“We’ve always held the compass as our navigational theme for AmRisc, so Waypoint was a good fit for our overall theme — it was our first choice,” said Brian Reid, CEO of AmRisc Group, a managing general underwriter (MGU) for catastrophe and special property insurance.

To go with the new brand, a new logo was also unveiled — it incorporates a compass rose with the eight principal directions used in navigation.

But the journey to Waypoint — which joins the AmRisc Group umbrella alongside Chronos Retail, AmRisc Online and Insurisk — has been a much longer process. In 2015, AmRisc internally split its distribution platform between wholesale and retail, branding the retail side AmRisc Agency Group, and in 2018 rebranding the retail side as Chronos Retail. What that meant was that AmRisc was a parent company of two distribution platforms, one of which was also named AmRisc.

The company wanted to be clear that communications from AmRisc were from the parent, not the wholesale division, and to not have any favoritism from the parent name. As well as simplifying communications internally, the name update has “also given a bit of clarity in the marketplace,” Reid said.

“I think a lot of people originally thought it would be more complicated, but actually it’s been seamless,” he noted. “Our wholesale partners have attached to it pretty well and it’s certainly not changing what we do on a day-to-day basis.”

Waypoint Wholesale will retain the same leadership and structure as before, reporting to Laura Beckmann, AmRisc Group’s president and chief operating officer.

“While the new name may help our partners better navigate our product offerings, our wholesale clients and carrier partners can rest assured knowing that our dedication to high quality service and commitment to results-driven underwriting remain at the same level they’ve come to expect from AmRisc,” said Beckmann.