Partnership provides exciting growth opportunities for the next generation of leaders, while providing ownership to all of New Horizons’ employees
DALLAS – July 21, 2020 – Integrity Marketing Group, LLC (“Integrity”), the nation’s largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products, announced today its acquisition of New Horizons Insurance Marketing, Inc. (“New Horizons”), one of the country’s most respected family-owned insurance marketing organizations (IMOs) focused on serving the Medicare market.
Beginning with a partnership formed in 1981 between Jeff Sams and John Hockaday, New Horizons now serves more than 10,000 life and health insurance agents. Jeff Sams, CEO, and John Hockaday, COO, both Principals, will continue to lead operations of New Horizons, their brokerage division, and Sams/Hockaday & Associates, their career division. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Jeff and John are true visionaries that saw other like-minded agents who needed deeper support, and they built a business to meet those needs. They are two of the most agent-focused leaders I’ve ever met, and it’s the secret sauce to their record sales growth,” said Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity. “Much of their strength comes from their heart for clients, helping them prepare for some of the toughest days of their lives. As the newest partners of Integrity, they will now be able to help more families than ever before and are great examples to us of true servant-leaders.”
“Integrity’s achievements are undeniably the talk of our industry. Why wouldn’t you join with the magnitude behind this partnership, including collaboration with industry legends and developing exclusive national products with major carriers?” said Jeff Sams, Co-Founder & CEO of New Horizons. “Now we get to lock arms as partners, and pull all in the same direction, all on the same team, with the ability to capitalize on our various strengths. New Horizons is stronger with Integrity and this has given me a new spark to my career!”
“As an Integrity Partner, we can now focus on the things that we really do best and serve more agents in the senior market,” added John Hockaday, Co-Founder & COO of New Horizons. “When you look at what Integrity has put together, having great agencies all over the country pulling together, all working for the same cause, all trying to lift one another up — it’s special. We couldn’t wait to get this deal done and are excited to be part of the Integrity family,” continued Hockaday.
Through Integrity’s partnership benefits, New Horizons will be able to streamline its business functions by integrating with Integrity’s extensive infrastructure and utilizing its platform of resources and services, including human resources, lead generation, compliance, IT, social media and operational areas of support. New Horizons will also have access to the diverse and exclusive products available only to Integrity partners, as well as the support of industry-leading sales and marketing systems.
“With Integrity coming alongside us and taking some operational things off our plate, I get to focus on my strengths and what can scale this business in a big way — helping our agents serve more clients,” said Michael Sams, Director of Sales Training and Development for New Horizons. “When you’re on your own as a stand-alone IMO, you’re cautious before investing money back in the business because every dollar spent comes out of your own pocket. But with Integrity, you benefit from the major investments already made for the platform.”
“Scale matters more than ever before and now that we're on the Integrity rocket ship, we all see the business and the industry differently,” said Luke Hockaday, Director of Medicare Supplement Sales for New Horizons. “Doors are opening I didn’t know existed. With Integrity, we have the resources behind us that will enable us to grow and we’re going to do it faster than we could on our own.”
“The icing on the cake was learning about Integrity’s Employee Ownership Plan,” said John Hockaday. “We could not have done something like this on our own. It was hard enough figuring out a way to pass this business onto our sons, but now all the amazing people who work here have a stake in the game in a much larger business. It helps us leave a remarkable legacy for those who have worked so hard to build New Horizons into such a successful business.”
“When you have an already successful company like New Horizons, it’s not always easy to see opportunities that you might be missing by being part of something bigger,” said Steve Young, Chairman of the Board of Integrity. “Jeff and John quickly captured the vision of what we’re working to build at Integrity. Partnering with Integrity, they’ll have access to tools and resources that can help them focus more on doing what they do best, while we support the rest. We are excited to welcome them to the Integrity family.”
For more information about Integrity’s acquisition of New Horizons and to view the announcement video, please visit www.integritymarketing.com/newhorizons.
Integrity Marketing Group, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is the leading independent distributor of life and health insurance products focused on serving Americans. Integrity develops exclusive products with insurance carrier partners and markets these products through its distribution network that includes other large insurance agencies throughout the country. Integrity’s almost 1,200 employees work with more than 275,000 independent agents who service over 5 million clients annually. In 2020, Integrity expects to help insurance carriers place more than $3 billion in new premium. For more information, visit www.integritymarketing.com.
Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Decatur, Illinois, New Horizons provides the tools, technology and support to help agents and their clients achieve financial security and long-term success. New Horizons is one of the nation’s leading Senior Market-focused IMOs, specializing in the Medicare market, with an extensive network of more than 10,000 life and health insurance agents. For more information, visit www.newhorizonsmktg.com.
Media Contact:
Rachel Aird, Public Relations Director
ThomasARTS
press@thomasarts.com
801-706-7005
Partnership Inquiries:
Eric Pederson, Vice President of Business Development
Integrity Marketing Group
eric.pederson@integritymarketing.com
866-650-1857
