Michael Aufmuth is the principal author of Automotive Reinsurance and Agency Principal at Elite FI Partners, the agency that publishes this site. His work focuses on the mechanics and strategy of dealer reinsurance: how the structures actually work, where fees erode returns, how the §831(b) election fits, and how F&I performance turns into long-term value.

Experience

Michael began his automotive career in 1997 in his family’s dealerships in Tucson, Arizona, and worked across sales, sales management, F&I, and ultimately general management. With a background in computer science, he built a custom dealer management system that automated deal structuring well before that was standard.

In 2013 he moved to the vendor side as a general agent alongside Emilia Aufmuth, leading F&I training programs for franchise brands. The two co-founded Elite FI Partners in 2019, where he leads reinsurance program design, agency strategy, and F&I training curriculum for dealer clients nationally.

That day-to-day work — structuring and reviewing dealer reinsurance programs, reading ceding statements and loss-ratio reports, and training F&I teams — is the first-party experience behind the analysis published here.

What he writes about

  • Reinsurance structures: CFC, NCFC, Super CFC, DOWC, and retrospective programs
  • Program economics: ceding and administrative fees, earned vs. unearned premium, reserves, loss ratios
  • Tax treatment at a general level, including the §831(a) and §831(b) distinction
  • Provider and administrator due diligence, reporting transparency, and program reviews
  • F&I operations: product mix, penetration, PVR, and how they feed underwriting results

Scope and limits

Michael is not an attorney, CPA, actuary, or licensed investment adviser. Articles here explain how reinsurance arrangements work in general terms; they are not legal, tax, accounting, actuarial, or investment advice, and no article is written with any specific dealership’s facts in view. See Editorial Standards for how sourcing, corrections, and commercial disclosure are handled, and About for the publication’s ownership.

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