Tampa Bay credit union expands again, buying a 900-client insurance firm

First banks. Now a credit unions is buying an insurance company. 

This comes from Dunedin-based Achieva Credit Union, which announced it recently acquired Tampa-based Cannella Insurance Services. Cannella Insurance has some 900 insurance clients, primarily in the Tampa Bay region. Founded in 2003 by Joseph Cannella, it also has clients in Lee, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to a statement. 

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Cannella Insurance will continue to operate under the same management and team under the new name, Achieva Insurance Agency LLC. Cannella was named director of Achieva Insurance Agency LLC, the release states.  

“This acquisition brings only positive outcomes for each of our valued clients,” Cannella says in the statement. “By leveraging Achieva’s resources, we will be able to expand our product offering by attracting several additional new insurance carriers and contracting with these additional quality insurers to create an expanded product offering that will only be a win for our customers.”

Achieva Credit Union garnered national banking industry headlines in 2015, when it became the first credit union in the country to buy a whole bank. That happened when it paid $23.2 million for Punta Gorda-based Calusa Bank. Then, in 2018, Achieva acquired Fort Myers-based Preferred Community Bank. 

Cannella Insurance Services stems from a split from Allines Insurance Brokerage Inc., which Joseph Cannella co-founded in 1993. The firm today specializes in auto, car, home, boat, business, commercial and flood insurance, including insurance for religious organizations, churches, museums, private schools and builders risk. 

“Achieva Insurance Agency shares the values of personalized customer care, integrity, and expertise that Cannella Insurance provided for over two decades,” says John Wintermeier, Achieva Insurance Agency Board Chairman, in the statement. “Combined with our ability to handle higher volumes of clients and proven efficiencies throughout our 25 branches across Southwest Florida, we look forward to offering an even broader range of insurance options to meet the specific needs of our clients in these challenging times with insurance coverage in Florida.”

Achieva officials say they don't anticipate any immediate changes to their current clients' insurance coverages or policies as a result of the acquisition.

Achieva Credit Union was founded in 1937 in Pinellas County. It has more than $2.7 billion in assets and 25 branches serving more than 160,000 members.