American Management Corp.

Petroleum Gives Insurer Specialty Niche

Arkansas roots and a specialty built among the service stations lining the hilly streets of San Francisco have combined to make Stephen Strange Sr. and his American Management Corp. unique forces behind the state’s growing insurance business.

Along traditional lines, the Conway-based company owns American Underwriters Insurance Co. The 50-year-old property and casualty carrier generated $19.7 million in Arkansas premiums during 1998 and was ranked 14th in the state by Arkansas Business in 1999.

But that was only the beginning. Since Strange bought AUIC in 1984 and moved it from Morrilton, he’s built a much larger business acting as a middleman between the nation’s carriers and 300 independent agents across Arkansas.

AMC operates a managing general agency, which provides specialized underwriting services, issues policies and performs other roles normally handled by carriers — with an emphasis on petroleum-related enterprises running from the gasoline trucks to the gas pumps.

Working with a network of insurers and as a consultant to major oil companies including Arco, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil and Shell, AMC employs a team of underwriters experienced in predicting risk for the oil industry.

“We have a lot of business on the West Coast and in Florida and Texas,” says AMC’s controller, David Grimes. “Once it gets into the truck, and once it’s turned into gasoline, that’s where we come into play.”

Strange, who owns more than 90 percent of AMC, has grown the company from eight to 160 employees during the past 16 years and increased its personal lines staff from four to 37.

Last April, the company launched a $1 million renovation of a downtown Conway building behind will add 15,500 SF of office space and 55 jobs to the company’s payroll.