OPTIS Partners , LLC

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A senior practitioner with independent agencies, brokerages and insurance consulting firms, Mr. Cunningham began his career with Cunningham Insurance Group,a suburban Chicago brokerage specializing in professional liability and middlemarket commercial accounts. At that firm, he was senior vice president and chief operating officer. In addition to his management responsibilities, he also worked as a producer and thereby developed extensive experience in all areas of the insurance distribution system, from sales and marketing to finance, IT & systems, and agency-company relationships. In 1987, he accepted a position as principal with Hales & Associates a Chicago-based insurance financial consulting and investment banking firm. Mr. Cunningham specialized in merger and acquisitions and valuations. He also edited the Hales Report, a monthly newsletter containing coverage and analysis of the insurance industry with a focus on the distribution sector. In 1997, Mr. Cunningham joined IMCG, a Kansas City-based business management consultancy specializing in start-ups and mergers. As a principal, he worked exclusively with insurance clients. Wishing to extend his consulting services beyond individual transactions, Mr. Cunningham partnered with Steven Germundson to form OPTIS Partners, LLC, in 2002. Interviewed and quoted extensively in the business press and industry publications, Mr. Cunningham is chairman of the board of the Insurance School of Chicago and past president of the Chicago Board ofUnderwriters. He has held adjunct faculty positions at Triton College and Morton College, as well as leadership positions with a number of insurance organizations, including the Harold H. Hines Memorial Symposium Committee. Mr. Cunningham holds a BA in business management from Lewis College, with a focus in finance and accounting. After earning a B.A. in Economics from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., Mr. Germundson acquired his Accredited Advisor in Insurance Instituteof America. He co-founded NSIA, Incorporated, a Minneapolis-based independent insurance agency focusing on small- to middle-market commercial and personal lines insurance throughout the Upper Midwest. Responsible for the firm‘s financial management and its acquisition activity, Mr. Germundson developed personal experience in the financial and operational aspects of the insurance distribution system while leading NSIA in the purchase of nine insurance businesses in Wisconsin and Minnesota over the course of four years. From 1987 through 1994, Mr. Germundson served as a partner and consultant of Hales & Company, Inc., a Chicago-based investment bank specializing in the insurance industry. At Hales, he provided a broad spectrum of professional services, from errors & omissions loss control to business planning and succession-ownership planning. In 1998, Mr. Germundson served as owner and CEO of The Germundson Company, an operational and financial consulting practice focused on the insurance distribution system.

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