Amelia Risk vs USI Insurance Services

Amelia Risk presents itself as an independent, women-owned insurance brokerage—not as an insurer. It says it identifies a company’s risks, discusses insurance products, represents the buyer to insurers, and recommends a program. The official pages reviewed do not name a licensed producer entity suffix, license number, or NPN. ^1,2,4,20,19

USI describes itself as a U.S. insurance brokerage and consulting firm that arranges property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, program, and retirement solutions. The reviewed official pages do not identify USI as the insurer that issues commercial policies. ^30,29,36,49

USI’s commissions page states that, as a licensed insurance producer, it may advise on insurance contracts, sell insurance, and obtain coverages for clients. Privacy and staff materials identify the operating company as USI Insurance Services LLC. Current California producer-license status remains independently unverified. ^36,35,50

On 31 August 2026, Aon plc announced a definitive agreement to acquire USI from KKR and other shareholders for a $17.0 billion purchase price, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals. Aon stated that Aon and USI will continue to operate independently until the closing date. The reviewed announcement does not establish that the transaction has closed. ⁴⁹

Amelia Risk says it is a women-owned and operated insurance brokerage in San Francisco whose team works with startups and high-growth companies. Its specialty pages address startups, better-for-you food, beverage and cosmetic (CPG) companies, technology businesses (including software, hardware, robotics, AI, autonomous-vehicle software, and life sciences), and consumer-product or accessible-luxury brands. A company-hosted podcast transcript describes a primary CPG focus and work with higher-risk product categories such as baby food, skincare, and dietary supplements. Public pages do not state minimum revenue, headcount, or funding-stage eligibility. ^{1,3,4,5,6,7,8,22}

USI says it has served over 500,000 clients nationwide and positions itself as a middle-market brokerage and consulting firm. Its Technology practice describes clients including software, hardware, networking, semiconductors, or communications companies from early seed stage through IPO. Public pages do not publish a minimum revenue, headcount, or California-startup eligibility screen. ^30,38,49

Amelia Risk publishes an Insurance Policies catalogue covering general liability and umbrella or excess, stock throughput (cargo), product recall, directors and officers (D&O), employment practices liability (EPL), workers compensation, cyber, and technology errors and omissions (Tech E&O). Specialty pages also list product liability, fiduciary liability, professional liability, a businessowner’s policy (BOP) with property, general liability, and hired and non-owned auto, owned and hired/non-owned auto, and employee crime as policies those clients should consider. Those labels are the firm’s marketed placement topics; they are not specimen forms, and they do not establish that every line is available to every applicant. ^{9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,5,6,7,8}

USI’s Technology practice lists insurance placement for property; business income and contingent business income; worldwide cargo and stock; errors and omissions; product liability; directors and officers liability; network security / USI PrivaSafe; and international. Those labels describe brokerage services. Limits, exclusions, insurer, and whether a given startup qualifies remain in a quote and policy. ^38,43

USI’s commercial property and casualty pages describe advice and placement on workers’ compensation, property, general liability, auto liability, umbrella/excess, executive and professional risks, cyber, environmental, product liability, and related claims and risk-control services. Other industry pages add employment practices, crime, fiduciary, professional E&O, kidnap and ransom, representations and warranties, medical professional (malpractice) liability, and required bonding in the healthcare practice. Availability and wording vary by client, insurer, and jurisdiction. ^{37,39,40,41,45}

USI’s employee-benefits practice describes consulting to design, price, and administer employer benefit programs, including underwriting analytics, HR administration support, population health, compliance/healthcare reform guidance, pharmacy and ancillary consulting. The private-equity practice separately lists employee health and welfare insurance services after a transaction. These pages describe consulting and placement services, not a specific insured health plan or carrier. ^42,40

The reviewed official pages do not disclose broker commissions, contingent commissions, client fees, retainers, or premium examples. A 2021 blog post invites a free consultation. Absence of a published fee schedule is not evidence that insurance placement is free. ^{1,2,4,18,19,20,21}

Unless otherwise negotiated, USI says compensation for placing coverage is customarily a commission calculated as a percentage of premium and paid by the insurer. It may also receive additional monetary and non-monetary compensation from insurers or intermediaries (including affiliates), which can be contingent on volume, profitability, or other factors, and some agreements include growth or distribution incentives. Clients may request the nature and source of expected compensation, including on alternative quotes. Standard commission percentages and fee schedules for startup accounts are not published. ³⁶

Amelia Risk says it uses technology to streamline administration while remaining available by phone, and that it reads policies, negotiates coverage and pricing, and keeps programs updated as companies grow. Navigation links a Nexsure client login, an Ascend insured portal path for Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers, and a Pay Now URL on ePayPolicy. Authenticated portal screens and a working payment flow were not reviewed (the payment host returned HTTP 500 when opened without a session). ^{1,2,4,20,23,24,25}

USI describes USI ONE as a proprietary consultative process that combines Omni analytics, a national network of specialists, and an enterprise planning process. Technology and P&C pages say clients receive tailored recommendations aimed at total cost of risk. Those are company descriptions of advisory method, not independently verified service outcomes. ^31,38,37

USI PATH is described as a proprietary risk-control platform that presents industry loss drivers, improvement areas by coverage line, and curated vendor solutions with preferred pricing and ROI projections. The homepage also markets PATH as guiding clients through risk control from identifying sources of loss to targeting solutions. Performance, ROI, and premium-reduction claims on those pages are company-reported. ^46,29