ARC LEGAL CELEBRATES 20 YEARS: UPDATE FROM GRADY WOMACK

In this special feature, Grady Womack, Head of AmTrust International Fee Businesses, looks back on Arc Legal since its acquisition by AmTrust in 2016 as part of our 20th anniversary celebrations.

Why did AmTrust buy Arc Legal back in 2016?

AmTrust is always looking for exciting MGAs that are excellent at what they do and have the potential to grow. If at the same time these MGAs can source profitable premium for AmTrust´s insurance companies, even better. Arc Legal was a perfect candidate; AmTrust had provided capacity to Arc Legal long before the acquisition and knew the quality of the people and the business well. AmTrust also knew that with some additional investment, Arc Legal could grow dramatically.

How has Arc Legal changed over the 6 years within the Amtrust Group?

In 2016 Arc Legal had 87 employees with revenues of £7.2 million. Today they employee over 225 people, across four offices, with over £18 million in revenues. This growth is partly due to the acquisitions of Composite Legal Expenses in Cardiff and Legal Insurance Management (LIM) in Brierley Hill, which were integrated into Arc Legal in 2021 and now form the new group business, Arc Legal Group. It´s also due to the organic growth of the combined business over the years. Arc Legal’s relevance to the AmTrust Group has grown correspondingly. In the meantime, it´s important to point out what hasn´t changed. Arc Legal has retained its identity as well as its spirit of customer service and innovation. To retain this culture while also being able to tap into the broader resources of the AmTrust group is a powerful combination.

How do you think Arc Legal and AmTrust can continue to benefit from each other in the future?

Most of the impactful decisions are local, and motivation comes from within. Therefore, I think that Arc Legal should continue to challenge itself and be the primary driver of its own evolution. That said, Arc Legal can greatly benefit from being part of the larger AmTrust Group. There is obviously the long-standing capacity relationship with AmTrust Europe Ltd., which is symbiotic and benefits both companies. However, beyond that there are much greater possibilities that Arc Legal have just begun to access. This includes investments to increase their capabilities, cross-selling opportunities with other business units, best-practices in various functional areas, etc. At the end of the day, if Arc Legal Group is successful then AmTrust benefits.