Segal (company)

Segal is a provider of investment, actuarial and other consulting services on employee benefit plans worldwide.

Segal offers services in actuarial consulting, retirement benefits, health and group health benefits, compliance, communications, administration and technology, insurance brokerage related to HR and benefit plans (fiduciary liability, cyber liability, employment practice liability insurance and fidelity bonds), human capital, compensation and rewards, organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, talent and performance management, claims auditing, and investment.

Within these services, Segal designs and implements employee benefit and total reward programs, deploying employee engagement and communication campaigns, succession planning, leadership development, HR-related merger and acquisition strategy, change management and transition, and analysis of technology and infrastructure.

In 1939, Martin E. Segal founded the Martin E. Segal Company in New York City on the belief that every worker deserves an opportunity to obtain healthcare and financial security. Mr. Segal served as president of the company until 1967, Chairman from 1967 to 1991, and Chairman Emeritus until his passing in 2012.[1]

In 1968, Martin E. Segal became a partner of Wertheim & Company, which purchased the Martin E. Segal Company. It continued as a subsidiary of Wertheim, with Martin Segal as Wertheim’s representative on Segal’s board of directors, for 10 years.

In 1978, Segal became an employee-owned company when a group of senior executives repurchased the company from Wertheim, making Segal employees the sole stockholders and naming Martin E. Segal as chairman. Segal has since operated independently as an employee-owned company.

In 1991, Martin E. Segal became chairman emeritus and consultant, and the company’s name was shorted to The Segal Company.

In 2016, Segal named David Blumenstein president and CEO, succeeding Joseph A. LoCicero, who became the company’s Chairman. Blumenstein previously served as National Director of Multiemployer Consulting, where he oversaw the growth of a significant part of Segal’s business and served as consultant to numerous multiemployer funds, including health plans, defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution plans.[2]

Segal has grown through strategic acquisitions to expand its geographic reach and increase its offerings to serve its multiemployer, public and private sector markets:

In 2001, Segal acquired Marjorie Gross and Company, a consulting firm specializing in communicating benefits and compensation information to employees.[3]

In 2002, Segal acquired Sibson Consulting, which provided human resources consulting to corporate and non-profit employers.[4]

In 2006, Segal acquired Irwin Tepper Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that specialized in asset-liability analysis for employee benefit programs and other organizations.[5]

In 2010, Segal acquired Aon Consulting's multiemployer defined benefit plan consulting business in the United States, covering approximately 60 defined benefit plans in a wide variety of industries located across the country.[6]

In 2012, Segal’s investment consulting subsidiary Segal Advisors acquired Rogerscasey, a global investment solutions firm. The combined entity was named Segal Rogerscasey.[7]

In 2013, Segal launched its insurance brokerage subsidiary, Segal Select Insurance Services, Inc., and acquired the fiduciary liability and fidelity bond business of A&R Associates.[8]

In 2014, Segal made multiple acquisitions. Segal acquired the human resources consulting division of Waters Consulting Group and combined it with Segal’s public sector compensation practice to form Segal Waters Consulting. Also in 2014, Segal acquired a portion of the business of Moroni Fantin, an employee benefits consulting firm (which has now ceased operations) specializing in working with Michigan and national, mid-market, self-insured health plans.[9][10]

In 2015, Segal’s insurance subsidiary, Segal Select Insurance Services, Inc., acquired certain fiduciary liability policies and fidelity bonds previously brokered by David Walker Insurance Services (DWIS) in San Francisco.[11]

In 2017, Segal Rogerscasey acquired Marco Consulting Group to expand investment consulting services, and the combined entity was renamed Segal Marco Advisors. It becomes one of the nation’s largest independent providers of traditional and discretionary investment consulting and corporate governance services.[12]

In 2018, Segal acquired Touchstone Consulting Group, an employee benefits consulting firm based in Worcester, Mass.[13] Also in 2018, Segal acquired Baltimore-based HR consultancy The Singer Group.[14]

In 2019, Segal acquired Benz Communications, an award-winning, industry-leading HR and employee benefits communications consulting firm. The combined group is named Segal Benz.[15]

In 2020, Segal acquired LRWL Inc., which provided public sector retirement systems implementation services. The company became part of Segal’s Administration, Technology and Consulting practice.[16]

In 2020, the company became simply “Segal” and consolidated several of its acquisitions under that name, including Segal Consulting, Segal Select Insurance, Segal Waters and Sibson Consulting. Segal Marco Advisors and Segal Benz maintained their names.[17]

In 2022, Segal acquired Bayview Insurance Group dba Union Services Agency (USA), a Michigan-based insurance brokerage firm, to expand its insurance brokerage services in the Midwest. The brokerage had served the insurance needs of labor organizations, multiemployer funds and public sector entities for more than 25 years.[18]

Also in 2022, Segal Marco Advisors acquired the San Francisco investment consulting practice of Milliman Inc.[19]

Segal has played a prominent role in the development of the modern-day benefits system, achieving multiple historic firsts in its work with the U.S. government and on behalf of clients.

The 1940s

Segal pioneered the process of competitive bidding on the net cost of life and health insurance, which altered premium costs for group health benefit plans and changed the way in which plan sponsors selected insurance carriers. Competitive bidding became a widespread practice.

Segal was instrumental in the development of the first contract for prepaid group health insurance, between the City of New York and the Health Insurance Plan of New York (HIP).

Segal helped develop a pension system and later a health system for government employees of the territory of Hawaii.

The 1950s

In 1950, Segal participated in the establishment of the first multiemployer pension plan under the Taft-Hartley Act.

In 1957, Segal helped win the legal right for labor-management welfare funds to self-insure in New York State.

During the 1950s, Segal’s work with the California Medical Association led to the development of the first relative value schedules.

The 1960s

In 1960, Segal established the first governmental employee supplemental benefits fund (for New York City Teachers), which became a model for other municipal and state employee plans.

During the 1960s, Segal was one of the creators of new methodologies for evaluating investment experience, developing practices and procedures for reliably calculating investment returns and for comparing them against fair and appropriate standards.

The 1970s

In 1972, Segal was hired by the federal government to assist in developing the pilot for health maintenance organizations (HMOs) prior to the implementation of the HMO Act of 1973.

In 1974, Segal provided key input to drafters of the legislation for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a landmark U.S. federal tax and labor law that established minimum standards for pension plans in private industry.

In 1978, Segal became a founding member of the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI).

In 1979, Segal developed the concept of preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and established the first PPO.

The 1980s

In 1985, Segal designed and implemented the medical savings account (MSA), in which an employer contributes an annual pre-tax dollar amount for employees to spend on non-covered medical care and related services.

Also in 1985, Segal invented the concept of the self-insured health maintenance organization. Self-funding requires a plan to assume all or part of the risk for paying health claims submitted by participants.

The 1990s

In 1990, Segal helped develop the first long-term care insurance program sponsored by an employee organization in New York state.

In 1991, Segal became a founding member of the global Multinational Group of Actuaries and Consultants (MGAC).

Also in 1991, Segal implemented the first major corporate domestic partners benefits program.

The 2000s

In 2017, Segal subsidiary Segal Benz was recognized for 10 national honors for employee benefits communications.

In 2018, Joseph A. LoCicero, Segal’s chairman and former president and CEO, received the 18th Annual John L. Lewis Award from the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP), recognizing his achievements and lifetime contributions to the multiemployer community.[20]

In 2019, Segal Benz received multiple awards for outstanding communications work including two Pensions & Investments’ Eddy Awards and a Gold Hermes Award from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP).[21]

In 2022, Segal chairman Joseph A. LoCicero was appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to the seven-member Advisory Committee of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), recognizing his significant contributions to the multiemployer and labor community in support of strengthening defined benefit pension plans.[22]

In 2023, Segal Benz won two Pension & Investments’ Eddy Awards for excellence in financial education and communication by defined contribution plans.[23]