Hawaii insurers Sullivan &
Curtis, Atlas merging

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By Erika Engle
eengle@starbulletin.com

Two major players in Hawaii's insurance industry have joined forces.

The press release isn't yet written but the merger of Sullivan & Curtis Insurance Brokers' Hawaii operations into Atlas Insurance Agency Inc. is official. Sullivan's California and Seattle offices are not included.

"Atlas is one of the largest locally owned commercial and personal insurance companies," said Myles Murakami, company president, "We've been here since 1929."

Sullivan was "doing quite a bit of business," Murakami said, "from a premium standpoint they were doing $12 million (annually) and they also have an exclusive condo association program that will become a part of Atlas. It's a very competitive program."

"We have a profile that Atlas doesn't have and Atlas has the volume with the base that we don't necessarily have," said Sullivan Senior Vice President and Branch Manager Jim Higgins. Sullivan has specialized in large commercial accounts and represents many of Hawaii's top 100 companies, Higgins said, listing expertise in workers' compensation programs and coverage of property management, marine and health care companies.

"We're really happy about the changes," he said, "It's seamless because it's basically bringing the talents together."

When the companies' downtown offices physically come together in May, they will combine to fill the 16th floor at 1132 Bishop St. "Our business is really moving toward high-tech," said Murakami, which attracted the company to the tech-wired building. He sees the set-up as helping the company speed policy issuance and provide more effective communication with clients.

Higgins sees no challenges in merging Sullivan's handful of employees into Atlas' corporate culture of about 170 agents and staff on Oahu and in Wailuku and Hilo.

"Myles and I pretty much have the same common goals," Higgins said, "and I think I'm going to try to focus on helping them expand potentially up to the Pacific."

Higgins' roots led to Sullivan & Curtis providing an insurance program to the government of Western Samoa.

The companies do not need state approvals before completing the transaction, according to state Insurance Commissioner Wayne Metcalf.

"When airlines merge there's an explicit federal requirement for approval, but when insurance companies merge and the like, there's no such requirement," Metcalf said.

In due course, Metcalf said, the new entity will file rates and other details with his office.