Intercare Insurance Solutions, the 50-person brokerage division, completed the purchase Jan. 1 of SFG Benefits Financial, a San Diego retirement-planning company that focused on 401(k) plans. Owner Bret Dudl and his two employees brought about 60 customers and $150 million in assets under management, said Mike Barone, division president. Dudl received cash and a share of future revenue.

The brokerage unit on Oct. 1 purchased another company with a similar name, also for cash and a share of future revenue. John Kahle's SFG Benefit Insurance Services in La Jolla, which specialized in providing wellness programs to employers, added its seven employees and about $30 million in premium. The two companies were run by former partners but had no shared ownership.

The acquisitions help the division become a full-service brokerage, Barone said. These were the brokerage's first acquisitions other than one-person firms since June 2004.

The brokerage has most of its people split between Roseville and San Diego. Its two-employee Irvine office opened in September. It leased space in Houston and expects to staff it by March. Offices in these larger cities make sense because they offer more potential corporate clients than Sacramento, said Kevin Hamm, Intercare Holdings chief executive officer.

Barone is targeting revenue in excess of $10 million this year, which would be more than a 25 percent jump from 2006. He wouldn't give precise figures.

Hamm also is encouraged by recent activity in the company's other three divisions. In particular, claims handling division Intercare Insurance Services is growing. It previously handled only workers' comp claims, and only in California. "We've really been feeling we were missing the boat not being able to work nationwide," and by offering only one product line, he said.

In January, the division began offering a full range of liability claims handling, division president Mike Ramser said. Intercare got its toes wet in liability last year by introducing auto and general liability claims handling.

In addition to its eight in California, the division now also has offices in Bellevue, Wash.; a Chicago suburb; and Henderson, Nev. With these and the offices anticipated in Texas, Florida, Arizona and New York, Ramser reckons the division can expand both its liability and workers' comp claims handling across the country.

Some industry observers consider the claims-handling operations to be Intercare Holdings' strength. "That's always been (Hamm's) core business," said Tom Williams, chief executive officer of InterWest Insurance Services Inc. in Sacramento. "I'm not surprised that he's expanding."

The third-party claims administration industry has seen much consolidation, and profit margins are tight. "That's a tough business to make money at because the margins are so slim," one Sacramento-area would then consider a public offering or a partial or complete sale to a large institutional investor or a larger company, he said. broker said.

Another local insurance insider said if Intercare has an adequate customer base, the expense makes sense as customers like having service providers nearby.

In other changes, a third Intercare division, InterMed Cost Containment Services, has invested in better technology and infrastructure. "We have some sizable (potential) clients looming," Hamm said. The division of about 40 people operates from Roseville, Sacramento, Fresno and Irvine.

Intercare Specialty Risk, the three-person insurance wholesaler division that operates mostly in Texas, but also in six other states, is "starting to see action again." Its revenue has been less than $100,000, but Hamm hopes to reach $250,000.

For the entire company, Hamm is shooting for $100 million in revenue in four years, which would more than double current revenue. Intercare, which gained $5 million in additional capital last year,

Intercare Holdings Inc.

Business: Claims handling, business insurance brokerage, medical cost-containment, insurance wholesaler
Headquarters: Roseville
News: Claims-handling division expanded into liability-insurance claims and newly opened offices in three states; brokerage unit acquired two companies, moved division headquarters to San Diego
Founded: 1994
Employees: 158 local, 371 overall
Anticipated 2007 revenue: $47 million
Contact: 916-677-2100,
www.intercareins.com, viiainc.com