Growing market share in an environment ripe with relentlesscompetitors can be daunting, overwhelming and exhaustive.

But for some credit unions, building a stronger presence withinthe insurance sector may be worth the time and expense and may helpensure members are staying close to home for their life, auto,property and casualty and other insurance needs. One strategy thatis paying off is their acquisition of local firms with deepcommunity roots.

During the first six months of 2014, there were 165 mergers andacquisitions of insurance agencies and brokerages, according toOptis Partners LLC, a Chicago-based investment banking andfinancial consulting firm. That time period was the most activefirst half since 2000.

While hard figures aren't available on the number of creditunions that have acquired insurance firms, their activity hascertainly been robust over the past few years.

One of the latest purchases occurred when Lake MichiganInsurance Agency, a division of the $3.1 billion Lake Michigan Credit Union in Grand Rapids, Mich., announced inMay that it had acquired Alpha Agency, which is also based in GrandRapids. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Opened in 1972, Alpha Agency offered personal line, life andhealth insurance.

After the merger, its owner, Carlo Vanin, remained on as anaccount executive and to work with his existing clients, accordingto LMIA.

“With the purchase, we added four new companies that we did nothave before. This gives us more markets for both new and existingclients,” said Kenneth Jansen, vice president of LMIA. “We have theability to market business to over 15 different insurance companiesto find the best coverage and rate for both business and personalinsurance.”

Alpha Agency was LMIA's second acquisition of an insurance firm.In 2011, it bought Van Tol, Magennis and Lang Inc., a Grand Rapids,Mich.-based company that provided personal and business insuranceas well as benefit packages, for an undisclosed price. The agency'sroots went back to 1921, Jansen said.

“We are looking to buy other agencies as we look to grow ourbusiness not only in Grand Rapids, but in other parts of the statewhere Lake Michigan Credit Union has a presence,” Jansen said.

According to Lake Michigan's March 2014 call report, the creditunion's wholly owned CUSO, Lake Michigan Financial Group had totalassets of $11.9 million, total capital of $8.6 million and netincome of $392,242.

Credit unions are in a strong position to offer insurance agentor broker services to their members because they have established,trusted relationships with them, said Todd Eyler, a researchdirector at Boston-based Aite Group.

“Small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, benefit fromthe strong existing knowledge of their business and can benefitfrom the more tailored types of insurance and riskmanagement-related advice that an insurance agency can offer,”Eyler said.

Also, for small and medium-sized businesses, many need moreextensive advice for their employees related to employee benefits,which is another potential void that credit unions can fill.

“The commissions and fees coming from the agency providerisk-free, recurring revenue to the credit union–something that'svery attractive in a low interest environment like we have today,”said Eyler, an insurance industry analyst.

According to a June report from research firm Cerulli Associatesin Boston that examined managing insurance company balance sheetassets, outsourced non-affiliated insurance general account assetsreached $1.2 trillion in 2013, and will account for 23% of totalinsurance general account assets in 2014.

“The pace of new outsourced investment mandates has come in fitsand starts in recent years, but we expect solid growth in assetsgoing forward as insurers diversify their investment portfoliosaway from investment-grade fixed income,” said Alexi Maravel,associate director at Cerulli.

The $5.5 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage has certainly seenthe ebbs and flows within the insurance sector as its CUSO, AlaskaUSA Insurance Brokers, has been offering service to members since1986.

In September 2012, the CUSO purchased Anchorage-based RentschlerInsurance Agency for an undisclosed amount, according to TimothyMaudsley, president of AUIB. RIA had served commercial insuranceclients in Alaska for more than 25 years.

“RIA was a long-established agency located in Anchorage andearned a strong reputation for service to its clients for manyyears,” Maudsley said. “The demographics of the book of businessthat was purchased fit very well within our business strategy,which made the acquisition a good fit.”

Alaska USA Insurance Brokers is the largest independentinsurance brokerage in Alaska, offering lines for commercialbusinesses as well as personal insurance needs, according toMaudsley. The RIA acquisition improved market share in the localbusiness community and over the years, the CUSO had purchasedmultiple books of insurance businesses.

According to the credit union's NCUA March 2014 call report,AUIB had total assets of $35.1 million, $30.3 million in totalcapital and more than $1.7 million in net income.

There have been a number of other notable insurance acquisitionswithin the credit union industry over the past few years. In 2012,TDECU Insurance Agency LLC, a subsidiary of the $2.2 billionTexas Dow Employees Credit Union in Lake Jackson, Texas, boughtfour insurance agencies. Owned by the $4 billion United Nations Federal Credit Union in Long Island City, N.Y.,UNFCU Financial Services LLC acquired Industrial Coverage Corp., aprivately-held commercial and personal insurance agency, the creditunion said in January 2013.

Desjardins Group made headlines in January when it announcedthat it would buy State Farm Canada's property and casualtyinsurance business making the $210 billion cooperative.