Abstract: The invention comprises a polymeric amphiphilic stabilizing agent and its use in the inverse-emulsion and inverse-suspenion polymerization of acrylic monomers. The stabilizing agent produces inverse-emulsions and inverse-suspensions having good stability, polymers with high molecular weights, high solid content, low coagulum and which can be branched providing a means to prepare branched, or structured, dry polymers. The stabilizing agent is amphiphilic copolymer that is prepared from a mixture of linear alkylmethacrylates monomers and acrylic or methacrylic acid co-monomers. Typically, the mixture of alkylmethacrylates is comprised of esters having alkyl moieties that are from 14 to 20 carbon atoms in length. The stabilizing agent copolymers typically have number average molecular weights from about 500 to 50,000 g/mol, or weight average molecular weights from 50,000 to 100,000 g/mol.