Ash Brokerage (Ash Brokerage Corp.)

1971 – today

Founded: 1971, Fort Wayne. The company's own history states it started in 1971, operating out of what is now the STAR Bank building in Fort Wayne, Jim Ash selling group and individual health insurance with three employees; the Integrity acquisition release (4 May 2022) agrees Jim Ash "launched Ash Brokerage more than 50 years ago by providing health insurance to groups and individuals in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, area," and the Haworth case study and the 2010 IBJ merger account both give 1971. No incorporation record was retrieved, so 1971 is not confirmed by a primary record.

Founder: Jim Ash — The company history's founder account: service learned in his father's hardware store; Marine service; laid off from an entry-level International Harvester job during a strike (Integrity's 2025 Jim Ash profile dates that layoff episode to 1965 and his first agent day — delivering a $1,000 claim check — before the 1971 founding of his own brokerage); he became an independent broker to help other agents focus on their clients.

What it did: An insurance brokerage general agency (BGA) — supporting independent agents/advisors with life insurance, annuities, long-term care and disability-income products, case design, underwriting and placement, rather than selling directly to the public as a carrier.

Course: Early move to Columbia Avenue, with payroll-deduction life insurance as the first life product (company timeline, early 1970s). Son Tim Ash joined in the mid-1970s, selling universal life from what is now the Anthony Wayne building as Ash exited health brokerage. CEO transition flagged: the dated Integrity release states "In 1997, Jim transitioned executive leadership to his son, Tim Ash," and Tim Ash is CEO in every later source in hand; the company's own timeline, as extracted in text form, places its "Tim Ash becomes CEO" item in a mid-1980s sequence — the two are not merged, and 1997 is taken as the transition on the dated release. Growth by the timeline: Bluffton Road move spring 1998 with 50+ employees; Hamilton Marketing Group acquisition April 2002 and the 100-employee milestone June 2002; Jefferson Blvd move May 2006 at 200 employees; acquisitions of Bufkin, Hefferon & Siegel (2007, New York office), Delta Financial (2009, 300+ team members), Zenith Marketing Group (announced 2018, Freehold NJ / Charlotte) and Target Insurance Services (2018, Overland Park). The 2010 Ash InSource merger with Indianapolis-based InSource Inc. (IBJ, 30 Sept 2010) created an annuity business with more than $1 billion in fixed/indexed annuity sales, based in Indianapolis with the Fort Wayne office retained. Downtown return: the Ash Skyline Plaza headquarters project was announced in 2013 as a $71 million mixed-use development, Ash investing $19.6 million to move ~200 employees and add 115 jobs by 2017 (Insurance Journal / AP, Sept 2013); the company timeline dates employees settling into the new downtown headquarters to May 2016, across from Jim's original office — the announcement-vs-occupancy gap is carried as printed in each source, not reconciled here. Century Equity Partners partnership Sept 2017, repurchased Jan 2020, returning Ash to a fully independent, closely held company (company timeline).

Fate: Still operating, acquired. On 4 May 2022 Integrity Marketing Group announced an agreement to acquire Ash Brokerage, Tim Ash to become an Integrity Managing Partner, financial terms undisclosed, closing subject to regulatory approval (Integrity/Ash press release, Dallas, 4 May 2022; CB Insights and PitchBook both record the acquisition date as 4 May 2022). The company's own history page also carries an "Ash Joins Integrity" timeline item — in text extraction it sits without a cleanly separable date, and it is not printed here as a February 2020 joining; the dated 2022 release governs. At acquisition Ash had more than 400 employees and, in 2021, had helped place over $2 billion of premium / $25 billion of face amount (Integrity release). Headquarters remains 888 S. Harrison St., Suite 900, Fort Wayne, IN 46802 (company history page, current at present).

Sources:

1. Ash Brokerage, "More Than 50 Years of History" (founder account; 1971 STAR Bank building start with three employees; full timeline of moves, acquisitions, employee milestones, Skyline Plaza occupancy May 2016, Century partnership/exit; current Harrison Street address) — https://www.ashbrokerage.com/meet-ash/history
2. Ash Brokerage / Integrity, "Ash Brokerage Joins Integrity in Historic Partnership," 4 May 2022 (agreement to acquire announced that day; Jim Ash launched the firm in Fort Wayne with group/ individual health insurance; Tim Ash transition 1997; 400+ employees; 2021 premium/face figures) — https://www.ashbrokerage.com/meet-ash/news/ash-brokerage-joins-integrity-in-historic-partnership
3. Integrity, "Celebrating 60 Years!" (Jim Ash profile, published 21 Mar 2025: father's hardware store, Marines, 1965 Harvester layoff, $1,000 claim check, 1971 founding, Tim Ash CEO 1997) — https://integrity.com/blog/celebrating-60-years/?sf_paged=2
4. Indianapolis Business Journal, 30 Sept 2010 (Ash Brokerage / InSource merger completed as Ash InSource LLC; founded 1971; 19 offices; Fort Wayne office retained) — https://www.ibj.com/articles/22575-indianapolis-fort-wayne-brokerages-complete-merger
5. Haworth case study, Dec 2017 (established 1971; nation's largest independently owned insurance brokerage in its description; Tim Ash CEO vision for the consolidated headquarters) — https://www.haworth.com/content/dam/digital/north-american-assets/knowledge-and-research/customer-stories/ash-brokerage/ash%20brokerage_case%20study_p2.pdf