“I know you hear this term too often, but it’s just one of those deals that’s truly a win-win,” Seymour, who manages AmTrust EXEC, instructed Insurance Business. “The AmTrust EXEC portfolio was built on a strong foundation of profitable private D&O [directors & officers’ liability] business. Much like DUAL, it started as an MGA back in 2012. DUAL’s portfolio now adds to that foundation. The team and the portfolio mix are the two main drivers [of this deal].”
DUAL North America’s administration legal responsibility observe is a nationwide admitted program for each for-profit and not-for-profit entities. The portfolio contains administrators & officers’ (D&O) legal responsibility, employment practices legal responsibility, fiduciary legal responsibility, and crime protection.
“Kenia Delgado [director of DUAL Specialty Underwriting] built this portfolio from scratch over a 14-year period. Her team is known in the marketplace for their tenacity, hustle, and focus. Much like our team at EXEC, they provide some of the highest service levels to their customers and share the same values as us, so there’s a real cultural fit,” Seymour mentioned.
Read extra: AmTrust acquires DUAL North America’s center market administration legal responsibility observe
The SVP additionally famous AmTrust’s strong relationship with DUAL and Howden Group Holdings, its guardian group. “From that relationship, they realized that [AmTrust] have the resources that they needed to take this team to the next level,” he defined. “They know us and how we run, and they care about Kenia, her team, and what she had created and wanted to make sure that they had the best chance of continued long-term success.”
The deal additionally comes amid an opportune time within the administration legal responsibility house. Like many carriers, AmTrust reaped the rewards of a tough public D&O market, seeing exponential progress during the last two years. “As the market is rapidly softening, adding this deal and this portfolio balances our mix between public and private D&O and allows us not to chase softening premium,” Seymour added.
AmTrust Financial Services gives its shoppers with specialty property and casualty choices that embody staff’ compensation, enterprise proprietor’s coverage, common legal responsibility, and prolonged service and guarantee protection.
Seven DUAL professionals have joined AmTrust’s EXEC division underneath the deal. The new additions from DUAL additionally provides the AmTrust EXEC crew the bandwidth to broaden its distribution.
“Our average premium-to-underwriter is much higher than our competitors, so having these additional team members means that we can be more front-facing to our partners and grow our distribution, while maintaining our service levels and standards,” Seymour mentioned. “Our internal teams are excited to have the help and resources. It frees us up to create new partners and new relationships. [The DUAL team] also bring some along that we currently don’t have.”
Read extra: AmTrust acquires CMGIA
Since the acquisition, integration has been fast and easy, with the crew having fun with a “very successful first month,” based on Seymour. But the SVP is most enthusiastic about increasing their distribution companions and arming the observe with broader urge for food.
“If you couple their tenacity and hustle with a broader appetite and a broader distribution for them to go after, it creates this fantastic opportunity,” Seymour mentioned. “Integration has gone quickly and we’re pivoting for growth for them by the end of the year and in 2023.”
AmTrust has continued its progress with back-to-back acquisitions, saying it obtained Contractor Managing General Insurance Agency or CMGIA every week after it reported the DUAL North America transaction. CMGIA, a California-based MGA, provides surety bonds to small- and mid-sized contractors.
“Our M&A [mergers and acquisitions] strategy is looking for things that are complementary to a strong organic business,” Seymour instructed Insurance Business.
In August, AmTrust additionally unveiled a partnership with safety deposit insurance coverage start-up Rhino to supply $60m in new premium-writing functionality for its core product platform.