AmWINS Group, Inc. (“AmWINS”) announced today that it has launched a fifth division, AmWINS Access, which is dedicated to small account binding authority business.
In conjunction with the launch of this new division, offices of Gresham & Associates and Bliss & Glennon – which were acquired by AmWINS in December 2012 and December 2013, respectively – will officially be rebranded to either AmWINS Access or AmWINS Brokerage, the firm’s P&C brokerage division.
AmWINS Access is comprised of teams dedicated to writing small accounts – most of which typically fit into binding authorities. There are currently 21 offices with dedicated binding authority teams, made up of roughly 73 underwriters and 300 total employees. The division has more than 20 market contracts.
The operations that are combining to form AmWINS Access collectively place over 90,000 accounts annually with less than $10,000 in premium, totaling nearly $300 million in premium.
“The goal of the change is not to separate, but rather to highlight and identify our binding authority capabilities for our retail clients and markets,” says M. Steven DeCarlo, CEO of AmWINS. “We are making significant investments in the way we manage small business. Recognizing that small accounts are inherently different, we’re serious about building this expertise and pairing it with technology to make doing business easier.”
The new division will be led by Bob Abramson, Executive Director; Ben Sloop, President; and Tony Gresham, Chief Operating Officer. Also in key leadership roles will be Corinne Jones, Executive Vice President, Operations and Jackie Marler, Executive Vice President, Underwriting.
“We have a vision to become the national leader in small account distribution,” said Sloop. “The decision to establish a new division dedicated to small business demonstrates our firm’s commitment to specialization and its impact on the client experience. We have just scratched the surface of what the overall AmWINS platform can bring to our retail clients and carrier partners.”
