NU Online News Service, Nov. 26, 2003, 5:34 p.m. EST – Milliman USA is hoping that recent acquisitions have increased the odds that it will profit from a rebounding economy.[@@]
"We've grown while others have cut back, so we expect to come out of the downturn very strong and attract quality people through mergers," says Milliman Chairman Bradley Smith. "Over the last two years, we've been very aggressive in attempting to identify acquisition opportunities."
Smith says Milliman, a large and influential actuarial and insurance consulting firm, is moving boldly to identify potential partners that would complement its businesses in terms of services, products or geographic area.
Early in November, Milliman bought an insurance technology firm, Focus Solutions Inc., Philadelphia. Milliman immediately used Focus Solutions' technology to introduce Step, a business-processing platform for the life and health insurance markets.
Soon after that, Milliman announced plans to buy Evaluation Associates, the consulting division of EAI Partners L.P., Norwalk, Conn. That purchase will strengthen Milliman's presence as a consultant to institutional investors, Smith says.
Acquiring the services of the Evaluation Associates advisory team members "is clearly complementary to our pension side and, we hope, to the life and casualty side, too," says Smith. "Their consulting advice enlarges our scope of service. We have had a core capability in that area, but Investment Associates puts us in the upper echelon."
