The insurance broker has begun to invest heavily in AI and machine-learning capabilities to harness the power of its proprietary data sets
Top-10 global insurance broker, Acrisure, has announced the closing of two transactions allowing the company to secure approximately $3.4 billion in capital. The investment will support and foster the company’s long-term goal of becoming the industry’s fastest-growing broker. In addition, a consortium of investors also has invested $454 million of new capital in Junior Preferred Stock.
“These transactions are a clear reflection of how the market is valuing both the strength of our existing insurance brokerage business and, importantly, our vision for accelerating our technology initiatives going forward,” said Greg Williams, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Acrisure. “These investments enable us to pursue strategic initiatives with aligned capital that will provide greater value for all shareholders.”
The broker says it continues to acquire at an “industry-leading acquisition” pace
The Acrisure announcement comes on the heels of the company’s optimistic results while facing an unprecedented pandemic. According to the company, it was able to sustain its ‘industry-leading acquisition pace’ in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, while all-the-while reducing its net debt leverage.
“Acrisure is an innovative leader in an attractive industry with a very strong management team led by Co-Founder Greg Williams,” said Byron Trott, Founder, Chairman and CEO of BDT Capital Partners. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with Greg and his team, consistent with our business model of providing patient capital to founder and family-led businesses, while leveraging our network of closely held business owners and investors to support the company’s growth and expansion.”
“Based on our data, AI foundation, and global distribution capabilities, we will accelerate our growth in the insurance brokerage industry and into adjacent opportunities,” added Williams.
Investing in AI to harvest the power of its data sets
One of the more interesting aspects of Acrisure’s plans for growth is through its investment in AI. In July 2020, Acrisure acquired the insurance practice arm of the AI company, Tulco. The strategic acquisition allowed Acrisure to incorporate the company’s “best-in-class data science, machine learning, and AI” capabilities in order to harness the potential from its proprietary data sets; the largest of any insurance broker in the country. In commenting on his company’s acquisition back in 2020 and his appointment as Chairman of the new “Acrisure Technology Group”, Thomas Tull, said the following:
“A significant amount of capital has been deployed into insurtech, but we have a truly unique opportunity for scaled transformation as we layer AI into current processes,” said Tull. “Partnering with Acrisure over the last year and implementing the tech has given me the confidence and excitement that we will do things that are highly impactful. I look forward to helping Greg build the most forward leaning technology and advanced insurance brokerage in the world.”
Acrisure agencies in Massachusetts
While one of the largest insurance brokers in the country, Acrisure has not acquired many agencies in Massachusetts of New England, compared to other parts of the country. With that said, the following are links to some Agency Checklists articles on Acrisure that may be of interest to our readers. As for acquisitions in Massachusetts, the major acquisitions include Aronson Insurance of Needham and Sharon; Sullivan, Garrity, Donnelly, of Worcester; and Northwood Insurance of Hyannis and Northborough.
- Blackstone Et Al Bet $2 Billion On Acrisure (2018)
- Why This Well-Known Mass. Agent Signed On With Acrisure (2017)
- Leading Agency Buyer, Acrisure, Closes Its Own $2.9 Billion Buyout By Management (2016)
Acrisure in its own words
As one of the world’s top 10 insurance brokerages and the fastest growing in the world, Acrisure provides a broad array of insurance-related solutions, including commercial property and casualty, personal lines and employee benefits through its global network of Agency Partners. With over $2 billion in revenue, the broker’s compounded year-over-year growth for the last five years has been approximately 86%.
Acrisure’s Agency Partners have significant local autonomy which keeps product and service decisions at the customer level. As of 2019, the company has completed more than 500+ transactions and states that it is 58% more profitable than the industry average.
