AmTrust Financial business insurance

Overview

AmTrust Financial Services is a New York-based specialty property-casualty insurer built on small-business workers' compensation. Its U.S. companies ranked No. 23 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial lines direct premiums written, with $6.25 billion, based on NAIC market share data. More than half of that, $3.52 billion, is workers' comp, which makes AmTrust the third-largest workers' compensation writer in the country. The rest is mostly other liability, commercial package (commercial multiple peril) and commercial auto.

The NAIC group holds about 20 U.S. insurers, many acquired over the years and still named on policies: Technology Insurance Company (monoline workers' comp), Wesco Insurance Company, AmTrust Insurance Company, Security National and Associated Industries (non-admitted E&S), Sequoia (western small business), ARI Insurance Company (commercial auto in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland), CorePointe (programs), Park National, Rochdale, Republic Fire and Casualty, Sierra Specialty, Milford Casualty, Developers Surety and Indemnity, and others. AmTrust also runs warranty and specialty risk (rebranded AmTrust Risk Solutions in February 2026), AmTrust Title and international operations.

The company has been privately held since 2018. Barry Zyskind, a co-founder, is chairman and CEO, and AmTrust says it has more than 7,000 employees. Small business coverage is sold through independent agents; E&S goes through wholesale general agents; and a specialty programs unit provides capacity to MGAs.

History

Barry Zyskind and George and Michael Karfunkel founded AmTrust in downtown Manhattan in 1998, starting with Technology Insurance Company, bought from Wang Laboratories, as a warranty insurer. It entered small-business workers' comp in 2001 and grew mainly by buying renewal rights rather than whole companies: The Princeton Agency (2002), Covenant Group (2003), Associated Industries (2004), Alea North America's middle-market book (2005) and, in 2014, Tower Group's small commercial book, more than $500 million of premium. AmTrust listed on Nasdaq in November 2006 and bought Wesco Insurance Company the same year.

Acquisitions continued: Unitrin Business Insurance (2008), Swiss Re's CyberComp workers' comp unit (2009), Majestic and its California comp book (2010), CardinalComp and BTIS (2011), Sequoia and First Nonprofit Companies (2013) and Republic Companies in Texas (2016), among others. In 2011 AmTrust expanded its operations headquarters in downtown Cleveland, centralizing support functions there.

The growth hit a wall in 2017 and 2018. Adverse reserve development in 2016 and 2017, along with internal-control weaknesses identified in a 2016 audit, led AM Best to downgrade the group from A (Excellent) to A- (Excellent) on July 5, 2018. Later in 2018 the Karfunkel-Zyskind family and private equity funds managed by Stone Point Capital took the company private in a deal valuing its equity at about $2.95 billion. In June 2020 AmTrust agreed to a $10.3 million civil penalty to settle SEC charges that it had not properly disclosed how its former CFO adjusted loss reserves for 2015 and earlier years; it did not admit wrongdoing. A 2019 quota share with Swiss Re covered about $2.9 billion of projected U.S. small commercial premium.

On December 5, 2025, AmTrust and Blackstone Credit & Insurance closed a deal spinning off seven AmTrust MGAs and fee businesses in the U.S., U.K. and Europe into a new company, ANV Group Holdings, led by former AmTrust president Adam Karkowsky. AmTrust kept a significant equity stake and signed a 10-year capacity agreement to keep underwriting those books.

Business insurance products

• Workers' compensation: the core line, for small and mid-sized employers, with loss-sensitive large deductible and excess workers' comp for larger accounts. See workers' compensation insurance: how it works and large deductible workers' comp programs: how they work and what they cost.
• Small business package: a businessowner's policy, commercial package, general liability, commercial property and commercial auto.
• Management and specialty lines: cyber, employment practices liability and executive liability.
• Surety and statutory disability: AmTrust Surety, and New York-style statutory disability benefits coverage through Wesco, which AmTrust says insures more than 45,000 employers through 3,500 brokers.
• E&S: AmTrust E&S writes hard-to-place property, general liability, excess casualty, environmental, builders risk and human services risks through three platforms (Specialty Casualty, Excess Casualty and E&S Select), focused on moderate- to higher-hazard accounts under $100,000 in premium. See excess and surplus lines.
• Specialty programs: an $800 million program unit supporting more than 25 MGAs through 35-plus programs, in niches such as staffing, security guards, arborists, trucking, last-mile delivery, moving and storage, lawyers and real estate agents.

Who it insures

AmTrust's sweet spot is low- to moderate-hazard small business. Its industry pages name auto repair, contractors, financial institutions, grocery stores, habitational real estate, healthcare, landscapers, manufacturing, nonprofits, offices and professional services, Restaurant insurance, retail, schools and wholesale. AmTrust says it writes small business nationwide, including in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas, the large states some smaller comp carriers avoid. Sequoia focuses on low-hazard western business, mostly in California.

How to buy

Small businesses buy through an appointed independent agent; the site's quote buttons route to an agent search rather than an online quote. Wholesalers reach AmTrust E&S, and MGAs work with the programs unit. For workers' comp, AmTrust offers Pay-As-You-Owe (PAYO) billing through a payroll company, a third-party facilitator or self-reported payroll; premium is based on actual payroll, with no money down at inception, which reduces the year-end audit adjustment. See pay-as-you-go workers' comp: how it works and who it suits. Policyholders can pay, file claims and manage audits through AmTrust Access and AmTrust Online.

Claims

Report any claim by phone at 844-451-0750 or online through AmTrust Access using your policy number and ZIP code, which issues a claim number immediately. For workplace injuries, AmCares, a 24/7 nurse line included at no extra cost, sits on the same number: a nurse triages the injury, recommends care and points the worker to in-network providers. AmTrust asks employers to report every injury, even when they doubt it is work-related. Property, inland marine, crime, BOP and auto claims use the same phone and online channels. AmTrust says its adjusters average more than 20 years of experience, and it publishes national and California medical provider directories.

Financial strength and ratings

AmTrust's carrier and product pages, viewed in October 2026, list its U.S. insurers at A- (Excellent) from AM Best, Financial Size Category XV, with a stable outlook. That is the level set when AM Best downgraded the group from A in July 2018, citing weak 2016 and 2017 results, adverse development in accident years 2010 to 2014 and marginal enterprise risk management, while still calling its balance sheet very strong. AmTrust does not publish S&P, Moody's or Fitch insurer ratings on its site, and as a private company it does not publish full financial statements there.

The record includes the 2020 SEC settlement described above. AmTrust has drawn recent service recognition from Insurance Business America (2026 5-Star Claims Excellence) and Celent.

Strengths and weaknesses

AmTrust is a scale player in small-business comp with broad appetite, national reach and billing designed for small employers. Its ratings sit a notch below most peers of its size, and its history includes a reserve-driven downgrade and an SEC settlement.

• Strengths: No. 3 U.S. workers' comp writer; writes small business in hard states such as California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas; Pay-As-You-Owe billing and a 24/7 nurse triage line on every comp claim; E&S and program capacity under one roof.
• Weaknesses: A- from AM Best, below the A or A+ of many large competitors; no S&P rating shown on its site; private ownership means less public financial disclosure; many legacy company names on policies; 2018 downgrade and 2020 SEC penalty.

Agents usually compare AmTrust with EMPLOYERS, The Hartford, GUARD and ICW Group for small-business workers' comp.

How to contact AmTrust Financial