Canada Brokerlink Inc. To Trade On The TSE

Canada Brokerlink, Inc., the country's second-largest publicly traded consolidator of independent insurance brokerages, begins trading shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange this week. The company, whose trading symbol is CKK, will continue trading on the Alberta Stock Exchange as well.

The Calgary-based company has seen its annualized premium volume grow tenfold—from $18.5 million in December, 1996, when it first went public, to $185 million today—in less than two years.

Brokerlink operates from 59 locations throughout Ontario and Alberta. It says it plans further growth within those two provinces, and expansion into other Canadian markets.

The company acquires brokerage outlets in strategic locations, then ties them together with a proprietary network capable of creating significant cost savings through the centralization of administrative and management functions.

Brokerlink operates a group insurance division, a financial services division and a 1-888 direct sales call center. The company also provides various services to independent brokers who may wish to sell their businesses later.