Charles Taylor's Matrix acquisition promises TPA synergies

Claims solutions provider Charles Taylor's acquisition of third-party administrator (TPA) and risk management specialist The Matrix Companies puts together two TPA businesses that expect to be even greater together.

"We have a big footprint in the U.S. but we really want to grow in the U.S. and we continue to invest in the third-party administration area and its adjacent ancillary services. It's where the growth is," says Christopher Schaeffer, CEO of Charles Taylor Global TPA.

Charles Taylor is a global company with a significant presence in the U.S. Midwest. Matrix is a leading TPA for workers compensation claims in Ohio, complementing gaps in Charles Taylor's offerings and territories.

"Coming together and combining that client base with all these different service lines and with a focus on culture and a focus on people will be a disruptor to the TPA industry," says Brent Messmer, president and CEO of Matrix. "There's really not a TPA out there that's really focused on the client service, focused on taking care of the people who take care of the clients. We both have that mentality and that thought process."

Matrix will be able to draw on Charles Taylor's geographic reach, experience in property and casualty, and data and analytics capabilities.

"As we've been trying to expand in workers compensation nationally, we always had issues with carrier approval because of our size. Charles Taylor could take care of that, check that box," says Messmer. "In P&C, we looked into getting into those lines. We have 3,600 clients. We have a client base that could use those services. We just haven't been able to implement that service line."

The companies see service line expansion as an opportunity for both of them. "There's a lot of sharing of resources that we can do together," says Schaefer. "That's where we're building from. That's where the integration is coming from. We will all be billed as a single TPA eventually as time goes on. We will be moving towards that because we both have a bigger story together to sell than we did as our individual parts."

Matrix has 135 employees. Charles Taylor has over 1,000 employees in the U.S. and about 3,100 globally. "That comes with a whole lot of thought leadership, ready access to resources and capital and things like that," says Schaefer. "Matrix also gets the support of a bigger organization with marketing and with all the bells and whistles that you really need to advance that message." 

Aside from their combination as TPAs, Matrix's operations methods are a model for Charles Taylor to emulate, according to Schaefer. "There's a lot of best practices within the Matrix organization that I can't wait to implement overall on the Charles Taylor side," he says. "We both compliment each other that way."