News

HARTFORD, Conn. and CLEARWATER, Fla. – May 16, 2024 – Saybrus Partners (“Saybrus”), a market leader in life and annuity distribution and an affiliate of AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife”), announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Meritage Wealth Insurance Advisors (“Meritage”), a point-of-sale (POS) focused, national life insurance general agency that serves financial professionals across a spectrum of life, annuity, retirement, legacy and business/executive benefits planning solutions. Per the agreement, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Meritage Wealth Insurance Advisors’ experience and success in the life insurance industry, sophisticated planning expertise, and strong operational capabilities make the firm an exciting complement to our business,” said Edward W. Cassidy, managing principal of Saybrus Partners. “I’m happy to welcome Meritage’s leadership team and employees to the Saybrus family, and look forward to our work together.”

Founded in 2019 by a team of five industry veterans, Meritage has built a national reputation for expertly designed solutions and consistently exceeding expectations for the most sophisticated and complex client relationships. Among other capabilities, including point-of-sale support, Meritage’s full-service model offers access to advanced case design, deep carrier relationships and product options, and back-office and underwriting support. With over 100 years of combined experience, Meritage’s partners have built a company that is passionate about client service delivered through a high-touch, consultative approach that has helped the firm stand apart in the industry.

“We are thrilled to be joining this industry-leading organization,” said Chuck Adam, one of Meritage’s founding partners. “Not only did we immediately connect with Saybrus’ culture and team, but the company’s strong track record, robust resources and long-standing relationships make it a great strategic fit for our firm.”

Together with Saybrus, Meritage also becomes part of a fast-growing AmeriLife Wealth Group, a new kind of wealth distribution platform that aims to deliver a suite of best-in-class services to the modern agent and financial professional to ensure their clients – no matter their stage of life – never outgrow them.

“Meritage brings all the components we look for in new wealth distribution partners and we’re thrilled to welcome them to the AmeriLife family of companies,” said Mike Vietri, Chief Distribution Officer for AmeriLife Wealth Group. “Indeed, Meritage is the perfect complement to Saybrus, and I have no doubt that – with the support of Ed and his team – Meritage will take an already stellar track record of growth and success to new heights.”

Under Saybrus, the firm will continue to operate as a standalone company from its Cypress, Texas headquarters, led by its five founding partners who will report to Cassidy.

###

About Meritage Wealth Insurance Advisors
Meritage is a National Insurance General Agency with full support for client advisors managing important, sophisticated client relationships. Partnering with private and institutional practices, its team brings expertise in Family Planning, Legacy Planning, Retirement Planning and Business Planning. The firm’s comprehensive capabilities comprise point of sale consultation, advanced case design access, solutions from numerous life insurance carriers, high-end underwriting expertise and experienced case facilitation. For more information, visit www.meritagewia.com.

About Saybrus Partners

Saybrus Partners, LLC helps institutions and financial professionals address clients’ needs with insurance and annuity solutions for basic protection as well as retirement, estate and business planning. Its partner firms include institutional financial advisories, insurance retailers, banks and broker/dealers. Customizing its services to best fit its partners’ businesses, the company offers a complete set of distribution capabilities including assisted sales, traditional wholesaling, new business operations and custom product design. For more information, visit www.saybruspartners.com and follow Saybrus on LinkedIn.

About AmeriLife

AmeriLife’s strength is its mission: to provide insurance and retirement solutions to help people live longer, healthier lives. In doing so, AmeriLife has become recognized as the leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities, and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees across the United States. For more than 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with top insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a distribution network of over 300,000 insurance agents and financial professionals and more than 100 marketing organizations and insurance agency locations nationwide. For more information, visit AmeriLife.com, and follow AmeriLife on Facebook and LinkedIn.

HARTFORD, Conn. and CLEARWATER, Fla. – June 6, 2023 – Saybrus Partners (“Saybrus”), a market leader in life and annuity distribution and an affiliate of AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife”), announced today that it has reached an agreement with Prudential Financial, Inc. (“Prudential”) to move the latter’s wholesale life insurance brokerage general agency known as Prudential Life Distributors to Saybrus, cementing the firm as a premier provider of life insurance point of sale consultation in the industry. Per the agreement, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We’re thrilled to welcome our newest colleagues to Saybrus and are excited for the opportunities ahead,” said Edward W. Cassidy, managing principal of Saybrus Partners. “Today’s announcement represents a significant milestone for our company and highlights the strength of our best-in-class life insurance distribution model. We look forward to continuing to grow our business and accelerating the success of our partners’ advisors and their clients.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Saybrus, who shares our deep commitment towards clients and the people who support them,” added Kevin Brayton, head of Individual Life Insurance Distribution and Sales for Prudential Financial. “I am confident that under Ed’s leadership, Saybrus will only continue to drive a much greater impact on key relationships and strengthen the value of those relationships over time.”

Based in Hartford, Conn., Saybrus Partners was formed in 2009 to bring its boutique distribution model to financial institutions, delivering customized support, proactive consultation and transparent, centralized management for advisors and insurance agents. The company was acquired by AmeriLife in 2021 and operates as a standalone company. Since its inception, Saybrus, which has nearly 200 employees nationwide, has insured nearly half a million lives with more than $130 billion death benefit in force.

“As AmeriLife Wealth sets out to redefine the agent and advisor experience, today’s announcement is a testament to the incredible impact that our distribution partners are making,” said Mike Vietri, Chief Distribution Officer of Wealth for AmeriLife. “We’re excited for this injection of talent into an already performative business, and look forward to continued expansion of our services and support for the institutional market.”

###

 About Saybrus Partners
Saybrus Partners, LLC helps institutions and financial professionals address clients’ needs with insurance and annuity solutions for basic protection as well as retirement, estate and business planning. Its partner firms include institutional financial advisories, insurance retailers, banks and broker/dealers. Customizing its services to best fit its partners’ businesses, the company offers a complete set of distribution capabilities including assisted sales, traditional wholesaling, new business operations and custom product design. For more information, visit www.saybruspartners.com and follow Saybrus on LinkedIn.

 About AmeriLife

AmeriLife’s strength is its mission: to provide insurance and retirement solutions to help people live longer, healthier lives. In doing so, AmeriLife has become recognized as the leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees across the United States. For more than 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with top insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a distribution network of over 300,000 insurance agents and advisors and 120 marketing organizations and insurance agency locations nationwide. For more information, visit AmeriLife.com, and follow AmeriLife on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Contacts:

Media

Jeff Maldonado
+1-321-297-1112
jmaldonado@amerilife.com

Partnership Inquiries

Aziz Ali
+1-860-490-9853
aali@saybruspartners.com

Clearwater, Fla. and Hartford, Conn. – July 27, 2021 – AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife”), a national leader in developing, marketing, and distributing annuity, life, and health insurance solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire Saybrus Partners, LLC (“Saybrus”), a life insurance and annuity distribution company, from Nassau Financial Group (“Nassau”).

“As longtime partners with Nassau Financial Group, we’ve witnessed firsthand Saybrus Partners’ track record of success as a leading distributor of life and annuity products,” said Scott R. Perry, chairman and CEO of AmeriLife. “Today’s announcement is a significant milestone in our relationship, and we’re thrilled to welcome the Saybrus team to the AmeriLife family. We look forward to extending and strengthening our industry-leading life and annuities offerings together.”

Based in Hartford, Conn., Saybrus Partners was formed in 2009 to bring its boutique model to institutions, delivering customized support, proactive consultation and transparent, centralized management for advisors and insurance agents. Saybrus has been a subsidiary of Nassau Financial Group since 2016 and has exclusively distributed Nassau’s annuities and Medicare supplement insurance through independent marketing organizations (IMOs) and independent agents. Further, Nassau and AmeriLife have a longstanding relationship, with the latter as the leading distribution partner for Nassau annuities. Saybrus will continue to distribute Nassau’s products after this transaction.

“This strategic transaction marks an exciting milestone for Nassau, further aligning us with AmeriLife, our leading distribution partner, while simplifying our business in support of our insurance sales and asset management growth plans,” said Phil Gass, chairman and chief executive officer of Nassau. “Under Ed Cassidy’s terrific leadership, Saybrus has grown from a start-up insurance wholesaler to a scaled insurance distribution company with a national footprint. We are confident that Saybrus has a bright future ahead with AmeriLife.”

“There was an obvious synergy to this transaction, starting with the long-standing relationship among Nassau, Saybrus and AmeriLife around the distribution of Nassau products,” said Edward Cassidy, managing principal of Saybrus Partners. “In addition, Saybrus and AmeriLife share a strategic focus on the development, marketing and distribution of annuities, life and health insurance solutions, and Saybrus’ industry footprint nicely complements AmeriLife’s growing portfolio of independent affiliates.”

Similar to other AmeriLife subsidiaries, Saybrus will continue to operate as a stand-alone organization and brand. Edward Cassidy, along with Aziz Ali, Moira Lowe, and the rest of the Saybrus management team will continue to lead Saybrus from its Hartford headquarters.

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick acted as legal advisor to AmeriLife, while Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP and Piper Sandler & Co. acted as legal advisor and financial advisor, respectively, to Nassau in connection with the transaction, which is expected to close later this quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.

About AmeriLife

AmeriLife’s strength is its mission: to offer insurance and retirement solutions to help people live longer, healthier lives. By putting its mission into practice, AmeriLife has become recognized as a national leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees. For 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with the nation’s leading insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a national distribution network of over 200,000 insurance agents and advisors, 35 marketing organizations, and nearly 60 insurance agency locations. Visit www.AmeriLife.com and follow AmeriLife on Facebook and LinkedIn for more information.

About Saybrus Partners

Saybrus Partners, LLC helps institutions and financial professionals address clients’ needs with life insurance and annuity solutions for basic protection as well as retirement, estate, and business planning. Its partner firms include institutional financial advisories, insurance retailers, banks and broker/dealers. Customizing its services to best fit its partners’ businesses, the company offers a complete set of distribution capabilities including assisted sales, traditional wholesaling, new business operations and custom product design. For more information, visit www.saybruspartners.com.

About Nassau Financial Group

Nassau Financial Group, based in Hartford, Conn., has combined assets of $27 billion, capital of $1.3 billion and annual sales of approximately $750 million. Its business covers insurance, asset management and reinsurance. For more information, visit www.nfg.com.

Contacts

AmeriLife, Jeff Maldonado, 321-297-1112

Nassau Financial Group, Alice Ericson, 860-403-5946