My book has ‘probably doubled’ under Acrisure

Back in 2017, Florida insurance agency Lassiter Ware partnered up with Acrisure. For Mike Shea (pictured), Acrisure EVP and a former Lassiter Ware shareholder, there have been no regrets – and the producer estimates his book has roughly doubled with Acrisure’s firepower behind it.

Being a niche consultant with a focus on non-profits, healthcare, construction and captives has helped boost book growth, but, ultimately, according to Shea: “What it comes down to is having more resources for our clients.”

Self-styled fintech Acrisure has bought more than 800 businesses since bouncing on to the scene in 2005. It is now one of the biggest brokers in the world by revenue.

All about Acrisure

Acrisure has undergone meteoric growth since bursting onto the scene in 2005:

• Revenue: $4.3 billion pro forma revenue for 2023
• Headcount: 17,000 people in 21 countries with 1,000+ locations globally
• Premium: Approximately $32 billion for year 2022
• Headquarters: Michigan, US.

Acrisure broker points to AI wins

The recent brand shift hasn’t changed Shea’s day-to-day, but the technological firepower behind Acrisure has proved a boon.

“From a technology standpoint, the Acrisure brand has helped – agencies my size would probably be at a complete disadvantage without having those type of resources,” Shea said.

Take artificial intelligence (AI), which self-styled fintech Acrisure has been investing in since 2019. From an AI adoption standpoint, Acrisure’s brokers are likely way “ahead of our competitors”, Shea said. 

Acrisure’s AI platform, AURIS, launched in 2020. The AI engine crunches data to help build better products, uncover leads, and boost productivity.

For Shea, it all ties into Acrisure CEO Greg Williams’ “great vision” of being more than (in the EVP’s words) “a stodgy insurance broker”.

“We’re transformative not only in the insurance industry, but real estate, title, mortgage origination and cyber,” Shea said. “We have our own cyber division that’s helping our clients audit their technology platforms and correlating that insurance – it’s very cutting edge.”

All this is “helping us grow not just as insurance brokers, but as a fintech,” Shea said.

Light at the end of the tunnel for Florida property insurance?

For Shea’s Florida-based non-profit and healthcare clients, property insurance continues to be the biggest talking point and greatest cover challenge.

Florida felt a property insurance capacity squeeze in 2023 as insurers bid goodbye to the state and premium costs ballooned. Shea pointed to one example wherein a company’s wind coverage dipped from $200 million to $5 million. In some cases, rates jumped 30% while deductibles tripled.

“As a consultant, we’ve tried to prepare our clients for that,” Shea said. “Sometimes, it’s hard – it’s hard having that message when really there wasn’t a whole lot we could do.”

The good news for Shea’s clients and Florida’s commercial property insurance buyers more broadly is that headwinds look to be calming this year, touch wood.

“I don’t think rates are going to go down by 50%, but we’re starting to see those rate increases slow down and there are some primary markets in the marketplace for property that are being competitive against some of the bigger companies,” Shea said.

April 1 reinsurance renewals will shed greater light on what to expect from property insurance markets into the rest of the year, but signs so far are positive. Clients could be in for a much better 2025 if the market swerves a major storm hit, Shea predicted.

“As of what we saw the last couple of weeks with some of the people we’ve been working with, I think it’s already turning,” Shea said. “I think there’s good news that we’ll be able to build capacity up, bring some competition, and I don’t think rates are going to be slashed just yet but if this continues to [be a low-loss storm year] then 2025 could be transformative for the property market.”

Got a view on Acrisure’s growth or Florida property insurance? How has partnering up changed your business? Leave a comment below.