Darren Sugiyama founded Apex Outsourcing Insurance Services in 2003 – a firm that specialized in employee benefits for small-to-medium sized companies. Using a combination of traditional group health insurance plans, white-labeled dental/vision plans created by Apex, and customized partially self-funded employee benefit plans – designed by Darren Sugiyama - using several TPAs, Apex rose to the top of the industry in just a few years.

Five years from its inception, Apex was the number one producing firm in the county for Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, and Benefit Mall. In addition, Apex was the #2 producing firm in California for Aetna, top 30 producing firm in California for Anthem Blue Cross, and the #1 producing firm in Orange County, California for Blue Shield.

By its seventh year, Apex was producing $37 million of reoccurring annual premium.