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Higginbotham, an employee-owned insurance, financial and HR services firm headquartered in Fort Worth, has joined forces with Charter Energy, an independent firm based in Atlanta that provides specialty insurance placement and risk management strategies for a global portfolio of energy, heavy industry, and private equity clients.
The acquisition of Charter adds specialty depth through expertise in priority growth industries and strengthened relationships with specialty carriers. The firms said a shared client-service philosophy — one that treats risk management as an integrated part of service rather than an add-on — was central to the decision.
Charter Energy was founded in 1986 by Peter “Pete” Lunati, who sought a more direct, technical approach to serving clients.
“Charter started in 1986 when my dad, Pete Lunati, walked away from a big broker that wanted him to be a knife-and-fork producer — take people to dinner, don’t touch the account,” said Marsh Lunati, owner and principal of Charter Energy. He said Charter quickly developed deep specialty expertise across energy and heavy industry risks.
Today, Charter focuses on energy, heavy industry and construction, as well as private equity, with additional capabilities in transaction liability and surety. The firm also provides risk advisory services, effectively taking on the risk management function for small to middle-market companies.
“I built Charter as a response to customer needs,” said founder and principal Peter “Pete” Lunati. “When our clients needed risk advisory services, we built a risk advisory platform.”
Higginbotham Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid said that kind of proactive risk support “is built into every relationship, every day” through the firm’s Day Two Services®.
Marsh Lunati said the collaboration positions Charter for continued growth. “Higginbotham gives us the horsepower to grow that model,” he said.