Reliance Partners, one of the nation’s largest insurance agencies serving the trucking and logistics industries, announced Wednesday it has acquired Borderless Coverage, an agency specializing in North American cross-border insurance.
Mark Vickers founded Cleveland, Ohio-based Borderless Coverage in 2018. The company provides cross-border consulting services and cross-border cargo insurance to a wide range of businesses in the North American shipping industry.
“We are enthusiastic about the acquisition of Borderless Coverage and [its subsidiary] Borderless Consulting and to welcome Mark into the Reliance Partners family,” Thom Albrecht, Reliance Partners chief financial officer and chief revenue officer, said in a statement.
Vickers will join Reliance Partners as executive vice president and head of international logistics. Vickers brings more than 12 years of cross-border trade experience to Reliance Partners.
“Borderless has identified Reliance as a partner who understands the speed at which logistics service providers need to move,” Vickers said in a statement. “This marks the largest commitment to optimizing cross-border transportation and logistics insurance between the U.S. and Mexico, which is crucial as insurance law remains unchanged since the implementation of United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA).”
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Reliance Partners was founded in 2009. The company’s client base is largely concentrated in the transportation and logistics space with eight locations across the U.S.
Between 2015 and 2020, Reliance Partners’ transportation and logistics book expanded from approximately $15 million in premiums to $200 million, primarily through organic growth, company officials said.
“[Mark’s] expertise in USMCA issues, particularly cargo insurance challenges in Mexico, along with his overall knowledge of cross-border trade, will be incredibly useful for our customers,” Albrecht said.
Mexico is currently the second-ranked trade partner for the U.S., behind China. Mexico’s total trade with the U.S. was $49.22 billion in December, an increase of 5.4% from the same month in 2019, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by World City.
The acquisition of Borderless Coverage is the second separate acquisition by Reliance Partners since October, when the company acquired Capacity Southeast Agency, a transportation-focused insurance agency based out of Nashville, Tennessee.
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