Partners Group, a global private markets firm, has announced a successful AI-driven transformation program at its portfolio company Foundation Risk Partners (FRP), a US insurance brokerage. The program, delivered in collaboration with Version 1, another Partners Group portfolio company and a leader in AI-first digital transformation services, resulted in a 120 basis point (bps) EBITDA margin uplift for FRP, representing $10 million in financial impact.
The initiative highlights how private equity firms can drive operational improvements and value creation by fostering synergies among their portfolio companies. Partners Group acquired both FRP and Version 1 in 2022, recognizing growth opportunities in the US insurance brokerage sector and the AI-first digital transformation market in the UK and Ireland. Since then, both companies have doubled their revenues, demonstrating strong performance.
FRP, founded in 2017, has over 3,000 employees across 68 locations. The company built a clean, proprietary policy-level dataset that served as the foundation for the AI initiative. Version 1’s AI Labs developed two agentic AI solutions: one that reduces the average policy processing cycle for new clients by 94%, leading to a doubling in close rates, and another that automates the human-intensive policy checking task. The program was delivered by a seven-person team augmented by Version 1, with the first use case going from concept to production in just 14 weeks.
Wolf Scheider, Head of Private Equity at Partners Group, emphasized the significance of this collaboration: “We have delivered synergies within our own portfolio to create tangible value, in this case pairing a US insurance brokerage with an AI technology partner in the UK and Ireland. Through this, we have turned a clean dataset into USD 10 million EBITDA uplift and real, measurable growth. We continue to look for opportunities to leverage AI expertise across our portfolio companies.”
This case exemplifies the growing trend of private equity firms using artificial intelligence to enhance operational efficiency and profitability across their investments. By leveraging the expertise of one portfolio company to benefit another, Partners Group has demonstrated a model for AI-driven value creation that could be replicated across the industry.
The success at FRP underscores the importance of clean data and rapid implementation in achieving measurable outcomes. The 94% reduction in policy processing time not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances client experience, potentially giving FRP a competitive edge in the insurance brokerage market.
Partners Group, with over $186 billion in assets under management and approximately 2,000 professionals globally, continues to seek opportunities to apply AI expertise across its portfolio. This program is a testament to the firm’s operationally oriented approach and its commitment to transforming businesses into market leaders.
The financial impact of $10 million in EBITDA uplift is a clear indicator of the value that can be unlocked through strategic AI initiatives within portfolio companies. As private equity firms increasingly look for ways to create value beyond financial engineering, operational improvements driven by technology are becoming a key differentiator.
For more information, visit Partners Group’s website or view the original release on NewMediaWire.
