Our specialists understand private equity needs and have developed insurer access points to facilitate diligence, placement and valued-added broking.
At NFP, our M&A Risk Solutions (MARS) group provides private equity firms and their portfolio companies
insurance, employee benefits, and retirement brokerage and consulting services through the lifecycle of an investment — from auction to exit. Our differentiated approach includes:
- Taking a whole-business approach to commercial insurance diligence
- Ensuring accountability and continuity of service for both the PE fund and portfolio company by integrating Core Property and Casualty brokerage and service alongside our diligence group
- Using a “best in front approach” to leverage NFP’s specialty product and industry expertise
Insurance Diligence Is Business Diligence
Differentiated Diligence
A simple coverage analysis is not adequate in assessing transactional risks in today’s world of evolving risks, agile business strategies and rapid growth. NFP's insurance due diligence takes a wholecompany approach. We identify gaps, opportunities and potential pitfalls. While the scope of diligence and lines of inquiry will vary as a function of deal size, transaction structure and industry, our analysis could include:
Contractual Liability and Assumed Risk
Indemnity requirements of sophisticated counterparties – customers and vendors – are increasingly driving insurance coverage and limits for professional services and consulting companies that have direct or incidental contact with personally identifiable information. This may require significant insurance expenditures to keep up with customers’ demands for greater insurance protection. We review a client’s
material contracts to understand the current and likely future insurance requirements, which in turn allows financial modelling to provide greater degree of certainty.
Capital Expenditures
As insurance markets harden, property insurers will continue to push their insureds for greater loss prevention investment. We look at historical and planned capital expenditures to identify unexpected costs.
Earnings Quality
High-growth firms, as well as those trying to creatively manage cash flows, might utilize a number of accounting tools to impact quality of earnings. These practices are often overlooked by those not well-versed in both insurance and accounting for insurance. We look across financial reports, data and policies to help improve your visibility. We can also dive deeper into specific risk areas, including cyber and
environmental risks, and review and quantify the underlying exposures that drive insurance purchasing decisions.
Understanding Private Equity’s Needs
Core Property and Casualty and Portfolio Risk Management
We harness the power of scale by concentrating our brokering for PE portfolio companies through our Core Property and Casualty team. From one-off transactional placements to synthetic master programs and group purchasing, our specialists understand the needs of PE and have developed insurer access points to facilitate diligence, placement and valued-added broking over the investment lifecycle. This team also supports add-on diligence and provides portfolio risk management services to private equity firms.
Harnessing Our Expertise
Specialties: Providing Deep Expertise by Industry and Coverage
Our Core Property and Casualty team engages NFP’s specialties to deliver tailored, deal-specific advice and solutions for each deal. Our specialty teams focus on product lines, such as cyber or complex casualty, or industry sectors, such as financial institutions or aviation, that require specialized knowledge and skills to be addressed properly. We align our specialty teams’ expertise with an acquisition target’s industry to take a best in front approach and engage NFP experts for the benefit of our private equity clients. Our experts are industry thought leaders on the vanguard of risk strategies in their fields. We continue to invest in our
specialty teams, broadening our capabilities and reach.
M&A Risk Solutions is backed by NFP’s national groups and local teams, providing the full range of insurance, risk, health and welfare and retirement solutions, including:
- Transaction liability
- Health and welfare plan design and consulting
- Surety
- Retirement/401(k) advisory
- Collateral evaluation and negotiation
- Individual solutions
- Successor in interest liability
- Leveraged purchasing
About NFP
NFP is a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides employee benefits, specialized property and casualty, retirement, and individual private client solutions through our licensed subsidiaries and affiliates. Our expertise is matched by our commitment to each client’s goals and is enhanced by our investments in innovative technologies in the insurance brokerage and consulting space.
NFP has more than 5,800 employees and global capabilities. Our expansive reach gives us access to highly rated insurers, vendors and financial institutions in the industry, while our locally based employees tailor each solution to meet our clients’ needs. We’ve become one of the largest insurance brokerage, consulting and wealth management firms by building enduring relationships with our clients and helping them realize their goals.