Davies strengthens its risk services leadership team in North America as Afirm brand is retired

Sarasota, Florida, US – June 13, 2024 – Davies, the leading specialist professional services and technology business serving insurance and highly regulated markets, has appointed two key senior leadership roles and has announced it will rebrand Afirm, the specialist provider of premium audit, loss control inspection and risk mitigation services, to Davies as it continues to expand within the U.S and Canadian markets.

Davies announced the acquisition of Afirm, which provides premium audit and loss control inspection services across personal & commercial lines of insurance across all 50 U.S. states and Canada, in April 2023. The acquisition successfully enabled Davies to take an expanded specialist and tech-enabled audit and loss control offering to their 1,200+ insurance and highly regulated clients.

Two new strategic leadership roles have also been announced today. Mark deWaal has been appointed to Head of Premium Audit, where he will oversee and lead all premium audit services, as well as serve as the Senior Manager for the Davies’ Grand Rapids, Michigan office. Mark began his career in premium audit in 1992 and is a member of Davies’ senior leadership team.

Also promoted is Stephen White who has been appointed to Head of Loss Control, where he will oversee and lead all field services for Davies’ residential and commercial loss control inspections. Stephen will also serve as the senior leader for the firms’ Fort Collins office in Colorado. Stephen has been part of the team since May 2007 and brings with him more than 16 years of industry experience, including serving as the President of the Insurance Loss Control Association (ILCA) for two years and acting as a Board Member and Vice President of the Associated Reporting Companies (ARCO).

Mark and Stephen will report to Jose Bridges, President of Risk Services, Davies.

Speaking of the appointments, Jose said: “The successful acquisition of Afirm has helped boost Davies’ portfolio within risk services, allowing us to expand our North American offering to include all 50 states and Canada.

“Following the rebrand from Afirm to Davies and the successful integration, I am confident that Stephen and Mark’s leadership will further strengthen our premium audit and loss control operations for our clients, as we continue to prioritize delivering excellent customer service and high-quality services for both personal and commercial lines.”

-Ends-

Media contacts:

Sarah Allen, PR Manager, Davies

Email: sarah.allen@davies-group.com

Eoghan McGrane, Press Officer, Davies

Email: Eoghan.mcgrane@davies-group.com

About Davies 

Davies delivers specialist professional services and technology solutions across the risk and insurance value chain, including excellence in claims, underwriting, distribution, regulation & risk, customer experience, human capital, digital transformation & change management. In February 2023 Davies announced it had simplified its operations and aligned the business across three operating units: Davies Global Solutions, Davies UK & Ireland, and Davies U.S. Davies has a 8,000 strong team of professionals operating across ten countries, including the UK & the U.S., with headquarters in the City of London. Davies’ investors are BC Partners, HGGC, AIMCo (acting on behalf of certain of its clients), and Davies’ employees following BC Partners majority investment in March 2021, HGGC’s investment in January 2017 and AIMCo’s investment in January 2019. Over the past ten years Davies has grown its annual revenues more than 25-fold, invested heavily in research & development, innovation & automation, colleague development, and client service. Today the group serves more than 1,500 insurance, financial services, public sector, and other highly regulated clients. In the past year Davies has added more than 200 new accounts to its organic platform. In addition, Davies has successfully broadened and deepened its operations and digital capabilities via targeted acquisitions. Since the start of 2017 Davies has acquired: Cynergie, CMSL, Ambant, ServiceTick, TLSS, R&Q’s insurance services business, Ember, Direct Group’s claims businesses, Veriphy, USA Risk Group, TMS, GBB, Banwells, Frontier, FWD, ASC, Thornton Group, Keoghs, Codebase8, Citadel & Cedar Consulting, ContactParners, TriPlus, Johnson Claim Service, Vehicle Replacement Group, BMTS, Wakely Actuarial, Northshore International Insurance Services, DMS, NPA, Littleton, Grovelands, IAS, Asta, IRS, Sionic, Merlinos, BVS, Worksmart, ProAdjust, Johns Eastern, ClaimPilot, MVP Group, Afirm, Ortac Underwriting Agency’s (“Ortac”) insurance management services portfolio, American Claims Management, Preferred Governmental Claims Services, USIS, ICA, MDD and Shoreside Law. More information is available at www.davies-group.com.

About BC Partners 

BC Partners is a leading investment firm with over €40 billion in assets under management across private equity, private debt, and real estate strategies. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role for over three decades in developing the European buy-out market. Today BC Partners integrated transatlantic investment teams work from offices in Europe and North America and are aligned across our four core sectors: Healthcare, TMT, Business Services & Industrials, and Consumer. Since its foundation, BC Partners has completed over 126 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of over €160 billion and is currently investing its eleventh private equity buyout fund. For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.

About HGGC  

HGGC is a leading middle-market private equity firm with $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., HGGC is distinguished by its Advantaged Investing approach that enables the firm to source and acquire scalable businesses through partnerships with management teams, founders and sponsors who reinvest alongside HGGC, creating a strong alignment of interests. Over its history, HGGC has completed more than 130 platform investments, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate transaction value of nearly $22 billion. More information, including a complete list of current and former portfolio companies is available at www.hggc.com.

About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (“AIMCo”)  

AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than C$115 billion of assets under management. AIMCo was established on January 1, 2008, with a mandate to provide superior long-term investment results for its clients. AIMCo operates at arms-length from the Government of Alberta and invests globally on behalf of 31 pension, endowment and government funds in the Province of Alberta. AIMCo’s head office is located in Edmonton, Alberta, with additional offices located in Toronto, London, and Luxembourg. AIMCo’s Private Equity team comprises a dedicated group of experienced investment professionals and manages a private equity allocation of approximately C$6.0 billion. More information is available at www.aimco.alberta.ca.

For more information, please visit this page: https://davies-group.com/northamerica/solutions/insurance-services/loss-control-services