Achieva Credit Union — the first credit union to ever
The Dunedin, Florida-based credit union announced Tuesday that it bought Cannella Insurance Services, a 900-client firm based in Tampa. The $2.8 billion-asset credit union did not disclose financial terms of the deal.
The insurance firm specializes in auto, car, home, boat, business, commercial and flood insurance, including insurance for religious organizations, churches, museums, private schools and builders' risk.
Achieva President and CEO Gary Regoli said in an email that the addition of insurance enhances its members' experience by providing a safety net. "This new addition will unlock peace of mind and increase financial protection and stability. It will empower our members to guard themselves against the unexpected," Regoli said.
Cannella Insurance Services was founded in 2003 by Joseph Cannella as the result of a split from Allines Insurance Brokerage, Inc, which he co-founded in 1993. Today, the firm has clients primarily in the Tampa Bay region but they also live in Lee, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
"This acquisition brings only positive outcomes for each of our valued clients," Cannella said in a press release. "By leveraging Achieva's resources, we will be able to expand our product offering by attracting several additional new insurance carriers and contracting with these additional quality insurers to create an expanded product offering that will only be a win for our customers."
Michael Bell, an attorney at Honigman who advised Achieva on its two bank purchases, said he is working with credit unions across the country that are actively trying to acquire insurance, investment and title insurance companies.
Bell said today's challenging operating environment requires credit unions to find additional sources of noninterest income, and these businesses can provide that diversity.
"Any time you can add ancillary streams to supplement your typical business you are that much stronger of an institution," Bell said.
Last year, Achieva launched a
A few other credit unions have launched their own insurance divisions in recent years to provide additional streams of noninterest revenue.
Among them were Lowell, Massachusetts-based
Other credit unions have bought community banks as a way of adding new products and diversifying lending lines.
After Achieva acquired Calusa, it bought
There have been 10 deals involving credit unions buying banks announced so far in 2023 after 16 such deals were announced last year.
Most recently, the $7.7 billion-asset Michigan State University Federal Credit Union in East Lansing earlier this month
Achieva earned nearly $19 million in the first three quarters of 2023, a 47% increase compared with a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.
Cannella Insurance will continue to operate under the same management and team under the new name, Achieva Insurance Agency LLC.
