EXTON, Pa., July 22 /PRNewswire/ — iPipeline, the leader in on-demand sales distribution software for insurers and financial services firms, today announced it has acquired COSS Development Corporation, a leading provider of mission-critical web-enabled illustration systems and fill-able forms technology. The acquisition enables iPipeline to create a first-of-its-kind ecosystem for carriers, distributors and agents, allowing all to better serve their customers and increase sales in an expedited, streamlined manner. iPipeline also announced the appointment of Timothy Wallace, a 28-year veteran of the technology industry, to President and Chief Executive Officer.
iPipeline and COSS have been business partners since 2004 and serve over 100 insurance carriers and 700 brokerage general agencies, banks and broker-dealers. As a result of the acquisition, iPipeline will provide an end-to-end offering for point of sale applications. Specifically, brokers will be able to use a Web-based system that allows them to present their clients with comparisons and illustrations for insurance products, access the most up to date forms and complete them online. This integrated offering enables all stakeholders to achieve straight through processing in one easy-to-use system.
“iPipeline is at an inflection point in its growth cycle and is proud to have attracted the caliber of Timothy Wallace to take the Company to the next level. Tim is a proven technology executive with a strong focus on customer needs and has established an impressive track record of starting companies, growing them and taking them public,” said Mike DiPiano, managing general partner at NewSpring Capital, who has been named chairman of the board of iPipeline.
“The combination of iPipeline’s market penetration and content coupled with COSS’s technology create a very unique firm that will dramatically increase its product and service innovations for brokers,” Wallace said. “I am looking forward to working with the current management and leverage each organization’s core competencies to enhance our offerings and grow market share. We are in a great position to leverage the assets of the combined business and deliver a holistic solution to our customers.”
Tim succeeds Larry Berran as Chief Executive Officer. Berran, who has been with iPipeline since 2002, has been appointed chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “This merger provides us with many new opportunities to simplify distributed technologies for the financial services industry,” Berran said. “I am excited to work with Tim to realize the value that the combination of iPipeline and COSS can create for our customers. His experience in building businesses is vital as we continue to grow the leading platform in the life insurance industry.” iPipeline also appointed Dan Borth, who previously was with COSS, vice president and general manager.
While financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, iPipeline financed this acquisition with funding raised recently in a Series A investment co-led by Fidelity Ventures and NewSpring Capital.
Tim Wallace
Prior to iPipeline, Wallace served as Interim President and Chief Operating Officer of MEDecision, Inc. Wallace’s previous experience includes Chairman and CEO of Full Tilt Solutions, Inc., CEO of Xerox Connect and President of XLConnect, a company Wallace founded and helped take public in 1996. Wallace was a finalist in for Ernst & Young’s 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year Award and twice has been part of teams that built Inc 500 fastest growing companies. Wallace received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from Miami University of Ohio.
About COSS
COSS is a leading technology company serving the financial services industry with point-of-sale solutions. Founded in 1987, COSS offers a complete suite of web and desktop solutions to simplify life and annuity sales. Their flagship product, COSSEnterprise(TM), provides seamless integration of Needs Analysis, Illustrations, Advanced Marketing, and Electronic Forms into one user friendly interface.
About iPipeline
iPipeline provides the leading suite of sales distribution software to the insurance and financial services markets delivered as an on-demand service. This platform includes the most comprehensive forms and content enabling the industry to market, sell and process insurance faster. iPipeline provides agents everything they need to make a sale by aggregating over 100 insurance companies in a single, Web-based network. This simple, intuitive system integrates directly into over 700 Web sites of the industry’s largest banks, broker-dealers and insurance distributors on a subscription based model. iPipeline’s integrated approach enables insurance companies to access sales distribution, eliminates point of sale mistakes and streamlines the issuing of insurance policies.
iPipeline has offices in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. For more information, visit: .
Media Contact:
Larry Berran
(484) 348-6555

iPipeline

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 24 /PRNewswire/ — John Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Lawson-Hawks insurance Associates, announced the recent addition of Laura Ramsey as Vice-President, Private Client Services for the venerable Mountain View, CA-based insurance intermediary and broker.
“As Lawson-Hawks has continued its sustained growth in all facets of the insurance and risk management industries, we have determined to commit to a division that delivers exemplary service and highly unique products to our most affluent clients. While we have maintained a personal lines division for over seventy years, we have now resolved to expand the Agency’s capabilities to address the esoteric and unusual risks that are often associated with our most discriminating and financially comfortable clients. We expect the service for virtually all of our clients to be above reproach — Private Client Services simply carries that mantra further so that those with unusual and extraordinary personal possessions, collections and real estate have a specialized advocate and service provider at their disposal.
“The new division of Lawson-Hawks, headed by Ms. Ramsey, will endeavor to provide thorough competence in covering the risks that, while somewhat rare, are of substantial financial importance and sufficiently unique in their characterization that traditional ‘off-the-shelf’ insurance contracts may not provide all the protection or risk aversion options necessary,” continued Miller.
Ms. Ramsey has been an insurance broker for over twelve years. Prior to her assuming her role at Lawson-Hawks, she was affiliated with InsPro in Sunnyvale and San Jose where she created a very loyal client following. Beginning in the servicing sector of property-casualty insurance, Laura realized that her skills and capabilities were well-suited to client problem resolution and advocacy whereupon she migrated to the brokerage side of the InsPro Agency. With Lawson-Hawks, Ms. Ramsey will be responsible for growing the Private Client Services Division and determining both the markets and strategies capable of addressing these esoteric risks. Ms. Ramsey holds the professional designation of CISR through the National Alliance of insurance Education and Research and has obtained certificates from the insurance Institute of America (IIA).
Ms. Ramsey said of her affiliation with Lawson-Hawks, “I’m delighted to finally join LHI. For a number of years now, LHI Management and I have attempted to determine a mutually acceptable role for me at the Company. With the launch of the new Private Client Services Division, I believe I can now fully serve my existing clients and referral sources as well and be a catalyst to expand LHI’s services and value-add propositions in its very high-quality client base. I’m anxious to move in this direction and look forward to providing the enhanced levels of personal service and the superior consulting capabilities we will be able to deliver to clients, both new and existing alike.”
About Lawson-Hawks insurance Associates
Founded in 1937, Lawson-Hawks is a national independent insurance brokerage and Surplus Lines Broker representing many diverse insurance carriers and underwriting facilitators and providing risk management, commercial and personal lines insurance, association programs, specialty programs for hospitals and the healthcare industry, retirement planning and employee benefits to over fifty thousand global clients. Lawson-Hawks () currently maintains regional offices in Mountain View, Sacramento, San Francisco, Monterey and Los Angeles.
For further information, contact Jon Hilgers, Director, New Business Development, 650.237.3023 or
This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.
Lawson-Hawks insurance Associates

SAN FRANCISCO, June 27 /PRNewswire/ — Crump insurance Services’ Tri-City Brokerage, part of Crump Group, the nation’s largest insurance wholesaler, introduces a new insurance solution for wind energy power plants. This capability, offered through a partnership with PowerGuard, provides a new risk management option for these operations within the alternative energy sector.
Crump/Tri-City Brokerage is the exclusive wholesale access point, providing multi-line coverage for wind power plant development, construction and operational risks. Offered through an A.M. Best A XV rated admitted carrier, coverage offered includes property, general liability, auto, umbrella, workers’ compensation — plus sub-limits for earthquake and flood (outside CA), business interruption, E&O, and pollution cleanup. Through flexible forms and by covering serial losses through the “step down” method instead of traditional “coverage suspensions”, Crump/Tri-City works with retailers and their clients to offer the most comprehensive insurance packages at the most competitive price. Coverage extends to operations in the U.S. and Canada.
“Alternative energy sources are crucial at a time when concerns about the cost of energy, the environment, and foreign dependence are escalating. Effective risk strategies to protect construction and operational concerns are vital to the growth of this industry,” said John Jennings, president of Crump insurance Services. “We are pleased to be able to offer this coverage that is tailored specifically to the needs of wind power operations,” Jennings said.
For more information on this coverage, contact:
Jim Sipich Rich McElreath
415.675.2208 415.675.2258

About Crump insurance Services and Tri-City Brokerage

Crump insurance Services, Inc. is part of Crump Group, the nation’s largest insurance wholesaler. As the commercial insurance division of Crump Group, it is made up of legacy Crump wholesale brokerage locations across the U.S. and in Bermuda, and the former BISYS Commercial insurance Services operations including Tri-City Brokerage and 5Star Specialty Programs (formerly known as BISYS Specialty Programs). Crump insurance Services is a market leading independent wholesale distributor of commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurance, linking an extensive network of retail brokers and agents to products provided by over 150 leading P&C insurance carriers. Crump offers specialty underwriting capabilities and supports the wholesale placement of a wide range of specialized commercial insurance solutions, including customized coverage for complex P&C risks, commercial and habitational real estate risks, products liability, high-limit property, catastrophe, and professional and medical liability. Crump’s experienced wholesale brokers serve as a single connection point for its retail brokers to access domestic and international insurance companies. Crump offers customized insurance products as well as sophisticated system capabilities. Acting as a program administrator for numerous P&C carriers, 5Star Specialty Programs develops and provides specialty underwriting for commercial insurance programs — including transportation related risks, workers’ compensation solutions, professional liability, and more — matching insurance needs and market opportunities with the appropriate coverage. Additional information is available at and .
About Crump Group, Inc.
Crump Group, Inc. ( ) is the largest wholesale insurance distributor in the United States, and one of the leading U. S. providers of recordkeeping and support services to company-sponsored retirement plans. Crump insurance Services ( ; ) is among the largest U. S. providers of wholesale brokerage and specialty programs to the commercial property and casualty insurance industry. Life insurance Services ( ) is the largest wholesale distributor of services that support the sale of life related insurance and annuity products. Retirement Services ( ) is the largest independent administrator for company-sponsored retirement plans, offering every component of retirement plan infrastructure.
Crump insurance Services, Inc.