Amid an acquisition wave, Alera Group buys Wilson Albers & Co.

Two weeks after acquiring four employee benefit brokerages, Alera Group is at it again, buying Wilson Albers & Company, a brokerage based in Anchorage, Alaska.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

This deal brings the total of Alera Group acquisitions of benefit, wealth management and P&C brokerages to 34 since it began acquiring firms starting Jan. 1, 2017. Seventy-five percent of its firms focus on employee benefits, while 20% focus on P&C and 5% on wealth management, according to Alera Group CEO Alan Levitz.

Wilson Albers & Company is the parent company of The Wilson Agency, based in Anchorage; Albers & Company, based in Tacoma, Wash.; and ConnectHR, which is headquartered in Anchorage. These firms offer insurance, retirement and HR services in the Pacific Northwest.

On Feb. 1, Alera acquired four brokerages: Aisling Partners Insurance Brokerage, in Worcester, Mass.; Davidson Benefits Planning, in Tigard, Ore.; HR Benefit Advisors, in Rochester, N.Y.; and Spring Consulting Group, in Boston. Alera Group did not disclose details of those acquisitions.

Levitz says that their firm rarely looks at the target brokerage’s client list or the technology when choosing a new firm. “First and foremost, we look at culture and we see if it’s a fit with ours,” he says. Levitz adds that negotiations are under way for Alera Group to acquire more employee benefit firms.

This recent wave of acquisitions makes Alera Group the 14th largest independent insurance agency and the 7th largest independent employee benefits firm in the country, according to company claims.

“We are excited to join Alera Group due to their remarkable collaborative culture and extensive network of industry resources,” says Lon Wilson, CEO of Wilson Albers & Company. “As an Alera Group company, we have an exciting opportunity to offer our clients industry-leading resources with partners across the country.”