability and life, absence management, voluntary benefits, and benefit administration services.

A news release said Trion, based in suburban Philadelphia, has $74 million in annual revenues. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Trion’s four principals, Ed Garno, Jr., Ed Garno III, Dave Oberkircher, and Chris Veno will continue to lead Trion as part of MMA. All of Trion’s employees are expected to join MMA.

According to an announcement about the deal, Trion represents the sixth acquisition MMA has made since embarking on its strategy in November 2009 to build a platform serving the property and casualty insurance and employee benefits needs of companies across the United States. Over the last 13 months, MMA has acquired Insurance Alliance, The NIA Group, Haake Companies, Thomas Rutherfoord, Inc., and Bostonian Group. With the addition of Trion, MMA has grown to become the nation’s 12th largest insurance agency with annual revenue of approximately $260 million, the company said.

The Markets December 22, 2010

U.S. Leads in Mutual Fund Flows Year-to-Date

Year-to-date, mutual funds globally raked in $804 billion, according to data from Strategic Insight, an Asset International company.
Reported by

U.S. funds led the way with $384 billion in net inflows for the year, followed by International/Offshore with $259 billion. Europe Local funds took in $86 billion, while Asia funds posted net inflows of $56 billion. 

Money-market funds saw year-to-date outflows of $750 billion.  

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According to SI’s Global Mutual Fund FlowWatch report, U.S. Equity funds have pulled in a net $73 billion for the year, and International/Offshore Equity funds have posted a net inflow of $59 billion.  However, Europe Local equity funds and Asia equity funds lost ground with net outflows of $2 billion and $16 billion, respectfully. 

Bond funds were the strongest contenders during the year, with U.S. bond funds posting a net $305 billion year-to-date and International/Offshore bond funds gaining $160 billion. Europe Local bond funds pulled in $22 billion and Asia bond funds posted a net $65 billion inflow so far this year. 

Globally, more than $100 billion of new money went to long-term mutual funds during October, which were almost evenly split between fixed income products ($55 billion) and equity/mixed funds ($47 billion). On a regional level, the U.S. still led contributions and garnered $49 billion in flows, closely followed by Europe (including International/Offshore) with $47 billion. Long-term fund flows to Asia were flat, at $4 billion. Money-market funds worldwide saw over $30 billion in net redemptions during the month.  

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