Worldwide Facilities: Everything you need to know
Founded: 1970
Type of business: Wholesale insurance broker, managing general agent and program underwriter
Gross written premium in 2018: $1.54 billion
Number of employees: 700
Number of offices in the US: 30
Worldwide Facilities is a national wholesale insurance broker, managing general agent (MGA) and program underwriter. Founded in 1970, the company’s team of insurance specialists has access to virtually every specialty domestic and international insurance market.
Through its 700-strong staff, of which 140 are producers, Worldwide Facilities offers a wide gamut of property, casualty, professional and personal lines insurance products. It also offers exclusive programs, including ocean cargo, upstream energy, towing, local & intermediate trucking, intermodal and NutraRisk, and even an exclusive program for the dietary supplement/nutraceutical industry.
Organizational re-shuffle
In 2018, Worldwide Facilities underwent an organizational restructuring following a period of “unprecedented growth.” The firm reorganized into three divisions: Worldwide Brokerage, Worldwide MGA, and Worldwide Programs. Two long-standing employees: Eric Stuckman and Hank Haldeman were promoted to president of Worldwide Brokerage and president of Worldwide Programs respectively.
“We’ve evolved, on a deliberate and intentional basis, to a much more diversified company,” said Worldwide Facilities president Ronald Austin. “We now operate on three distinct distribution platforms - Brokerage, MGA, and Programs - each with separate operational and sales features and protocols. This reorganization reflects that change.” He added that the reorganization enhances the company’s capability to “leverage products across distribution platforms, target its growth strategy to each platform, and more effectively leverage its leadership talent.”
Products of note
The construction industry has been a target class of business for Worldwide Facilities since its inception in 1970. Its key target classes in this area are: residential and commercial general contractors and developers; residential and commercial developments; and residential and commercial subcontractors.
Worldwide Facilities is also one of the few wholesale brokers with a specific focus and expertise in the environmental specialty arena, with expertise across various aspects including placing coverage for an environmental contractor or for a site-specific pollution exposure.
The national wholesale brokerage and MGA launched a new workers’ compensation division in 2018. The division has a dedicated team of seven workers’ compensation specialists led by senior vice president, Todd Pollock, who has more than 25 years of workers’ compensation experience under his belt. Pollock commented: “The workers’ compensation division offers more than a dozen markets available for nationwide risk placement. Our markets will accommodate any size risk, both new and difficult to place. This new division strives to provide a package of expertise, market knowledge and the highest quality service.”
You can’t really compete in the E&S markets without offering a suite of liability insurance products. Worldwide Facilities claims to “represent a wide variety of specialty MGA and brokerage markets which are suited to insure virtually any risk.”
Ocean / inland marine is also a strong product line for Worldwide Facilities. The firm covers many lines of business, including: marine general liability, bumbershoots, marine liabilities, ship repairers legal liability, wharfingers & terminal operators liability, marina operators legal liability, pollution, charterers legal liability, hull & machinery, protection & indemnity, cargo – ocean & domestic, inland marine, warehouse legal liability, builders risk, marine artisan, and USL&H.
M&A growth spurt 2018
2018 was a year of tremendous growth for Worldwide Facilities after the MGA completed five acquisitions. The firm took on the assets of:
- Draco Insurance Solutions, a Boston-based program manager, specializing in the public transportation sector;
- McClelland and Hine/McClelland & Hine Trucking Underwriters (MHI), a Texas-based MGA and broker;
- RIC Insurance General Agency, a wholesale insurance broker and MGA, focused on small-to-medium commercial business;
- The Sullivan Group, an insurance program manager, contract binding authority manager and wholesale broker; and
- Tennant Risk Services, a wholesale broker and underwriting manager specializing in the placement of professional liability and specialty insurance coverages.
Reflecting upon Worldwide Facilities’ 2018 results, CEO Davis Moore and president Ron Austin, commented: “We were especially pleased with the continued product and geographic diversification we achieved as a result of our growth. Our MGA and program segments now represent approximately one-third of our business, up from about 10% at the beginning of 2018.
“Our growth strategy consists of four elements: organic growth of existing producers, professional development that includes partnering with new producers, recruiting of new talent and lastly, acquisitions. We’re very pleased with the performance in each of thee areas, including the significant growth of our underwriting businesses that was driven in large part by our 2018 acquisition activity.”
Premium boom 2018
Five key acquisitions, bringing with them 14 new locations, had an inevitable impact on Worldwide Facilities’ overall premium growth in 2018. The firm reported a record gross written premium of $1.54 billion, of which $997 billion stemmed from Worldwide Brokerage, $171 million came from Worldwide MGA, and $375 million hailed from Worldwide Programs. All three divisions experienced a jump from 2017, when the total gross written premium was just over half the 2018 total at $834 million.
Finding Worldwide Facilities
Worldwide Facilities has 30 offices located in major metropolitan hubs nationwide. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, but maintains other offices in: San Francisco, San Diego, Irvine, South Bay – LA, Phoenix, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Savannah, Chicago, Austin, San Antonio, New York, Dallas, Houston, Hartford, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Boston, Palm Springs, Morehead City, Anaheim, Santa Rosa, Chatsworth, Portland, Reno, Provo and Seattle.
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