Risk Strategies, a national specialty insurance brokerage and risk management firm, has acquired Specialty Insurance Solutions (SIS), expanding capabilities in its national student health practice. SIS offers specialty products and services primarily focused on comprehensive student health insurance programmes, sport accident insurance, and student travel insurance. Jeff Struckle, co-owner of SIS, joined the firm in 2010 to build out the firm’s intercollegiate sports programme. As a broker, consultant and managing general underwriter, SIS connects clients to carrier-based programmes or build a custom programmes to meet specific needs. It also offers a variety of specialty support services, such as setting up for billing and coding as a provider, contracting with network carriers as a preferred provider organisation, and establishing a student help desk. The acquisition of SIS builds on Risk Strategies’ long-term focus and growth in the education industry. The Risk Strategies student health practice includes industry specialists Academic HealthPlans (AHP) and University Health Plans (UHP), who develop comprehensive health programmes for higher education institutions, and lead the industry in consulting, brokering and technologically advanced administrative services. Commenting on the acquisition, Struckle says: “Risk Strategies’ commitment to, and investment in, the student health space gave us real confidence that our business and our clients would benefit from this decision.” Terry Lyons, managing director of Risk Strategies’ student health division, notes: “Risk Strategies offers focused expertise and deep resources in the education market for colleges and universities, especially as they and their students face these challenging times.” In October 2020, Risk Strategies acquired LaRocca & Associates, a specialty brokerage with expertise in health and welfare benefits across several industries.
