First Insurance Acquires Human Resources Company Intelli OBM

Deal allows insurer to add human resources consulting services.

Locally owned insurance brokerage firm First Insurance signed the dotted line to purchase Intelli Outsourcing Business Management (IOBM) for an undisclosed amount. The deal will allow First Insurance to diversify by offering human resources consulting services and technology. The new services are expected to increase First Insurance's client pool by more than 30% in one year, said Julio Ortiz, employee benefits practice partner.

As a result of transaction., First Insurance absorbed IOBM's operations and top management, but the company names will be co-branded. First Insurance, established 24 years ago, is a leader in commercial insurance brokerage, with almost $6 million in annual commissions for 2003, as reported in the 2005 CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Book of Lists.

Before the acquisition, First Insurance would use its brokerage expertise to obtain the best deal on the health plan for commercial clients employees. In addition, as a value-added service, these clients could leave the management of the health plan to Fist Insurance and focus on their core businesses.

Now, with IOBM, First Insurance will be able to go beyond just taking over health plan management. "First, the company can offer consulting services to human resources managers at client companies that either don't have a human resources department or have a small human resources team that needs help handling employee issues," explained Miguel Tirado, managing part of First Insurance and IOBM. Among the issues in which the company can offer assessment are outsourcing, compensation, benefits, regulations, and even occupational medicine, which addresses prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries associated with work.

Ortiz said this assessment is available to companies that are already clients of First Insurance, but also to companies that aren't. "Companies can count on us to offer them the help they need with human resources management."

Companies that sign up for the services also can take advantage of the technological advancements First Insurance and IOBM offer. "Right now, many companies have an electronic database with each employee record, including personal information, vacation days available, and more. We have developed a Web-based kiosk system that does much more," Tirado indicated.

First Insurance and IOBM's system has two components: employee self-service (ESS) and management self-services (MSS). The ESS part allows employees to look up their personal employment record online to check, for example, how many vacation days they have available. Tirado said this technology will help employees immediately obtain the information they need, with no need to interrupt the human resources manager.

"It takes an average of 15 to 30 minutes for a human resources manager to respond to employee inquiries,"Ortiz estimated. "This causes a drop in productivity because workers must take time off from their job to get answers. Of course, it also means human resources executives have to drop what they are doing to assist the employee."

On the MSS side, the system's programming is custom-made based on client's requirements. "For instance," Tirado explained, " an employer may want to allow employees to automatically update their personal information without having to go to human resources. Another client may prefer that employee changes are verified and authorized first before taking effect. We can design the system any way the client wants it."



The article was published on CARIBBEAN BUSINESS and written by Taína Rosa on Thursday, August 25, 2005; page 28.

 

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