CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. (OTC:AFHIF) (“Atlas” or the “Company”) today announced that the Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 (the “Annual Report”). The Company currently expects to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2020, June 30, 2020, and September 30, 2020 in the coming weeks.
The Annual Report notes the Company’s previously announced strategic shift focusing on its technology driven commercial auto managing general agency (“MGA”) as its primary business, related infrastructure re-organization, and the impact on results. Atlas has streamlined operations around business activities it believes will leverage its core competencies, reduce exposure to legacy risks, and produce positive income going forward.
The principle target markets for Atlas’ MGA business include small fleet and owner-operator segments within the light commercial auto sector. Historically, the Company was a market leader in limousine/livery (including full-time transportation network company drivers), paratransit and taxi niche markets. Atlas’ MGA technology, analytics and workflows were developed to efficiently manage this highly transactional business. The Company’s go-forward strategy includes recapturing a significant portion of these markets while also expanding into other business segments where Atlas can deploy comparative advantages.
Following the Company’s strategic transition in 2019, Atlas has continued to build on its MGA operation through partnerships with external insurance and reinsurance companies. This allows the Company to leverage its focus, experience, technology and specialized infrastructure to create value for stakeholders without requiring the levels of capital historically necessary to support insurance company subsidiaries.
Atlas is also focusing on re-launching its fully digital proprietary optOn™ platform which provides micro-duration usage based commercial auto coverage for TNC drivers as well as other independent contractors in the gig economy space.
Management Commentary
Scott D. Wollney, Atlas’ President & CEO said “We concluded a number of significant activities in the past year, are pleased to have filed our Annual Report for 2019, and are looking forward to completing our quarterly filings on an expedited basis and becoming current. While this has been a long and arduous process, Atlas was able to reorganize the business to be able to take advantage of our expertise, specialized infrastructure, technology and relationships in light commercial auto. Our recently announced transactions with Buckle and National Interstate are great examples of partnerships which utilize the strength of our MGA, where we have built a scalable platform for growth using a ‘capital light’ model.”
Mr. Wollney continued, “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. commercial auto insurance business represented approximately $43 billion in annualized premiums. The niche markets on which Atlas focuses made up roughly $2.25 billion in premiums, with another $500 million to $1 billion attributable to commercially licensed operators in the evolving and rapidly growing transportation network sector. Initially, the pandemic has impacted all forms of demand for transportation. However, we are confident that, as we begin to see recovery, demand for our products will support growth trends seen in previous years. In addition, we believe there is potential upside from individuals seeking to utilize individual and cost-effective ride-sharing alternatives to mass transit in a continuing COVID-19 environment. We feel that this provides our MGA with ample runway to cultivate a sizable market share with our niche markets. In addition, we are pursuing opportunities in other large sub-segments in the broader commercial auto market.”
About Atlas
The primary business of Atlas is commercial automobile insurance in the United States, with a niche market orientation and focus on insurance for the “light” commercial automobile sector including taxi cabs, nonemergency para-transit, limousine/livery (including full-time transportation network company drivers) and business auto. Atlas’ specialized infrastructure is designed to leverage analytics, expertise and technology to efficiently and profitably provide insurance solutions for independent contractors, owner operators and other smaller accounts. The Company focuses on underserved and evolving niche markets where its differentiated approach is expected to create value for its stakeholders and shareholders.
The Company’s strategy is focused on leveraging its managing general agency operation (“AGMI”) and its insuretech digital platform (“optOn”). For more information about Atlas, please visit www.atlas-fin.com, www.agmiinsurance.com , and www.getopton.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Atlas and its insurance subsidiaries and businesses. Such statements are based on the current expectations of the management of each entity. The words “anticipate,” “expect,” “believe,” “may,” “should,” “estimate,” “project,” “outlook,” “forecast” or similar words are used to identify such forward looking information. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Companies, including risks regarding the insurance industry, economic factors and the equity markets generally and the risk factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Atlas and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.