AmeriLife Acquires a Majority Interest in Medicare Plan Distributor

Brian Schroeder, the current chairman, will keep a 'significant ownership position.'

By Allison Bell | April 02, 2020 at 12:23 PM

AmeriLife Group LLC has acquired a top Medicare plan distributor, Jack Schroeder and Associates LLC (JSA).

AmeriLife is a Clearwater, Florida-based life, health and annuity distributor that recently received backing from an investor group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners L.P., a large private equity firm. The Thomas H. Lee group acquired control of the company from J.C. Flowers & Company LLC. The company has relationships with about 140,000 agents and advisors.

JSA is a Green Bay, Wisconsin-based insurance marketing organization that once was a major distributor of stand-alone long-term care insurance. The company continues to be a major national distributor of Medicare supplement insurance policies and Medicare Advantage plans.

JSA also distributes a wide range of other products with appeal to older consumers, including Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, short-term care insurance, short-term medical insurance, dental plans, hospital indemnity insurance, telemedicine plans, and final expense arrangements.

The company continues to distribute long-term care planning products, including products from Mutual of Omaha, OneAmerica and Transamerica.

JSA also provides insurance continuing education classes in 48 states.

Jack Schroeder, a Wisconsin native who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, started JSA in 1972. He died in 1996. His sons and grandsons still run JSA today.

The company now has about 150 employees and about $16 million in annual revenue, according to Zoom Information Inc.

In 2009, when the company opened an office in Fort Myers, Florida, the Fort Myers News-Press reported that the company had about 60 employees and relationships with 8,000 independent agents.

AmeriLife says the JSA acquisition will help it expand its ability to offer life insurance and Medicare products to America’s retirees.

Brian Schroeder, the chairman of JSA, and the son of Jack Schroeder, “will maintain a significant ownership position in JSA, and also serve as a principal and member of the management team with AmeriLife’s life and health brokerage distribution channel,” according to AmeriLife.

Scott Perry, AmeriLife’s chief executive officer, said the company is excited to be joining with JSA.

“Jack Schroeder was an icon in the industry,” Perry said in a comment about the deal. “He passed his knowledge and devotion to serving agents with a ‘get-it-done’ attitude to Brian. Brian, along with the outstanding management team he has assembled, continues to earn the trust and commitment of their agents.”

Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor's insurance editor, previously was LifeHealthPro's health insurance editor. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached at abell@alm.com or on Twitter at @Think_Allison.

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