Envest Group has acquired London Australia Underwriting (LAUW), a Sydney-based agency writing more than $35 million in gross written premium in professional and financial lines on behalf of Lloyd’s syndicates.

Earlier this month Envest announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Queensland-based motor underwriter Insuret.

LAUW specialises in professional indemnity, directors' and officers', management liability, tech, fintech, and financial institutions insurance.

It was established in 2005 by Steve Walker and Declan Rye, and Envest says the business has “gone from strength to strength”, capitalising on broker support, deep sector specialisation and a team committed to personalised service.

Envest CEO Greg Mullins says it’s an exciting time for the agency sector, as brokers continue to support the model.

“With a broker network placing $1.3 billion into the market, our focus on agency acquisitions is to bring our customers new products and services to market in niche areas that deliver value for them and insurance partners.”

Envest CEO of Agencies Richard Heilig says financial and professional lines are a growth market in Australia and an area that Envest has been looking to invest in for some time.

“We don’t currently have a financial and professional risk agency in our group,” Mr Heilig said.

“LAUW is already a preferred supplier with an excellent reputation in the market. Declan and Steve have been with the business since day one and will continue to have material ownership to drive the agency's growth.”

LAUW directors Mr Walker and Mr Rye say they look forward to “leveraging the capital, support, relationship and scale of Envest to take their business to the next level”.

“The new partnership with Envest allows us to grow our distribution and service to our existing and new clients.

“We see a strong cultural alignment with Envest, and the opportunity to use the group's strength to continue our growth story, including the release of new products soon.”