ROME — Sometimes it just makes sense to join forces with a bigger company when it results in offering more and better services to your customers.

NEW HARTFORD — Utica National Insurance Group completed its purchase of Founders Insurance Company of DesPlains, Ill. July 1 with all the necessary regulatory approvals in place.

The premiums on coverage for specialties, such as neurosurgery and general surgery, will be higher, Dr. Robert Dracker, medical society president, said in a news release.

CBD Cos., LLC and Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. have formed a joint venture to purchase the HSBC Tower at 360 S. Warren St. in downtown Syracuse. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Meridian Group, with annual revenue of approximately $1.3 million, provides life, health, and other employee-benefits products and services to individuals, businesses, public entities, nonprofit organizations, unions, and associations. Ross Kraft, Meridian president, and Andrew Biernat, vice president, and their staff will combine their operations into Brown & Brown's Rome office under the leadership of David Carello.

CAMILLUS — Mang Insurance Agency prevents unruly and inebriated wedding guests, whose overzealous Macarena performance causes them to trip over speaker wires, from cashing in on their idiocy.

According to a Dalbar Financial Services study that tracks investor returns, from 1989 to 2008 the S&P 500 yielded an 8.35-percent return annually. But the average investor only earned 1.87 percent over the same period. This fact deserves restatement