Axis Insurance Services, LLC (AXIS) was formed in November 1999 by Mike W. Smith, a CPA and Insurance Consultant. It was his vision to create a new kind of agency: one focused from a business consultant’s point of view, not simply as a cookie-cutter insurance agent.
Prior to forming this company, Mike had worked as a Senior Audit Manager at Coopers & Lybrand in Philadelphia, specializing in the insurance industry and later serving as both Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. In this period prior to Axis, he had also created and funded several start-up companies. His experience taught him that the industry had become too complacent in simply placing insurance and not in actually helping businesses manage risk. The primary expertise in the professional liability market was dominated by wholesalers which were one step removed from the client. Mike felt that by bringing that expertise to the retail market he could make a difference.
Since Then
Since the founding of Axis, the company has grown from a small one-state agency to a National Brokerage specializing in all types of professional liability including E&O, D&O and other ancillary coverages. Today Axis has agents and brokers in many states and is a prominent player in the industry, specializing in cases that are complex and require specialization. Twenty percent of our business now comes from the wholesale market which, although we specialize in many lines of business, recognizes us as the market leader for specialized E&O.
