AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. Strengthens Senior Management Team with Appointment of Ariel Gorelik as SVP and Chief Information Officer

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. Strengthens Senior Management Team with Appointment of Ariel Gorelik as SVP and Chief Information Officer

AmTrust veteran Christopher Longo continues as Chief Operating Officer

NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:AFSI) (the "Company" or "AmTrust") today announced that Ariel Gorelik, an experienced  global insurance industry executive and most recently Chief Operating Officer of AmTrust's AMT Warranty division, has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO), reporting to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Barry Zyskind. Mr. Gorelik succeeds Christopher Longo who continues as EVP and Chief Operating Officer, appointed in 2016, who has guided technology development at AmTrust as the Company's CIO since 2006.

Mr. Gorelik will lead AmTrust's global IT organization, with a focus on operational excellence across the IT function. He is responsible for ensuring that AmTrust will continue to lead through technology innovation and capitalizing on technology solutions to help enable AmTrust fulfill its business goals. Mr. Gorelik's extensive operational leadership experience in the insurance sector includes expertise in centralization of operations and transformation of service delivery to improve customer satisfaction.

Mr. Gorelik joined AmTrust in 2014 as Senior Vice President AmTrust North America operations, and in January 2016 was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of AMT Warranty, one of the Company's operating subsidiaries in the U.S. Prior to joining AmTrust, from 2013 to 2014, Mr. Gorelik was a managing consultant of the ICON division for Zurich North America, a property and casualty insurer. From 2010 to 2013, he served as deputy chief operating officer at SK Allianz/Allianz Group, a German property and casualty insurer. He was responsible for the procurement, real estate management, and transportation departments, as well as for areas of IT relating to Allianz's core insurance system. He also led the organization's full automation of the policy life cycle. Prior to his role as deputy COO, Mr. Gorelik served as head of Allianz Eurasia's business services, where he established a shared service center with a number of back and middle office functions, including claims handling, P&C policy administration, payments, and call center.

"AmTrust has always led with technology and innovation, which have been a competitive differentiator for us," said Barry Zyskind, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Under Ariel Gorelik's leadership as Chief Information Officer, we will continue to harness the power of our technology platforms and digital capabilities. Similarly, we now can maximize Chris Longo's management focus as AmTrust's Chief Operating Officer to enable us to undertake the initiatives and processes to optimize results across our business units and product and service offerings."

Mr. Zyskind continued, "With more than 400 knowledge developers within our IT staff of 1,000 men and women supported by in-house underwriting, actuarial and claims processing experience, innovation is in our DNA. Chris has been instrumental in developing our technology platforms and building our IT organization into the powerhouse it is today. He led the development of a single proprietary platform that allows us to continually improve the experience of our agents and our customers. It also allows us to develop new products and integrate emerging technologies quickly. With our IT function well established, Ariel, as Chief Information Officer, can move us further forward, utilizing his abilities to increase efficiencies across broad organizations and platforms, while enhancing the experience of our brokers, agents, and policyholders."

For more information, please contact:

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.
Chaya Cooperberg
Chief Communications Officer & SVP Corporate Affairs
chaya.cooperberg@amtrustgroup.com
646.458.3332

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. Earns Distinction as Fortune 500 Company Following Record Year of Revenue

Achievement Recognizes AmTrust's Long-Term Success

NEW YORK, June 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Warrantech's parent company, AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFSI) (the "Company" or "AmTrust"), today announced that the Company has been named to the prestigious Fortune 500 list for the first time. The list celebrates the largest companies in the U.S. by total revenue.

This achievement is a recognition of AmTrust's financial strength and stability and follows a year of record revenue for the company. AmTrust's total revenue in 2016 was $5.45 billion, an increase of 18% over the prior year.

Since its founding in 1998, AmTrust has grown into a multinational property and casualty insurer with nearly 8,000 employees in more than 125 offices serving 70 countries around the globe. In the U.S., AmTrust is one of the top three providers of workers' compensation insurance and one of the top three warranty writers. AmTrust is also a top 13 Lloyd's manager by capacity. As an innovative, technology-driven provider of insurance products, AmTrust has earned a prestigious "A" (excellent) rating from A.M. Best.

"AmTrust is honored to join the Fortune 500 alongside an elite group of successful companies, and we're very grateful to our partners, brokers and agents for their trust in us as we reach this milestone," said Barry Zyskind, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AmTrust. "AmTrust's inclusion in the Fortune 500 is possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of our people, who live our core values of integrity, diversity, accountability, teamwork, community engagement, and a spirit of entrepreneurship. We adhere to these values every day allowing us to continue to successfully build a best-in-class property and casualty insurer for our valued partners and customers."

AmTrust was ranked 475 on the 63rd annual Fortune 500 list.

About AmTrust Financial Services, Inc.

AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in New York City, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers' compensation, commercial automobile, general liability and extended service and warranty coverage through its primary insurance subsidiaries rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best.

Article Resource:-https://warrantech.com/blog/june-2017/amtrust-financial-services,-inc-earns-distinction/

Extended-Service Contracts Help Build a Comfort Zone – and Long-Term Relationships – with Customers

The following is an excerpt from an article by Jeff Crider, which appeared in the 2017 Jan./Feb. issue of RVBusiness. The full article can be found at: http://bit.ly/2m9hhac

 

“The quality of RVs in general has improved, but there are more and more gadgets,” said Joe Suttera, Warrantech’s vice president of specialty products. “From a warranty standpoint, there is certainly a lot more risk than there ever has been when it comes to these units.”

 

The continued growth of the RV industry in 2017 is good news not only for the nation’s RV manufacturers, aftermarket suppliers and retail dealers, but also for the companies selling extended-service contracts to this emerging wave of RV consumers.

In fact, the extended-service-contract business is booming, companies told RVBusiness, due to this sustained increase in the sales of new and used towable and motorized RVs. 

   

Indeed, the industry is currently experiencing its eighth consecutive year of growth, with wholesale shipments of new RVs expected to increase 4.4% in 2017 to 438,000 units, according to projections by Richard Curtin of the University of Michigan’s Consumer Survey Research Center.

That continuous flow of new- and used-vehicle sales creates huge opportunities for dealers to sell their customers extended-service contracts, the cost of which is typically added to the vehicle loan at the time of purchase. 

Regardless of whether their RV is new or used, consumers want to have peace of mind knowing that unexpected repair costs will be covered when their vehicle’s warranty runs out. 

While manufacturers provide different types of warranties to cover things that can malfunction in the mechanical and living areas of an RV, warranties only last for specific periods of time. Extended-service contracts have been designed to extend warranty protections for additional periods of time with varying levels of coverage and cost. 

Extended-service contracts are also available to cover things that are not typically covered by factory warranties such as roadside assistance, tire-and-wheel coverage and paint-and-fabric coverage.

Millennials, in particular, are in tune with the latest innovations in technology and they want it to work. 

Extended-service contracts can cover these items after the warranties expire to give consumers peace of mind with their RV purchases, regardless of whether they have new or used vehicles.

Bill Gilman, senior vice president of sales for Warrantech, an AmTrust Financial Company based in Bedford, Texas, said there were more “fit and fitness issues” with RVs back in 2007 when the RV industry was struggling through the Great Recession. The downturn forced many RV manufacturers out of business. But while the quality of today’s RVs has significantly improved from 2007, Warrantech and other extended-service contract providers see plenty of potential risks to cover.

 “The quality of RVs in general has improved, but there are more and more gadgets,” said Joe Suttera, Warrantech’s vice president of specialty products. “Now you’re covering 50-inch flat-screen TVs, full walk-in showers. From a warranty standpoint, there is certainly a lot more risk than there ever has been when it comes to these units.”

As one might expect, companies that provide extended-service contracts closely monitor their claims reports so that they can price their contracts accordingly. They also monitor feedback from RV dealers and periodically either update their extended-service contracts to cover new products or develop entirely new types of extended-service contracts for dealers to sell. 

Extended-service contract companies offer a variety of educational programs and increasingly sophisticated electronic programs to expedite contract sales and claims processing. 

But the time to make the initial pitch to consumers is in the F&I process when they’re purchasing their new or used RVs. That’s when dealers have an opportunity to educate their customers so that they know the differences between warranties and extended-service contracts. 

 

Warrantech Automotive, an AmTrust Group Co.

Bedford, Texas  

Product offering: Warrantech markets exclusionary and stated extended-service contracts using the CampersEdge brand name. The company covers motorhomes valued at up to $5000,000 and with up to 100,000 miles. It also covers towable units valued at up to $150,000 and that are up to 15 years old. The company also offers specialty contracts for RV technical assistance; 24/7 roadside assistance; windshield repairs; painting and interior; tire and wheel coverage; as well as key/remote replacement coverage. Warrantech also provides Towbusters coverage with 24-hour emergency towing, roadside assistance, lost 

key and lockout service, map routing assistance and theft as well as hit-and-run protection. 

The company also offers guaranteed asset protection (GAP) coverage. 

Website: www.warrantech.com

Key contact: Bill Gilman, senior vice president of sales, (210) 788-2555 or bill.gilman@amtrustgroup.com

Article Resource:-https://warrantech.com/blog/february-2017/extended-service-contracts-help-build-a-comfort-zo/