Paul Bassman, Ascend Insurance Brokerage Join Higginbotham

Paul Bassman
 – Paul Bassman
Ascend Insurance

Paul Bassman and his company Ascend Insurance Brokerage have joined Higginbotham, an insurance and financial services company primarily based in Texas with offices throughout the southwest and California. 

Bassman’s new position at Higginbotham is Managing Director.  Prior to the acquisition Ascend focused on property and casualty insurance for the entertainment business concentrating on festivals, venues, artists, promoters and production companies. 

Bassman told Pollstar that in joining Higginbotham he will continue to work with his current clients, but with the new capacity to offer all lines of insurance, and that the resources at Higginbotham will allow Bassman and his team to expand into fully servicing entertainment business management firms. The finances of the deal were not disclosed to Pollstar.

“It is the culture of Higginbotham that ultimately sold me,” Bassman told Pollstar. “I turned down eight or nine offers from other companies before choosing Higginbotham because I just knew it is the right fit for my staff and my clients.  From the top down everyone I have met at Higginbotham has been amazing and I look forward to working with them for decades to come.”

With touring artist clients including Joe Bonamassa, Future, Machine Gun Kelly and AWOLNATION, Ascend currently brokers insurance in some form for a total of more than 500 entertainment clients.

Bassman was one of the first industry figures to comment in Pollstar on the COVID-19 shutdown when Ultra and SXSW canceled their events in March. He also participated in a recent “The Show Must Go On” town hall meeting, moderated by Backstage Productions’ Patrick Whalen and OVG President of Media & Conference Ray Waddell.

Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown Bassman participated in a Production Live! panel in February which discussed secrets to successful festivals and avoiding situations like the Fyre Festival, Woodstock’s 50th anniversary, and dealing with inclement weather.