Growth: AmWINS, COBRAGuard, Diverse, CIGNA, LIDMA

AmWINS Group Benefits is starting an international benefits program.

AmWINS Group Benefits, Warwick, R.I., a unit of AmWINS Group Inc., Charlotte, N.C., says the program will offer employers international travel medical insurance and a patient advocacy service.

Todd Hancock, an international benefits industry veteran, will run the program, AmWINS says.

AmWINS is marketing the program mainly to brokers and benefits consultants that serve defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies and non-governmental organizations.

In other business growth news:

- COBRAGuard Inc., Mission, Kan., has started a public entity division. The division will help universities, school districts, state hospitals, cities, counties, fire departments, police departments and other public employers administration health benefits continuation programs and related programs.

COBRAGuard is starting the division to increase its focus on that market, but the company already administers COBRA programs for about 500 public entities.

The president of the company, Robert Meyers, is a member of the Roeland Park, Kan., city council.

One way COBRAGuard appeals to the public entity market is by providing customized data feeds aimed at public entities with understaffered information technology departments, the company says.

- Diverse Financial Corp., Sherman Oaks, Calif., has opened an office in Newport Beach, Calif., to sell investment and estate planning services to residents of Orange County, Calif.

The firm provides life insurance, premium finance lending, stock brokerage and private placement advisory services.

- CIGNA HealthCare, Bloomfield, Conn., a unit of CIGNA Corp., Philadelphia (NYSE:CI), has started selling individual and family dental coverage as well as group dental coverage.

- The Life Insurance Direct Marketing Association (LIDMA), Atlanta, is expanding membership eligibility to include brokerage general agencies), independent market organizations, lead generators, affinity groups, financial institutions, all life insurance companies, banks and credit union service organizations.

LIDMA serves the direct response sales and marketing segment of the life insurance industry.

- Allison Bell