Risk Strategies Adds to Leading National Employee Benefits Practice with Acquisition of Craford Benefit Consultants
BOSTON — Risk Strategies, a privately held, rapidly growing national insurance brokerage and risk management firm, announced the acquisition of Craford Benefit Consultants, a full-service employee consulting and benefits brokerage firm headquartered in San Rafael, CA with offices in Portland, OR and Charlotte, NC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
With employee benefits consistently a top three expense for most companies, Craford has specialized in helping large employers solve complex business problems that revolve around benefit programs and their financing, including the strategic utilization of stop-loss and reinsurance coverage to precisely balance risk, exposure and cost.
“We were attracted to Risk Strategies based on its culture, laser focus on clients and commitment to growing its brand,” explained Mike Craford, managing principal, Craford Benefit Consultants. “Their teaming structure and national reputation for technical expertise is a natural fit for our approach to collaborating with clients and carriers and managing risk. This combination will reap huge benefits for our customers and our employees and allow us to further expand our national penetration.”
With strong in-house actuarial capabilities driving its financial modeling capabilities, Craford has unique expertise in linking plan design, contribution strategy and risk management to produce industry-leading economic results. The company has established a track record of creatively transitioning clients from fully insured to self-insured plans.
“For employers and end users, traditional health insurance is largely broken, and we’ve seen tremendous interest in alternative approaches to structuring and funding employee benefits plans,” said John Greenbaum, national employee benefits practice leader, Risk Strategies. “We see Craford’s capabilities in these areas as a great fit for our practice, our clients and the times.”
Craford’s market focus among its client and prospect base is also seen as a solid fit for Risk Strategies, with a leading position in delivering health and welfare advisory services to private equity firms and their portfolio companies – from due diligence to divestiture – and service capabilities well-suited to building out business in rapidly emerging sectors such as association benefit plans, where it currently enjoys an enviable client retention rate.
The acquisition also adds to Risk Strategies’ employee benefits HR consulting capabilities. Craford’s consulting experts help clients navigate a wide range of difficult HR situations including regulatory compliance such as interpretation of Davis-Bacon Act and prevailing wage issues. The company also brings strong human capital management consulting capabilities including leadership development and training to remote workforce strategies, executive and sales coaching and assessment.
