M&T Buys Maryland's Hess Egan

M&T Insurance Agency, Inc. has acquired Hess Egan Hagerty & L'Hommedieu, Inc., a commercial insurance and surety brokerage agency based in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with additional offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Hess Egan will operate as a division of MTIA, a subsidiary of M&T Bank, MTIA is a full-service commercial property and casualty insurance agency.

Hess Egan was established in 1967 and has 38 employees. The current principals, Robert E. Walsh, Eugene P. Dessureau, John J. Younger, Donald W. Armbrecht, and Stephen W. Freeman will remain with the newly created division of MTIA.

"This acquisition will add significantly to our company's strong market position in the Mid-Atlantic region," said Atwood "Woody" Collins III, president of M&T Bank's Mid-Atlantic Division.

Robert E. Walsh, president of Hess Egan, will become vice president and regional manager of the division.

M&T Bank is the principal banking subsidiary of Buffalo, N.Y.-based M&T Bank Corporation. M&T has $55 billion in assets and 650 branches located in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.