INDIANAPOLIS, March 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Oak Street Funding® (www.oakstreetfunding.com), a First Financial Bank company, is pleased to announce the creation of a strategic partnership with Smart Choice®, an insurance network of over 6,300 independent agencies and more than 80 carriers.
Oak Street Funding serves as a specialty lender to the insurance industry. Known for providing capital to thousands of insurance businesses and recently surpassing a portfolio of $1 billion, Oak Street has a great understanding of the intricacies of both the insurance marketplace and insurance agencies. They can quickly evaluate and structure cash-flow based loans to meet the needs of its clients nationwide.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Oak Street Funding and believe they will be a valuable resource for our agency partners,” explained Joe Fisher, Executive Vice President of Strategic Alliances with Smart Choice. “Oak Street specializes in lending to the insurance industry for acquisitions, succession, and buyouts. They will also provide working capital for hiring, debt consolidation, office expansion, and lead purchase, among other things.”
“We are excited to have an opportunity to work with Smart Choice Agents, thanks to our recent strategic partnership,” stated Scott Stars, Senior Sales Manager at Oak Street Funding. “Smart Choice is a fantastic network of agents. We have watched them grow by more than 30% in 2017. We are excited to be given a chance to play a role in their continued growth in 2018 and beyond.”
About Oak Street Funding
Indianapolis-based Oak Street Funding (www.oakstreetfunding.com), a First Financial Bank company, provides commercial financing for financial service businesses, restaurant franchises through the First Franchise Capital (firstfranchisecapital.com) brand and third-party loan servicing for financial institutions. Oak Street Funding and First Franchise Capital utilize industry knowledge, proprietary technology and passion to deliver top-quality service and capital products to finance services professionals and franchise owners nationwide.
About Smart Choice
Smart Choice offers a wide range of products and services to its partner agencies, including access to personal, commercial and life markets, in addition to business builder and business saver products. Currently serving over 6,300 agents in 45 states, Smart Choice has partnered with over 85 nationwide and local carriers. The Smart Choice® Agents Program is a wholly-owned program of Worldwide Insurance Network, Inc. (WIN), headquartered in High Point, North Carolina. Other divisions of WIN are the Smart Choice® Franchise Corporation, provider of Smart Choice® Insurance Centers. For more information, visit www.smartchoiceagents.com.
Media Contact:
Sharon Robbins, 317-428-3804
Sharon.robbins@oakstreetfunding.com