HUB International Acquisition of The Clements Agency Spurs Growth

By Christy Krueger

Jack Clements, founder of The Clements Agency, had the honor of playing for the late football coaching legend Ara Parseghian at University of Notre Dame. From those impressionable years in South Bend, Ind., Clements took away lessons and life mottos that he still lives by today.

“There is no circumstance we can’t overcome,” is a favorite Parseghian quote that Clements uses as a business and personal motto. It goes hand-in-hand with another Parseghian saying: “We have no breaking point.” To Clements it means you don’t give up, even if you’re down in the fourth quarter.

This optimistic attitude has worked for Clements, whose firm specializes in business insurance, with clients in construction, real estate, technology and hospitality. HUB International also offers employee benefits along with personal lines products such as homeowners, auto and life. After more than three decades in the industry, most of his new business now comes from referrals and his reputation in the Tucson community. 

Looking back over the years, Clements feels the biggest highlight is having his two sons, Jim and Sean, working with him. He brags that they’ve been instrumental in building the business.

They worked hard to learn the business. Both Jim and Sean studied hard and earned several insurance designations to further their careers. They became partners with the firm in 2009.

In 2010, The Clements Agency made its first acquisition by purchasing Contractors Choice, greatly expanding the client base in the Phoenix area. In 2016, The Clements Agency acquired Flagstaff Insurance further expanding its footprint to Northern Arizona.   

Last year, The Clements Agency celebrated its 20-year anniversary and was acquired by HUB International later in the year. HUB International is an insurance brokerage and wealth management company based in Chicago. HUB has 475 offices with over 13,000 employees across the U.S. and Canada and is the fifth largest insurance broker in the world. With the change, Jack   became president of Arizona Operations of HUB International Southwest. 

“Our acquisition by HUB was supposed to be on our exact anniversary date, April 1, but COVID delayed it to June 1, 2020,” he recalled. 

He said his goals have always been “to grow continuously, but in an honest, ethical manner. When it was a family business, the objective was to provide for our three families. Now the added objective is to grow HUB’s presence in Arizona and beyond.”

The acquisition with HUB came about after a two-sided courtship process. “We selected each other,” Jack said, “based on our similar culture and a strong personality fit.”

Randy Perkins, president and CEO of HUB International Southwest, agreed. “The acquisition of The Clements Agency, with the highest quality of people, has given us leadership and a platform with offices in Tucson, Scottsdale and Flagstaff. We look at people first and the character of people. Jack, Jim and Sean have high integrity and are well-respected professionals who are second to none. It’s a strong fit culturally and geographically.”

One year into the collaboration, the HUB people are confident they made a good decision. “Our expectations have been met,” Perkins said. “We started developing a relationship 18 months prior to our June (2020) 

date. They bring us leadership and professionalism.”

For the Clements family, the acquisition “allows us to deal with larger and more complex clients and still maintain a local presence,” Jack said.. In addition, the company gained 20-plus new carriers, which “can grow our capacity to deal with many different industries.”

“The HUB people are fantastic,” Jim added. “It’s a big reason we decided to join with HUB. Randy is a great person, and as our president, he’s very accessible. After one year, the three of us agree it was the right decision.”

Added Sean: “For existing clients, HUB gives us a much bigger platform. In addition, there is a lot of room for personal growth and development within the HUB organization.   

Being acquired by a firm the size of HUB does result in changes, Jack acknowledged. “But most of them are good.  Our mission is to use our existing platform to expand HUB’s presence in Arizona and the Southwest. Part of my role is to seek more acquisitions of both entities and people. All three of us look forward to the future with HUB.”

“We’re excited about the prospect to grow our footprint in Arizona” with The Clements Agency, Perkins confirmed. “They have introduced us to opportunities to grow for years to come.”