SYRACUSE — CH Insurance recently acquired Hanley & Associates, a Syracuse–based group-benefits company.
The transaction closed Feb. 1, says Joseph (Joe) Convertino, Jr., president of CH Insurance, which is also based in Syracuse. Convertino spoke with CNYBJ on April 12.
He declined to disclose how much his company paid to acquire the Hanley firm.
Thomas (Tom) Hanley, principal of the Hanley firm, died in May 2016.
The Hanley family has a friendship with Joe Courcy, who works as an account executive with CH Benefits, which is part of CH Insurance.
“As things transpired, they needed us and our services to help in the processing, help in the renewals of what they had to manage … with Tom passing,” says Convertino.
Courcy was “instrumental” in working with the Hanley firm in the months following Hanley’s death before CH Insurance “put an agreement together to ultimately purchase the remaining business that was left from 2016,” Convertino adds.
Hanley’s daughter, Lindsay, who lives in Arkansas, represented the Hanley firm in the transaction.
“My passions are in operations and supply chain management, and I have my own challenging and evolving career that combines both. So, the family decided it was best to sell my father’s business. CH Insurance was the natural choice when seeking a company that would honor his strong belief in an unwavering commitment to integrity, loyalty, and outstanding client service,” Lindsay Hanley said in an email message to CNYBJ.
Convertino described Thomas Hanley as “just a well-liked individual.”
“He was a very well respected … and a genuine person in the community,” Courcy adds.
Courcy joined Convertino in the April 12 interview in CH’s new office inside the Atrium building next to Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse.
“The sustained success of my father’s business was built on integrity and a complete commitment to his clients and was further strengthened by the decades of
loyalty and generosity shown to his employees,” Lindsay Hanley added in the email message.
CH Insurance assumed control of the day-to-day operations of Hanley & Associates “within a few weeks” of the death, says Courcy.
The Hanley family had approached CH Insurance to “help with everything,” says Courcy.
“All the service was still kept up to the level when [Hanley] was still there,” he adds.
The Hanley firm had operated for more than 20 years.
About the acquisition
CH Insurance added two employees in the acquisition, bringing its total employee count to 30 full-time workers.
They included Lauren Hanley, daughter of Thomas Hanley and sister of Lindsay Hanley, who works as a benefits-services representative with CH Benefits.
The second employee handles policies for Medicare, according to Convertino.
“It now put us in the Medicare business … a service we never offered at CH,” he added.
The firm’s new employees also have experience in dealing with COBRA services for continuing health-care coverage.
COBRA is a federal law that allows employees to keep their employer group health-plan coverage for a limited time after their employment ends or after they would otherwise lose coverage, according to Medicare.gov, the federal government’s website for Medicare.
COBRA is short for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985.
Lauren Hanley and her colleague didn’t start working at the CH Insurance office until the Hanley office closed Feb. 1, says Convertino. A few other employees “either retired or went in other directions” he adds.
CH also acquired “a good portion” of the Hanley clients, but Convertino declined to disclose how many.
