Starting a franchise over 40 years ago, ISU has become one of the largest agency networks in the US, with around 220 members across 40 states and has partnerships with more than 75 insurance carriers and wholesalers. It states that it provides independently owned insurance agencies with the unique competitive advantage of having the resources and strength of a national organisation while retaining their independence.
Robert Kelly AM, founder, managing director, CEO of Steadfast, said the group had been looking into expanding into the US over the last five years.
“We wanted to enter a long-term strategic partnership with an existing US independent agent network to create distribution and a platform to implement our service offering,” Kelly said. “I’m incredibly excited that our journey into the US has started with ISU. ISU is an excellent fit for us. They bring a stellar management team and existing scale, and we share complementary values with our people and clients. This was an essential consideration for us.”
Kelly explained that the expansion will provide Steadfast with opportunities to maximise growth and deliver its strategy and business model to the world’s largest insurance market.
“We look forward to working with the ISU team to deliver further value to ISU through implementing, where appropriate, Steadfast business and insurance solutions to support ISU members and their clients,” he said.
ISU CEO TJ Ryan commented: “This is an exciting new chapter in ISU’s history. We have taken a long-term view of ISU’s future and are highly confident this partnership with Steadfast will provide ISU’s independent agents with an even greater competitive edge in an ever-changing market.”
