Integrity Marketing Group, LLC, the nation’s largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products, recently announced it has acquired Tidewater Management Group, one of the largest distributors of Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage products in the Southeastern United States.
As part of the deal, Tidewater’s founder, Todd Fincher, becomes an owner in Integrity. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Tidewater will continue to be led by Fincher and will operate under its own brand. All of Tidewater’s 25 employees will continue in their current roles in their Raleigh, N.C. headquarters.
Fincher and his team have built Tidewater into one of the largest insurance marketing organizations in the country. In 2018, Tidewater sold nearly $55 million of annualized premium and helped thousands of seniors plan for their Medicare and Final Expense needs. Tidewater has experienced explosive annual growth of almost 30% by emphasizing strong service to its agent and agency partners. Joining Integrity will provide additional products and resources to accelerate Tidewater’s impressive progress.
“It’s an honor to be able to join Integrity at this point in our development,” said Fincher. “The Integrity platform equips our young and hungry team of proven professionals to compete at an entirely new level with access to top contracts and the latest technology. We’re now in a partnership with some of the best minds in our industry, all of which will allow us to better support all of our agents and agencies across the Southeast.”
The following video shares more of Tidewater’s decision to join Integrity: www.IntegrityMarketing.com/tidewater
“We’re excited to welcome Tidewater to the Integrity family,” said Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder & CEO of Dallas-based Integrity. “We are always excited and humbled to gain a new partner and having a young entrepreneur like Todd with a fast-growing business brings new energy to our platform of industry leaders.”
“The Tidewater team is full of young, aggressive and proven experts in the Senior Market and we’re excited to have them join the Integrity team,” added Mike Wingate, Co-Founder of Integrity. “It’s exciting to see industry leaders in their prime join Integrity to take their organization to the next level.”
About Integrity Marketing Group: Integrity Marketing Group, headquartered in Dallas, is the nation’s leading independent distributor of life and health insurance products focused on serving the Senior Market. Integrity develops and distributes life and health insurance products with insurance carrier partners and markets these products through its distribution network, which includes other large insurance agencies located throughout the country that has over 140,000 independent agents. Integrity serves almost three million clients with over 450 employees. More information is available at www.IntegrityMarketing.com
BEWARE OF TIDEWATER!!
When I signed a contract with Tidewater I was told there would be no problem in granting me a release. No mention was made of a six month wait. Now I am requesting an immediate release and Tidewater is not standing by their WORD.
During 4th quarter last year there were no leads for our team except for Alabama which is not our resident state. (TN) In addition, at an event, Mike Newton announced there would be marketing dollars for a certain amount of applications written. I was enthused about the offer and the next month I promptly wrote ten applications. At that time I was told that program was for only for agents directly contracted with Tidewater. At no time during the “courtship” process were we told there was any distinction between being direct with Tidewater or not.
Now our team of 15 is left in limbo. Our new FMO cannot offer us support because he is not receiving commissions. Tidewater has removed the minimal support it has been giving. Our team now has NO support for the upcoming months.
That’s really unfortunate Teresa! We have been waiting on a release from them as well. We have emailed numerous times and can’t get a response via phone or email.
Knox, I understand this problem is not unique to our team. Yes, that's their MO. They stop returning phone calls or emails. I don't understand why companies misrepresent themselves. Teresa
I’ve never heard any agent having a hard time getting a release from Tidewater
Mike Newton is first class. Known him for 6 years. I’m confident not many agents have left him, but those that have he has released. Mike is a breath of fresh air to agents as he never promises “free leads”. He teaches and motivates agents how to market and brand themselves. Just my two cents, but I’m sure he has a side to the story.