President and CEO
AXIS Insurance Services and PL Risk Advisors
Specialties: Financial institutions, insurance brokers, commercial real estate, managed care organizations
Mike Smith founded Axis Insurance Services in 1999 and PL Risk Advisors 15 years later. Today, he serves as president of both companies, which specialize in providing insurance solutions for financial institutions, insurance brokers, commercial real estate and large managed care organizations. In Smith’s 20-year tenure managing the companies, they have achieved a growth rate of more than 20% per year, approximately $40 million in annual sales and have expanded operations to all 50 states.
A former practicing CPA with Coopers & Lybrand and audit manager for many of the country’s largest insurance companies and financial institutions, Smith’s career path also included stints as a COO and CFO of a regional HMO. “I needed to find a career that would allow me to utilize my analytical skills as a former CPA to help companies that need something beyond a commodity broker,” he says. “I have been able to find a niche that affords me that opportunity.”
