Wells Fargo Buys a Nevada Insurance Firm

Wells Fargo & Co. has purchased ISU Stetson-Beemer Insurance of Reno, Nev. — its fifth insurance-related acquisition in less than a year.

The financial terms of the transaction, which was announced Wednesday and finalized on Sept. 1, were not disclosed. Stetson-Beemer provides business and personal insurance programs, including property and casualty risk management, employee benefits, workers' compensation and personal auto, home and life insurance. The company's 24 employees and president, Richard Schield, will join the Reno office of Wells Fargo's insurance unit.

"They will strengthen our growing presence in Nevada and further support Wells Fargo's commitment to help customers succeed financially by addressing their insurance needs," Greg Van Ness, regional managing director of Wells Fargo Insurance Services' Sacramento/Central Valley region, said in a press release.

This acquisition is the fifth for Wells Fargo Insurance Services since November 2010, including the second this month, and is one of several such deals that banks have announced in recent weeks. BB&T Corp.'s insurance unit said Tuesday it had agreed to buy Atlantic Risk Management Corp. in Columbia, Md.; it was BB&T's second deal in less than a week.