By James Thaler

April 16 - Denver-based retail intermediary IMA Financial has undertaken a significant reduction in force that has impacted around 130 roles within the company and that will also see CFO Mike Benson exit the firm, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

A spokesperson for the firm confirmed the workforce reduction in an e-mailed statement to The Insurer.

“We restructured our organization to position IMA for long-term competitiveness, operational efficiency, and sustainability,” they said in a statement.

“Our goal is to ensure we can continue delivering the highest levels of service, innovation, and support to our clients, while investing in areas that will drive future growth,” they added.

“We conducted a restructuring of our organization that resulted in the elimination of 130 positions. Those positions represent a very small percentage of our workforce,” the e-mailed statement from IMA concluded.

Multiple senior broking industry sources also confirmed that most of the cuts are related to non-client-facing roles.

IMA CFO Benson had been with the company and in his role for the last six years.

Founded in 1974, IMA is a top-30 U.S. retail intermediary, with $687 million in brokerage revenues in 2023.

IMA has more than 2,700 associates on staff, and has been led by Rob Cohen as chairman and CEO since 2000.

Cohen has been with the company since 1989 and was previously president of its Colorado operations.

Luke Proctor has served as IMA’s president since 2019, following a four-year spell as CFO and after leading the formation of the company’s small business, personal lines, and high-net worth operations, IMA Select.

IMA is majority employee-owned, but received a minority equity investment from a consortium of investors that was announced in October 2020 and led by New Mountain Capital with participation from fellow PE firm SkyKnight Capital and the family office of The Stephens Group.

Boutique investment firm Waller Helms Advisors, which was acquired by Houlihan Lokey in December, acted as exclusive financial advisor to New Mountain Capital in the transaction.