Wells Unit Acquires Speare By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter One of the largest insurance brokerage companies in the San Fernando Valley has been acquired by a division of Wells Fargo & Co. Acordia Inc. has purchased Speare & Co. in Sherman Oaks for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition doubles the size of Acordia’s Southern California operation. “Our goal in Southern California is to provide a pretty significant amount of growth because Wells is so big in Southern California,” said Alan Shirek, managing director of Acordia. Chicago-based Acordia has been on an aggressive acquisition track since it was acquired by Wells three years ago as it seeks to take advantage of what executives believe is a cross marketing opportunity with the bank. “We want to be able to serve more bank customers than we are serving now,” said Shirek. “We continue to attract new clients through referrals. At the same time, we are getting referrals through the bank, and those are probably just as significant. The bank is a very important part of our growth.” Speare & Co., a 50-year-old insurance brokerage that had been privately owned, carries over $100 million in insurance premiums, according to published reports. The company, with 80 employees, provides a full spectrum of products including property, liability, life, health and accident insurance. With the acquisition, Bob Bryar, who has been president of Speare & Co., will assume responsibilities as managing director of Acordia Southern California. No layoffs are expected. Shirek, who had held that position, will remain managing director but will become more closely involved with identifying strategic opportunities for the insurance brokerage at Wells.
