Move Aimed at Helping Network Become A “National Force”
Renaissance Alliance will no longer be headquartered in Massachusetts. In an official announcement, the company divulged that it is in the late-stage negotiations to move its headquarters to a new office space in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Renaissance Alliance is currently based in Southborough.
“Having served as CEO of several Chicago-based companies, I have found the city of Chicago to be incredibly pro-business, with can-do support from local government and the business community,” said Renaissance CEO Kevin Callahan in prepared remarks.
Renaissance President Robert Bondi said, “As we move our headquarters to the more centrally located Midwest, we remain committed to maintaining a strong sales and service presence across all geographies where our members do business.”
Founded in 1999 by the former Massachusetts independent agent Bruce Cochrane, the company has been based in the MetroWest area of Boston since its inception. In a $30 million investment deal, announced in 2018, the company was acquired by the New York-based private equity group Long Arc Capital, to help “fund Renaissance’s expansion outside the New England region and the development of enhanced services and technologies for Renaissance’s member agents to use in accelerating their growth and increasing their profitability.”
Since its inception, RAIS has been based in Massachusetts
Going forward, the network says that while the Chicago location will serve as “home base” for the Renaissance Executive Committee and senior operating resources in product development, technology, marketing, and corporate services, RAIS will continue to maintain a “significant presence in the Greater Boston area” in order to focus on agency operations and supporting its New England agency members.
Executive leadership, however, believes the move to Chicago and its central location within the U.S. is crucial to its plans to increase its presence across the country. Accordingly, the company is expecting to include more than 300 independent insurance agencies as members by year’s end. In total, Renaissance members currently place more than $3.6bn in total annual premium, with RAIS representing 80 appointed insurance markets.
“Chicago has a strong insurance industry presence and will serve as an effective location to coordinate with insurance companies across the country,” emphasized Chief Revenue Officer Michael Cormier.
Gaurav Bhandari, Managing Partner of Long Arc Capital, added “Renaissance’s move to Chicago is a big step in the company’s journey to becoming a national force amongst independent Agency Networks. With its broad business community, long history in the insurance sector, deep talent pool and world-class universities, Chicago provides a great home base from which Renaissance can deliver the premier offering in this space.”
