Higginbotham snares Knotts, plans to build leading captives practice

Higginbotham, an independent insurance and financial services firm based in Texas, has partnered with Mike Knotts, an insurance agency owner and broker in Bossier City, to establish a presence in Louisiana and give it a foothold in the captives business.

As part of the deal Knotts has been named a managing director at Higginbotham. He will continue leading the team in Bossier City.

The partnership adds a ninth state to Higginbotham’s footprint and gives it specialty expertise in group captive insurance. Higginbotham is committed to building “one of, if not the top, captive services in the nation,” Knotts said.

Knotts opened his first agency in 1996 and leads a team of 20 commercial insurance and employee benefits professionals that includes expertise in managing group captive insurance programmes focused primarily in the transportation industry.

Knotts and his team will operate as Higginbotham and make the captive insurance service available companywide under the name Higginbotham Risk Strategies.

Higginbotham president and chief executive Rusty Reid said his company and Knotts shared a commitment to putting client service before premiums.