Western Financial buys two Alberta brokerages

Western Financial Group has picked up two new Alberta brokerages, bringing the total number of offices in the WFG Agency Network to 55.Page Insurance Ltd. of Drumheller, Alberta and Bru Agencies Ltd in Hanna, join WFG, with Ray Page and Ron Poole continuing to lead the Page office, and Roger Bru staying on at Bru Agencies.The acquisitions add about 7,000 new customers to Western’s operations, bringing the total to more than 180,000. They also add expertise in the agriculture and transportation sectors.”These well known and respected offices each enjoy the largest marketshare in their communities,” says Western CEO Scott Tannas. “Western Financial Group will now have a presence in two more important markets in southeastern Alberta.”Tannas says the company is “out of searching mode” in terms of acquiring new agencies, although it is finishing up some discussions which could result in further buys. He is happy with the size of the network currently, and adds, “we are allocating a lot of financial and physical resources” to the earlier announced acquisition of Federated Life. Tannas says good progress is also being made in the Bank West operation, which is “on a slow and steady march to profitability”. While Western has said it may look at a portfolio acquisition, such as a book of loans, if it were a profitable acquisition, Tannas says this is not a necessity given the growth already being posted by Bank West.