Insurance technology provider, Zywave (Milwaukee, Wisc.), has acquired Advisen, a provider of data, media and technology solutions for the commercial property/casualty insurance market. Combined with Zywave’s existing portfolio of solutions, the acquisition reinforces Zywave’s leadership position in the P&C market, both in the United States and Europe. The acquisition follows Zywave’s own acquisition by Clearlake Capital Group LP (Santa Monica, Calif.) from Aurora Capital Partners (Los Angeles), announced in September 2020.
“We are thrilled to make this announcement, which signifies one of the most powerful partnerships in the commercial space,” comments Jason Liu, chief executive officer of Zywave. “Not only does the Advisen acquisition further broaden and deepen our product portfolio, but it also significantly bolsters our ongoing expansion into both the P&C and international markets.”
Founded in 2000, Advisen is headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in the United Kingdom and Philippines. It serves a client roster of more than 300 enterprises across the commercial insurance value chain and is comprised of three business segments, including the following as described by Zywave:
Data: An extensive, proprietary database, offering nearly 1 million low-frequency, high-severity loss records across major property and casualty lines of business, all industries and all geographies, all of which are organically sourced and curated. The platform maps loss events to companies and exposures, and links them together through common cause of loss, which enables powerful analysis and modeling based on corporate risk profiles. Additionally, the database includes premium, limit and retention benchmarking via an extensive contributory database.
Media: An engaging content platform launched in 2005 that reaches an audience of more than 175,000 in the commercial insurance industry via Front Page News daily editions. The news source features thoughtfully curated top stories impacting the insurance marketplace, along with contributed content, proprietary news stories, and a wealth of original content. Advisen is also the leading host of commercial and specialty P&C conferences and webinars that address casualty, property, and cyber, as well as other lines of business.
Web Connectivity Ltd. (WCL): Advanced technology that helps automate currently manual workflows by enabling real-time digital communications and technical software solutions for the global commercial reinsurance and broker market. Based in London, WCL increases efficiency for brokers, carriers and other insurance parties, enabling them to manage policy administration, accounting and claims communications utilizing ACORD Global Reinsurance and Large Commercial Standards.
“The combination of Zywave’s existing capability at the front end of the insurance distribution chain with WCL’s process efficiency solutions will offer insurance professionals the most accurate data possible in real time,” comments Zywave’s Liu. “The combination of the businesses will form an integrated digitised supply chain that will help build a truly interconnected insurance network.”
A statement from WCL says that the acquisition will allow the company greater access to the U.S. market and capacity to scale its operations globally.
“We are delighted to announce this partnership,” comments James Willison, Managing Director, WCL. “Zywave is a leading tech provider, both in the United States and in the U.K. and complements our leading position as a messaging platform provider in the London and international insurance markets.”
Willison adds that the association with Zywave gives WCL the ability to pinpoint those messaging solutions and integrations that will make the biggest impact in the insurance market and scale offerings appropriately.
Zywave plans to expand the WCL model and technology platform and will at the same time look to broaden and serve additional global markets, the WCL statement says. With the acquisition, the company intends to significantly increase its footprint and technology solutions in the U.K., Europe and Asia. Zywave has recently appointed a new Vice President of international operations, Jon Maury, who has extensive experience in software sales and business operations. Based in Zywave’s UK office, Maury will lead Zywave’s international growth alongside Willison.
Zywave Product Vision
Zywave reports that it plans to align Advisen’s solutions with the modern user experience within Zywave’s product cloud portfolio. Zywave will leverage Advisen’s data offering to further enhance its existing insurance database and plans to further expand upon its data analytics and benchmarking tools. Zywave says its enriched database will enable more advanced modeling and provide even more complete pictures of corporate risk profiles, granting exclusive insights to insurance professionals.
“The combination of Zywave’s existing database with Advisen’s loss and policy data will offer insurance professionals the most unique corporate risk profiles available,” says Eric Rentsch, SVP, product management, Zywave. “These insights will help inform smarter, more strategic business decisions.”
In addition, Zywave says it intends to enhance its content and communications platform even further with Advisen’s media services, notably Front Page News. Bringing Front Page News into Zywave’s Content Cloud will open new opportunities to enhance the delivery, coverage and overall reach of this trusted resource, the company says.
Integration & Operations
Over the next several months, Zywave and Advisen leadership teams will work together on integration operations, according to the Zywave statement.
“On behalf of the Advisen board and senior management, I would like to convey our excitement and enthusiasm about joining forces with Zywave,” comments Ron Adiel, CEO, Advisen. “I’m confident this is the right move for our company for all the right reasons, in particular, the strategic synergies across all our businesses. We look forward to achieving even greater growth as a combined entity.”
The Advisen acquisition marks Zywave’s largest to date and fourth in just over two years, reinforcing Zywave’s continued commitment to the insurance industry. It coincides with the announcement of Zywave’s new investor relationship with Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. and their shared vision to invest in the long-term strategic growth of the company, both organically and through M&A.
“Zywave has continued to heavily invest in our operations, technology and portfolio of solutions over the past several years to bring the industry’s best tech to our partners, empowering them with the tools they need to grow their business,” Liu comments. “To provide them with the best solutions in the industry, we are simultaneously investing in our existing products, while also bolstering our product portfolio with new acquisitions. At the same time, our team is continuing to improve product integration to provide seamless, end-to-end solutions for our partners, all on one platform.”
Source: Insurance Innovation Reporter
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