Alliant Insurance Services, a US-based provider of insurance products, has acquired One Source Risk Management, a North American-based insurance broker.

One Source Risk Management focuses on brokering credit and political risk insurance and has offices in the US and Canada, with its headquarters in Texas.

“The One Source team is pleased and excited to be part of the Alliant organisation,” says One Source Risk Management president George Babeu. “Having Alliant as our parent will help us continue to expand our footprint throughout North America and dramatically broaden our product offerings and value to our clients.”

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

As part of the acquisition, a new trade credit unit has been launched within Alliant Speciality.

“We are excited to launch this new vertical and look forward to offering our clients One Source’s cost-effective and profit-enhancing solutions,” says Peter Arkley, president of Alliant Specialty. “The need for credit and political risk offerings will continue to grow as we enter 2021, and Alliant is well positioned to meet the demand.”

According to industry players, there are growing opportunities in political risk insurance (PRI). As detailed in a report published last year by global insurance broker Gallagher, underwriters are seeing prospects in PRI as, amid the pandemic, there is a higher perceived risk of the destabilisation of societies.

However, on the trade credit side, some industry players are less optimistic because of insurers’ reduced risk appetite. This is partly due to the wave of trade credit-related claims expected to be made in the first half of this year, as governments wind down their fiscal stimulus programmes and the full impact of the pandemic on companies’ balance sheets is revealed. Nevertheless, there is a reported recent influx of improved quality of credit, with underwriters welcoming the well-rated, well-structured risks that have emerged.