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Case Study / Equipping Your Business to Lead Industry Evolution

Equipping Your Business to Lead Industry Evolution

Endorsements presented herein are made by current or former employees of Vista portfolio companies, over which Vista may have the ability to exercise discretion on employee compensation, promotion and other employment decisions.

Vertafore is driving innovation and augmenting its legacy in insurance software.

For Vertafore CEO Amy Zupon, it’s an exciting time to work in insurance. Though the industry has been slow to evolve technologically, insurers are beginning to break free of legacy systems and invest in innovative technology that increases efficiency and creates more tailored products and services.

As a leading provider of agency management, compliance, workflow and data solutions to insurance brokers and carriers, Vertafore is at the forefront of the industry’s digital advancement. The company’s goal is to streamline and transform the insurance market with software that better connects agents to their wholesalers and carriers.

Zupon’s experience with Vista began in 2009, when Ventyx, a former Vista company, acquired her start-up, The Structure Group. After serving in executive positions at Ventyx and P2 Energy Solutions, another former Vista company, her partnership with Vista continued in 2016 when she became CEO of Vertafore. The opportunity to play a role in the insurance industry’s evolution excited Zupon, and she felt confident that her new team, as well as the team at Vista, were well aligned to tackle the company’s growth trajectory.

She viewed private equity as a chance to concentrate on driving growth for the company. With Vista’s support and resources, Zupon could focus on the strategies that will help take Vertafore’s business to the next level.

In the nearly 50 years since its founding, Vertafore has experienced a great amount of success and grown through acquisitions, but Zupon felt that its operations remained siloed.

Over the past year and a half, Vista has helped Zupon and her team execute initiatives that encourage collaboration, drive process efficiencies and advance product development by breaking down barriers across the company.

Zupon has seen these efforts amplified by a commitment from her leadership team and the Vista team to enhance the company’s offerings. They have worked together to assemble a diverse executive team, recruit top talent, and consolidate Vertafore’s operations so that it can serve customers more effectively. Now, the business is aligned on its priorities, which include improving core products, such as management systems and agency and carrier solutions, as well as building new ones. Internally, Zupon has seen the company experience a revival in culture, focus and drive.

In the next five years, Zupon anticipates that Vertafore will maintain its legacy of success while also expanding the ways that it serves its customers who are managing increasing complexity in their workflows. With the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, she sees opportunities to bring new products to market that will help drive productivity and efficiency. Vertafore has set out to redefine the insurance industry with its solutions, and with the support of Vista’s operational experts, is accelerating the evolution of both its business and its market.

Please see the “Case Studies” section of the Disclosures page for important information about these Case Studies.

We had many operational excellence initiatives to drive quickly. We couldn’t have accomplished it without the Value Creation Team and Vista’s partnership.

Amy Zupon, CEO, Vertafore

Details

Year of Investment: 2016
Portfolio Status: Current
Headquarters: Denver, CO
Website: vertafore.com

Agency management, compliance, workflow and data solutions for the Property and Casualty insurance broker and carrier market.

Vertafore, Inc. is a leading provider of agency management, compliance, workflow and data solutions to the Property and Casualty insurance broker and carrier market. Its primary software offering is a comprehensive agency management platform which provides accounting, customer and policy management, quoting, compliance and reference materials sold to insurance brokers of all sizes. Vertafore also offers ratings, information and analytics solutions to carriers and managing general agents, as well as licensing and compliance solutions and an online content platform. Vertafore was founded in 1969 and serves over 26,000 customers.

Vertafore is headquartered in Denver, CO, with operations across the United States and Canada.

Vista Equity Partners Fund VI and Bain Capital completed a buyout of Vertafore in June 2016.

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