Moreton & Company Honored by Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America

October 15, 2015

Salt Lake City—The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) has included Moreton & Company in the 2015 Best Practices Study. Professional agencies within the industry are nominated to participate and share key business practices/philosophies and complete an in-depth survey detailing financial and operational year-end results. The results are then scored and ranked objectively for inclusion on the basis of operational excellence.

This study serves as a tool to help agency owners and managers understand how their business operations measure up to the top performing firms across the country. This is a prestigious recognition of superior accomplishments and Moreton & Company is honored to be selected.  Click here for original press release.

moreton & company moves up in rankings to #73

Each year, Business Insurance Magazine  ranks the top 100 Largest Brokers of US Business. The ranking is based on the previous year’s brokerage revenue that was generated by US-based clients. With the number of brokerages in the US nearing 40,000 (according to InsuranceJournal.com), “making the list” demonstrates quality and leadership within the industry.  Moreton & Company jumped to ranking #73 this year (up from #75 in 2014). Moreton & Company has been in business for over 105 years—and, as we continue to grow, we celebrate receiving this acknowledgement for being in the top 100 insurance brokers and will continue to offer exemplary service.

100 years of relationships

May 2, 2011

By Denise Johnson

Strong relationships, family values, hard work and a commitment to innovation have kept Salt Lake City, Utah-based Moreton & Co. on top for more than 100 years. This fourth generation family owned independent insurance agency has been able to weather the often turbulent insurance market, thriving, not just surviving, soft market after soft market. With five locations in Utah, Idaho, Colorado and Rhode Island and 183 employees, Moreton & Co. ranked 18th in Insurance Journal‘s 2010 Top 100 Privately Held Property/Casualty Agencies list with $426.50 million in total premium for year-end 2009, including property/casualty premium and other than P/C premium. In 2010, the agency wrote $557.5 million in total premium, including $210.50 million in P/C premium and $347 million in other than P/C premium.

Along with the agency’s impressive growth, 2010 marked Moreton & Co.’s also centennial anniversary; no small feat for an independent agency today. And this family owned business again received accolades by the community it serves by being named as one ofUtah Business magazine’s 2010 trailblazer companies.

‘We keep our word. We sell a promise. If we don’t keep our promise, no one is going to buy from us.’

Bill Moreton, president of Moreton & Co., says success is about great relationships – with clients, vendors and carriers. When asked about the agency’s vision for the future, Moreton replied: “We do what we say, we say what we do. We keep our word. We sell a promise. If we don’t keep our promise, no one is going to buy from us.”

He’s referring to promises made to clients, carriers, vendors and employees. He adds, “We keep our promises with our employees and vendors. We’re very proud we have maintained great relationships with carriers for years.”

Family Ties

Founded in 1910, Moreton & Co. has grown and prospered through four generations of leadership that began with Bill Moreton’s great-grandfather, J.B. Moreton. Serving as the first clerk of the Salt Lake City Board of Education and the county recorder before starting up the agency, Moreton’s great-grandfather saw a growing need to insure the area’s mining businesses. The firm started with humble beginnings, providing surety bonding for contractors and insuring miners. J.B. Moreton also saw the business as a means of providing a place for family members to work. Even though many family members worked in the agency, ownership of the agency remained with one individual family member. One family member has always been a designated successor, something Bill Moreton believes may have been the key to helping the agency transition through generations of ownership.

“I think that’s how we have managed to transition through four generations,” Moreton said, which may have limited family drama at work, he added.

Through the years the company was no stranger to adversity, dealing with tough times by focusing on hard work and customer service. Moreton points out two memorable events in the agency’s history that could have easily spelled its demise. One such instance occurred in the 1950s, when a large street contractor client went on to start their own agency. Another instance occurred in the 1970s, when Moreton & Co wrote an electrical utility company in the area that was eventually bought out. Because of the agency’s location within the small Western state, Moreton’s grandfather and father thought the loss of each account, both amounting to a large percentage of the agency’s income, might be the end of the company.

Instead, the loss of income forced the firm to search for new lines of business, opening the door for new growth, he said.

During the 1960s, the company broadened its niche markets to include public entities, municipalities and states. During the 1970s, the agency expanded into the health and life insurance markets. More recently, Moreton & Co. has continued to expand by extending their expertise into retirement planning and securities.

But the biggest challenge for the agency today is not competition from other agencies, Moreton says. Instead, Moreton views challenges from pending legislation as the biggest hurdle for the agency now.

“The biggest threat to our business doesn’t come from competitors; it comes from government,” Moreton said. “It is very difficult to keep up with all of the legislative mandates.” Moreton says the agency does business in 47 states, which means the firm must keep up with the laws in each of those states.

In New York, for example, agency compensation disclosure is required. He also points to new laws in Utah and Idaho on inducement and rebating that could pose challenges.

Moreton says he’s also concerned about health care and employee benefits and the future role of government in this arena.

Relationships Matter

There’s no denying the importance of relationships in the insurance business. Strong relationships with carriers, clients and the communities Moreton & Co. serves have led to prosperity for this Top 100 Agency.

Moreton takes pride in the relationships his firm has made over the years, and believes strongly in being a good corporate citizen in every market they do business in.

He says some agency relationships span as long as 70 years thanks to this commitment. Moreton says to think that his grandfather sat down with his client’s grandfather is simply remarkable. He credits the quality of those long-term relationships to the customer service his company provides.

A strong family work ethic also contributed to the agency’s success, Moreton says. His grandfather worked six and a half days a week; his father worked five and a half days. Moreton says that his father, now 78, still comes into the office regularly.

Moreton credits this work ethic, as well as above average employee compensation standards, as key factors contributing to the agency’s longevity. “There’s a lot of pressure to perform and maintain the relationship … you don’t want to mess it up,” he says.

Today relationships may be more important than ever, Moreton says, because clients need a facilitator to assist in additional areas such as risk management and human resources. “We have clients that ask us to become their risk management department or human resources department. It’s a messy business right now dealing with diverse carriers. Our clients need a helping hand. We have accounts where we will have employees spend all day there.”

Moreton says the agency hosts seminars and symposiums throughout the year to help educate clients in some of these areas.

Moreton & Co.’s strong relationships with carriers and the community helped the agency land the 2002 Winter Olympics. The agency competed with several large global agencies for the opportunity to insure the games.

“We stood out because we were already so engrained in the community; we already insured most of the venues that the Olympics were using,” Moreton says. “We insured the stadium where the opening ceremony took place, and the venues for hockey and where they did the ice skating.”

Winning the account for the 2002 Winter Olympics came with challenges, Moreton said. The agency had to bid four times for the business, beating every competing national and global broker each time. Moreton admits the company made no money on the venture. When asked if he would do it again, Moreton says, “sure, but we would charge more.”

Innovation

Throughout Moreton & Co.’s 100-year history, the agency has held a commitment to innovation. Moreton credits his father’s interest in technology as having kept the company at the forefront of brokerage firms.

“I think it’s one of the reasons we have been successful… It’s because my father embraced technology, he still does.”

During the 1980s the company served as a beta test agency for hardware vendors. “We were always the beta side for Frank McCracken and the McCracken System, an early agency system.

Regional Focus

Moreton says insurance is still a regional business and maintaining a regional platform with a national presence has helped the company grow. As a result, Moreton & Co.’s four geographic locations retain regional independence, Moreton says.

“They don’t do business in Boise the same way they do it in Denver,” Moreton says. The sales function, carriers, and community are decentralized among the locations. Each one has its own president and they run it the way they want to; however, the accounting and back office functions are centralized.

Each location also specializes in particular niche areas. The Idaho office has done well focusing on schools, while Colorado’s office has focused on mergers and acquisitions, as well as assisting clients with analyzing liabilities taken on when new businesses are purchased. That office also focuses on alternative risk measures, like setting up captives and funding risks. Utah does well in executive risk and employee benefits. In Rhode Island, the company assists very large insureds with financing, merger and acquisitions, and real estate equity-owned risk.

Moreton & Co. identified early on the need to globalize its business, which has served the agency well, Moreton says. Recognizing that clients needed an agency with global capabilities, Moreton’s father entered into a partnership with Assurex Global in 1984. By becoming a partner-member with Assurex Global, Moreton & Co. could expand and insure clients throughout the world.

“Back then we needed help in Canada and in Florida. Now we insure manufacturers in China, clients with a lot of exposure in Ireland, and in Europe,” Moreton says. The partnership with Assurex Global is critical to serve and maintain many clients today, Moreton says.

This Assurex Global partnership also has proven beneficial when competing against global brokers on larger accounts. Though, Moreton admits the firm’s key competitors remain the local specialty brokers. Moreton also noted that Assurex Global provides a invaluable platform for peer-to-peer networking.

Becoming the largest brokerage firm in the marketplace doesn’t interest Moreton, but size matters some. “We need to have a certain scale to provide the services,” he says. But quality outweighs quantity in his book. “We don’t want to be the biggest; we want to be the best,” Moreton says. “I’m not worried if we’re not the biggest. That doesn’t matter to me.”

Employees Count

Moreton believes the company’s longevity can also be attributed to hard-working employees at the agency.

The firm also values education. “If a prospective employee has taken the time and effort to attain industry designations that shows professionalism; they care about their work,” he says.

While the agency looks to hire quality employees from the industry, Moreton says the firm also looks to the children of current employees for possible hires.

“We also hire a lot of kids of parents who work here. We have no problem with nepotism. We’ve had a lot of success in doing that.” Moreton adds, “At one point I think I counted 12 family combo teams. We’ve got that in Denver, Boise, and Salt Lake and we’ve had great success. It’s been a great hiring tool for us.” Moreton says prospective employees are attracted to his company because of the respect, professionalism, and good working environment and this, in turn, results in their stay.

Another reason for employee loyalty may be the compensation paid to producers; compensation that hasn’t changed since the 1970s.

“One thing we do differently is we pay the same for new (business) as we do for renewals, which I don’t think is common anymore.” Moreton doesn’t feel the need to mess with something that isn’t broken. “We’re growing, we’re successful, and we’re making money.”

Over the years, he has learned not to hire long term employees of global brokers because they don’t fit in at Moreton & Co. Another lesson, the company’s greatest success lies in building agencies from the ground up and in hiring individual producers. He’s had more success building books that way.

Future Goals

The company, which has succeeded in carefully planned growth over the span of a century, continues its aim at what some might call modest goals. Moreton notes the five-year plan includes continued geographic expansion, the marketing of new products, continued growth of the 401(k) and wealth planning business, and continued growth in worksite marketing. But most important to Moreton is just serving its clients, and serving them well. “We just roll up our sleeves and get it done … that is what our clients have come to expect from us and to count on.”  Click here for the original article.

moving beyond sales

December 2010

By Len Strazewski

Health care reform may transform the way Americans receive health benefits from their employers, but don't expect health insurance to disappear--or claims costs to trend down. And employee benefits-related service will be in more demand, not less.

Gone are the days when brokers placed employers with health insurance companies and walked away for a year, says Bill Moreton, president of Moreton & Company in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Service is the now the value proposition for brokers who specialize in employee benefits and no matter how health care reform resolves, employers will need more and better service from their brokers to understand and manage their future, he explains "In the past, the insurance carriers were the key providers of service and the brokers were the individuals who connected the clients to the appropriate carriers. Today, the broker provides most of the services related to benefits, with the carriers as only one piece of the puzzle," Bill explains.

"Employers turn to their brokers for help with the plan design, tough claims, and educating their employees about enrollment. When they need guidance about the latest laws and regulations, we are where they turn."

Moreton was founded in 1910 and has grown into one of the largest privately owned insurance brokerages in the Intermountain West area, executives say. The firm has more than 175 employees in three divisions in Salt Lake City; Boise, Idaho; and Denver, Colorado, generating an annual premium volume of more than $600 million.
The brokerage has about 60 employees in its employee benefits operations which generate about 40% of total revenues.

Moreton executives include (from left): Earl Hurst, Executive Vice President, Moreton of Utah; Craig Smith, President, Moreton of Utah;
and Bill Tingey, Chief Financial Officer, Moreton & Company.

Like many insurance agents and brokers, Moreton began as a property/casualty insurance agency, focused on mining and related industries in the western region of the United States, providing life insurance sales as an accommodation. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the firm expanded into employee benefits, Bill recalls, hiring its first dedicated benefits producer.

Since then, benefits has been one of the fastest growing aspects of the company and it is still trending upward as rates steadily increase.

Bill declines to set a target for future benefit revenues. "We'll take the revenue wherever we can get it," he says, "We're trying to grow all of our business." But a day when employee benefits sales accounts for half or more of the firm's totals is foreseeable if present soft property/casualty rate trends continue.

Craig Smith, president of Moreton's Utah office, joined the brokerage 22 years ago and has watched the evolution of the firm from a traditional insurance sales organization to a comprehensive service provider. "Our role is to assist the client in whatever ways possible. Our first job is understanding our clients' long-term business strategies and then helping them design employee benefits strategies that are consistent with their needs.

Craig says Moreton clients vary in size among the firm's regional offices with more small businesses in Idaho and larger employers in metropolitan Denver. While the brokerage serves many small businesses with two to 99 employees, Smith says it can provide more sophisticated approaches to larger employers with 100 or more employees and targets employers with 100 to 350 employees who can benefit most from the firm's services. 

These techniques can include self-funding all or part of group health costs, which provides employers with greater insight into claims trends, consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) that give employees more responsibility for choosing affordable care, and wellness programs which encourage more healthful lifestyles, he says.

Earl Hurst joined Moreton's Utah office in August as executive vice president and adds another level of health industry perspective. Hurst has 30 years of experience in health and insurance services and formerly was president of Humana's Utah operations.

He says the future of health care cost control isn't more managed care from group health plans, but rather greater transparency in the actual cost of care and more sophisticated decisions by health care consumers with a financial motivation to choose wisely.

"Few plan participants really know the actual cost of their medical care. Until recently, the only communication most employees had with their health plan has been the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) form they receive after claims have been paid," Earl notes. "There has been no transparency in the actual costs of medical procedures and the knowledge that the cost may vary among medical service providers."

However, as more employers introduce consumer-directed health plans such as health savings accounts (HSAs) and large deductible group plans, more employees are motivated to research the cost of their care and make personal consumer choices among care providers, he says.

The result has been more competitive pricing and a lower rate of cost increase among elective medical procedures. "Acute medical costs continue to increase at several times the rate of the CPI (Consumer Price Index) increase," an indication of runaway medical inflation, he says. "But employee-paid procedures such as cosmetic surgery and Lasik (vision improvement) surgery is tracking much closer to the CPI," reflecting more normal consumer product inflation.

According to the Moreton Web site, while the cost of employee-paid medical procedures such as cosmetic surgery has continued to increase, up 22% this year, the cost of procedures paid directly by employers has risen more than four times more--up 90% this year.

Matt DeWaal, senior vice president and benefits producer, says Moreton has been promoting CDHPs since their inception and he has noticed a significant change in the behavior of individuals who participate in the plans. 
"Whatever the upfront account--whether its $500 or $2,000--the reality of the financial commitment makes you more involved in the whole process. When it's your money that you are paying, you pay more attention to what you are buying and what it costs," Matt explains.

CDHPs also provide a good platform for employee wellness programs, another approach that is gaining popularity among Moreton clients. Wellness programs, which can range from simple health incentives such as health club discounts and weight loss contests to blood tests for health screening, "give employers a chance to push back against the trend of rising costs," says Matt.

Moreton partners with local and national program providers as well as the leading group health plans to provide customized wellness programs for many of its clients, he says. "We will tap every resource available to give our clients the range of wellness services they want to be available to their employees."

The largest group health plans in the three-state market include: Cigna Health Humana, [no space] UnitedHealthcare, and Regence Blue Cross/BlueShield and Intermountain Healthcare, a regional provider network.
However, wellness programs are undergoing a transformation, adds Mark Davis, senior vice president and another benefits producer.

Most wellness programs were originally introduced by group health plans as an educational support program for their participants, he explains. "These were the carrots of the past, the rewards for participating in the programs.

"Now we are seeing more of the stick, as employers are building risk into the programs," he says.
These new wellness programs allow plan administrators to identify employees with risk factors such as obesity, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure and provide premium discounts--only if they meet health targets determined with health coaches.

Mark says Moreton has more than 100 employers participating in wellness programs that are showing measurable improvements in such measures as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and cholesterol.

Matt DeWaal says employers continue to be concerned about the impact of health reform on their benefit plans, but he believes that while the rules and regulations "that are still on the burner" are unlikely to reduce costs on their own, they are also unlikely to affect the progress employers are making with their plan design and wellness program investments.

While health care reform and medical cost issues dominate the attention of Moreton benefits clients, employee benefit management and human resource management needs also remain important. In response to these needs, Bill Moreton notes that the brokerage also provides a full range of support services including online enrollment technology, human resource management consulting, benefits and human resources communications consulting.

"We are committed to helping our clients in whatever situations that affect their business," Bill notes. "This service approach has led us into expanding the resources we make available above and beyond traditional insurance. This approach, I believe, is unique to Moreton & Company in our region."

The Moreton staff includes an in-house employment attorney who provides management consulting on employment issues, contract reviews, and employee handbook policy language, compliance counseling on HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, and training sessions on sexual harassment for both managers and employees.

This attorney also conducts quarterly client training sessions on human resource policies and procedures such as termination, downsizing and severance.

Moreton communications experts provide benefit information support including enrollment guides, employee benefit notices, education materials, posters, flyers and payroll stuffers.

The brokerage also provides other group and voluntary benefits including group dental and vision care plans, long- and short-term disability insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, critical illness insurance, supplemental medical insurance and long-term care insurance.

The employee-paid voluntary benefits can also include non-medical benefits such as group auto and homeowners insurance, legal services and estate planning services through the agency's separate financial services company.  Click here for the original article.

marketing agency of the month

July 2007

By Dennis H. Pillsbury

Finding talented people is one of the most often-mentioned concerns for agency principals. An agency can improve its automation and workflows, introduce a sales culture and prepare for growth, but finding new people who can carry those efforts on to the next generation and beyond is a problem that is nearly universal in the agency system. And there are almost as many solutions and attempted solutions as there are agencies in the country. For Moreton & Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, the solution turned out to be surprisingly simple in concept—be a great place to work and the talented people will join you.

Moreton & Co. was founded in Salt Lake City in 1910 by James B. Moreton. It started out with two employees as a surety bond agency. Today, it still is a family firm, with President Bill Moreton representing the fourth generation. Bill took over from his dad about five years ago. But there have been major changes along the way.

The firm now provides all lines of coverage and a variety of risk management and other consulting services. It has grown to become a dominant broker in Utah and Idaho and is well on its way in Colorado and Arizona. It opened its second office in Boise in the early 1990s, followed more recently by offices in Denver and Phoenix. Revenues total around $30 million, with one-third of that coming from employee benefits.

Moreton & Co. employs 170 people, including 23 in the Denver office that it opened two years ago, and nine in the Phoenix office that was opened last year. The Denver office also houses Moreton Risk Solutions, a division that was started to specialize in providing coverage and services to large commercial clients.

“Our goal is to become a dominant western U.S. broker by the end of the decade,” says Executive Vice President Daniel Jones. “Our plans call for the controlled opening of new offices throughout the West through organic growth or by acquiring existing operations.”

Only the best

Moreton & Co. targets middle and upper middle market commercial lines clients, as well as specializes in high net worth accounts in personal lines. In addition to property/casualty and employee benefits for commercial lines customers, the agency also offers life insurance and wealth planning through its Moreton Financial Services unit.

“We’ve always been able to attract people with insurance expertise,” says Dan, who joined Moreton & Co. from Marsh one year ago. “The agency always had a philosophy of hiring good people, rewarding them for their efforts, and giving them the freedom to do their job. When I was at Johnson & Higgins, we would run into Moreton and always had a tough time competing against them or convincing their people to join us. That’s one of the reasons that I decided to join Moreton & Co. At J&H, we had always focused on relationships with clients and providing service above and beyond expectations. The philosophy was: ‘The client comes first.’

“That philosophy describes Moreton & Co.,” Dan continues, “And that’s the philosophy that has attracted so many excellent people to our agency. None of our recent hires have come here for a bigger salary. What they’ve really come for is the chance to put clients first again and the chance to be with a growing firm that offers almost unlimited potential. Last year, we had 15% growth in a softening market. When you couple that with the fact that we offer a non-contributory retirement plan that is based on profitability, you can understand why we have very low turnover and are very attractive to new talent. In fact, most of our people have been with the agency more than 15 years.

“Over the last two years,” he adds, “we’ve been able to attract a lot of people from the large brokers. The head of our Phoenix office came from Marsh Phoenix. The heads of our Phoenix and Denver offices were senior managers with Marsh. The head of Moreton Risk Services came from Aon. We’ve built a D&O team with unparalleled expertise by attracting people from ABD, Aon and Marsh. We’re gradually building that area by stressing to potential clients that our ‘A’ team is our only team. They won’t just meet with the experts until the account is written and then find themselves being passed down to the ‘B’ team. That can’t happen. We don’t have a ‘B’ team.”

Strength on top of strength

“I certainly don’t mean to imply that Moreton & Co. didn’t have expertise before,” Dan quickly adds. “We did. We probably were the most knowledgeable broker in the area in the construction and public sector markets. We also handle a lot of health care and high tech business. We’ve always had a reputation for being excellent problem solvers for our clients, and that has allowed us to bite off some pretty big challenges.”

Probably the best-known assignment that Moreton & Co. landed was the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The agency became the first independently owned broker to handle all the risk management and insurance needs for any of the Olympic Games. And it went off without a hitch. “We handled everything as the sole broker for the games,” Dan points out.

In addition to the Olympic Games, Moreton & Co. is the insurance broker for the Utah Jazz, and has a list of clients that reads like the who’s who of Utah and Idaho businesses.

“Our people have dealt with very complex risk management challenges,” Dan continues. “And we’re not afraid to toot our horns. The addition of large broker talent has allowed us to add to the already impressive expertise and to compete for some larger accounts, although we stay away from Fortune 500 companies, at least for now. Our team now includes professionals, who, in former lives, have been account team leaders on firms such as Johnson & Johnson and Unilever.”

Strength behind the strength

“The producers we bring in have one common ingredient—they are all relationship-oriented producers,” Dan says. “That’s very important, but it can also be difficult if you try to make them fit into a mold. Everybody has a different way of relating with people and developing those close ties that lead to business relationships that last. So we just bring in the right kind of people and give them a lot of latitude.

“To make that workable, we have the best support staff in the area and the best tools. None of this would be possible if we didn’t have great people,” Dan points out. “The producers go out and develop the relationships, and the support people make certain that the service we provide exceeds expectation. That’s why our retention rate is better than 96% in a competitive marketplace.”

In addition to the people, the agency also provides the best in automation, including its own online employee benefits software—Benefitfactor. “We thought it was good,” Dan says, “But you’re never certain there isn’t something better out there until someone comes and tells you how great it is. We had that happen when we hired our first Arizona benefits producer. She came to us from Mercer. When we showed her our online product, she was beaming and told us that Mercer didn’t have anything like it. Additionally, we have an in-house benefits underwriter and an in-house attorney who specializes in benefits and will work with our clients on benefits and human resources concerns. Our clients love these services.

“We also have excellent relationships with our markets,” Dan says. “We are the largest regional broker for St. Paul Travelers in Denver and also have excellent relationships with most of the regional companies. They really like local brokers. Some of them won’t even work with the global brokers. They give us very strong support, which translates to better service for our clients.”

A good citizen

“We’ve been in Salt Lake City for 97 years and have been heavily involved in the community,” Dan points out. “We raise money for the symphony and opera and have a major company foundation that distributes money around town. Our employees work with ‘Meals on Wheels.’ Our roots are here. We’re a private firm that has benefited from the success of this community. If there’s a worthy cause here that needs help, we try to find a way to say, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ This is our community and anything we can do to make it a better place to live is good for us.”

Moreton & Co. lives by a philosophy that exemplifies the best in the independent agency system— “The client comes first.” And the agency has succeeded by putting that philosophy into practice. The plans call for the agency to move from prominent to dominant in the Intermountain West over the next few years and we at Rough Notesare certain this will happen. We are proud to recognize Moreton & Co. as our Marketing Agency of the Month. *  Click here for the original article.

new moreton leader is fourth generation

March 23, 2000

By Deseret News

A 90-year-old insurance company is banking on consistency and experience to weather any changes in it leadership.

The Fred A. Moreton & Co. just recently got a new leader -- William (Bill) Moreton, great-grandson of founder J.B. Moreton, which makes the younger Moreton the fourth generation of the family to head the Salt Lake-based, independently owned insurance firm. It is one of the largest insurance brokerages in the West.Bill Moreton this month succeeded his father, Edward B. Moreton, as president and CEO. It was the same situation that occurred in 1968 when Edward Moreton took over from his father, Fred A. Moreton.

Edward Moreton now serves as the company's chairman.

Craig L. Smith, executive vice president and chief operating officer, will continue in those roles.

The agency, which was founded in 1910, employs more than 100 people. It is located at 709 E. South Temple.

Throughout the transition of leadership through generations of Moretons, the company has prospered and grown.

The timeline looks like this:

J.B. Moreton founded the firm in 1910.

The company was writing premiums of $69,000 when the late Fred A. Moreton took over in 1920.

When Edward Moreton became the leader in 1970 at age 38, the company had $4 million in premiums.

This month, when Bill Moreton, 39, takes charge, the company had $200 million in premiums on the books.

Bill Moreton joined the company in 1982 after completing an internship with Lloyd's of London. A Charter Property and Casualty Underwriter, (CPCU), Moreton has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Utah.

Through its affiliation with Assurex International, the world's largest held insurance brokerage firm, Fred A. Moreton & Co. provides service capabilities in all parts of the United States and in 36 other countries.  Click here for the original article.