Insurance Journal West 2023-08-21

When it comes to tough accounts THINK UFG SPECIALTY

Whether it’s building partnerships or providing excellent service in the evolving excess and surplus marketplace, we adapt to meet our brokers where they need us most.

We pride ourselves on being a responsive carrier with the underwriting expertise to provide innovative solutions for complex risks. At UFG

Opening Note

Chairman of the Board Mark Wells | mwells@wellsmedia.com

Chief Executive Officer Joshua Carlson | jcarlson@insurancejournal.com

ADMINISTRATION / CIRCULATION

Being Flexible

The search for good talent continues throughout the insurance industry. Those organizations offering flexibility in work schedules, such as work-from-home and hybrid work options, will win in today’s competitive market, according to a new report by Integrated Benefit Institute.

IBI’s new report, Making Post-Pandemic Hybrid & Flexible Arrangements, found that almost half (47%) of employees say they would quit a job or begin looking for a new job immediately if their employer mandated a full-time return-to-office policy. While multiple studies suggest that most employees want to retain some form of remote work (as many as 89%), some employers are implementing return to the office full or part-time.

But losing talent isn’t all about remote. It’s about flexibility. Mary Newgard, a partner at Capstone Insurance Recruiters, a national recruiting firm based in Iowa, says that just giving options and being open to discussion is what counts. And if an agency doesn’t want to offer flexibility, then they can expect to keep jobs unfilled for much longer, she said.

Being flexible is good for both the employee and the employer, too. According to a 2022 IBI study, remote and hybrid employees are 22% more productive, 21% more satisfied, and 51% more highly engaged. “Many studies have found that flexible work schedules improve well-being, engagement, and organizational commitment. Offering flexibility can mitigate the risks of burnout, and ensure employees are maximizing their productivity,” said IBI Researcher Carole Bonner, MET, MSAS. “Employers that are seeing improved attraction and retention rates, and attracting top talent, are often the ones offering the most flexibility.”

A majority (85%) of employers say they already offer or plan to offer some kind of flexible work arrangement, whether that’s fully remote, or hybrid with varying quantities of days split between home and office. However, IBI’s findings highlight a significant gap between employers and employees regarding the future workplace. Only 15.1% of remote-capable employees expressed a desire to return to the office full-time, while significantly more (22.5%) of U.S. employers with remote-capable employees want their employees back in the office full-time. Employers cite a number of reasons for wanting employees back in the office, including empty office space expenditures, questions surrounding true productivity measures, and hurting creativity and community amongst workforce.

When asked about the top benefits of working at the office, most employees cited socializing (51%) and face-to-face collaboration (47%). Other noteworthy benefits include access to better equipment and improved boundaries between work/personal time. Employees’ subjective wellbeing (SWB), a measurement of happiness, paints a less rosy picture, according to IBI. Those who work fully onsite are less likely to rate their level of happiness as high. Those who work in an office-first arrangement, with 1-2 days working from home each week, are the most likely to have the highest possible SWB rating.

“Employers need to engage with their workforce to determine their preferences and needs, and to gather information about the effectiveness and long-term viability of different types of flexible work arrangements,” Bonner wrote in the IBI report, available at www.ibiweb.org.

Chief Financial Officer Terry Freeburg | tfreeburg@wellsmedia.com

Circulation Manager Elizabeth Duffy | eduffy@wellsmedia.com

Staff Accountant Sarah Kersbergen | skersbergen@wellsmedia.com

EDITORIAL

V.P. of Content Andrea Wells | awells@insurancejournal.com

Executive Editor Emeritus Andrew Simpson | asimpson@wellsmedia.com

National Editor Chad Hemenway | chemenway@insurancejournal.com

Southeast Editor William Rabb | wrabb@insurancejournal.com

South Central Editor/Midwest Editor Ezra Amacher | eamacher@insurancejournal.com

West Editor Don Jergler | djergler@insurancejournal.com

International Editor L.S. Howard | lhoward@insurancejournal.com

Content Editor Allen Laman | alaman@wellsmedia.com

Assistant Editor Jahna Jacobson | jjacobson@insurancejournal.com

Copy Editor Stephanie Jones | sjones@insurancejournal.com

Columnists & Contributors

Contributors: Mike Abate, Abby Seymour, Ashley Wingate

Columnists: Chris Burand, Tony Caldwell, Bill Wilson

SALES / MARKETING

Chief Marketing Officer

Julie Tinney | jtinney@insurancejournal.com

West Sales Dena Kaplan | dkaplan@insurancejournal.com

Romeo Valdez | rvaldez@insurancejournal.com

Kelly DeLaMora | kdelamora@wellsmedia.com

South Central Sales

Mindy Trammell | mtrammell@insurancejournal.com

Southeast and East Sales (except for NY, PA, CT)

Howard Simkin | hsimkin@insurancejournal.com

Midwest Sales

Lisa Whalen | (800) 897-9965 x180

East Sales (NY, PA and CT only)

Dave Molchan | (800) 897-9965 x145

Advertising Coordinator Erin Burns | eburns@insurancejournal.com

Insurance Markets Manager

Kristine Honey | khoney@insurancejournal.com

Sr. Sales & Marketing Coordinator

Laura Roy | lroy@insurancejournal.com

Marketing Administrator

Alberto Vazquez | avazquez@insurancejournal.com

Marketing Director

Derence Walk | dwalk@insurancejournal.com

DESIGN / WEB / VIDEO

V.P. of Design

Guy Boccia | gboccia@insurancejournal.com

Web Team Lead

Josh Whitlow | jwhitlow@insurancejournal.com

Ad Ops Specialist

Jeff Cardrant | jcardrant@insurancejournal.com

Web Developer

Terrance Woest | twoest@wellsmedia.com

Web Developer Jason Chipp | jchipp@wellsmedia.com

V.P. of New Media

Bobbie Dodge | bdodge@insurancejournal.com

Videographer/Editor

Ashley Waldrop | awaldrop@insurancejournal.com

ACADEMY OF INSURANCE Director

Patrick Wraight | pwraight@ijacademy.com

Online Training Coordinator George Jack | gjack@ijacademy.com

‘Many studies have found that flexible work schedules improve well-being, engagement, and organizational commitment.’

Global Insurance Prices Continue to Moderate in Q2 With Exception of Property: Marsh

Global commercial insurance pricing rose 3% in the second quarter of 2023, down from 4% in Q1, according to Marsh, which pointed to two notable trends during Q2: a moderation in cyber rates and continuing challenges in property insurance, which saw the largest increases of any major product line. This was the 23rd consecutive quarter in which composite pricing rose, continuing the longest run of increases since the inception of the index in 2012, commented the Marsh Global Insurance Market Index, noting that price hikes peaked at 22% in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Global average composite pricing was relatively consistent across regions — driven largely by rate decreases for financial and professional lines

(down 8% in Q2 versus a 5% drop in Q1) and either decreases or moderating increases for cyber insurance, Marsh said.

Overall average pricing for financial and professional lines fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, driven by rate reductions and additional capacity — particularly in the UK where FinPro lines declined 6%, compared to a 4% decline in the first quarter. In addition, D&O pricing continued to decline in the UK, generally in the 10%-15% range.

Global cyber insurance pricing increases also moderated to 1%, compared to 11% in the prior quarter and 28% in Q4 2022. The drop in cyber premiums “was driven by significant moderation in the US, which saw average price decreases of 4%, compared to 11% increases in Q1 [2023],” the

report continued.

Global property insurance, however, experienced the largest rate increases of any major product line, with average

Industry Rails Against Federal Climate Disclosure Bill

By Chad Hemenway

Recently introduced federal legislation that would require insurance companies with more than $100 million in annual premiums to disclose investments and underwritings related to coal, oil and gas projects, and fossil fuels is already required at the state level and would increase costs for consumers, said industry trade associations.

“State regulators have been examining the impact of climate change on insurers and the insurance marketplace for

years, and disclosure has long been a part of that,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). “Federal calls for insurers to publicly disclose investments is a red herring designed to score political points and does nothing to help consumers.”

Moreover, said Nat Wienecke, the American Property Casualty Insurer Association’s (APCIA) senior vice president of federal government relations: “Insurers play an important

role in helping protect families, businesses, and communities as our economy transitions to a greener energy future. The call for an immediate end to insurance services for certain fossil fuel activities and producers ignores the importance of providing an effective energy transition to renewable sources.”

On July 25, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) introduced the Polluter Portfolio Disclosure Act. The U.S. representatives said the legislation would “shed light on how big insurance companies are

global prices increasing by 10% (level with Q1), Marsh said.

Breaking the composite pricing down by region, Marsh said, Q2 prices in the UK

profiting from the climate crisis and, at the same time, failing to provide the necessary coverage to communities in need.” The bill calls for annual disclosures of climate-related investments to the Federal Insurance Office, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, and the Office of Financial Research — and for the information to be made public and searchable online.

NAMIC said the measure scapegoats the insurance industry, which is greatly affected by and is sympathetic to the victims of the increasing natural disasters.

increased by 1% (down from a 3% increase in Q1 of 2023); in the Pacific they increased by 2% (down from 7% in Q1), and were flat in Asia (down from 1%

increase in Q1).

The remaining regions recorded identical increases to the previous quarter: in Latin America and the Caribbean pricing increased by 8% (8% in Q1); in Continental Europe by 5% (5% in Q1); and in the US by 4% (4% in Q1).

Marsh noted that concerns about the impact of inflation on asset values and claims costs remained a key focus for insurers at renewal in most regions.

US Market Trends

Although Marsh goes on to take a deep dive into each of the global markets, Insurance Journal focuses here on U.S. pricing for property, casualty, financial and professional lines (FINPRO), and cyber.

Property. Property insurance pricing in the U.S. increased by 19%, compared to 17% in the first quarter, marking the 23rd consecutive quarter in which prices rose. Marsh said

the main drivers of Q2 property price hikes in the U.S. are the cost of reinsurance and capital, strong capacity demand, limited new insurers, and ongoing losses. Best-in-class risks with limited natural catastrophe exposures and stable incumbent capacity typically experienced more favorable results compared to those affected by losses and/or had a geographic concentration of assets in natural zones, such as along the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic coast, and California.

Casualty. Casualty insurance pricing increased 3%, compared to 2% in Q1. Excluding workers’ compensation, the increase was 5%. The workers’ compensation line helped keep average rate increases lower for auto and general liability in some cases where all lines were purchased with the same insurer. Many insurers applied exclusions involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and biometric exposures.

Financial and Professional Lines. FINPRO pricing was down 10% in Q2, compared to a decline of 9% in Q1. Directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance pricing for publicly traded companies declined by 13%, the same as in the prior quarter.

Cyber. Cyber insurance pricing continued to moderate significantly, declining 4% in the second quarter, compared to an 11% increase in the prior quarter. Increased competition, improved cybersecurity controls, and a reduction in ransomware attacks in 2022 were key factors behind continued pricing improvement in cyber. However, there was an increase in the number of ransomware claims reported in the second quarter.

All references to pricing and pricing movements in this report are averages, unless otherwise noted. For ease of reporting, Marsh rounded all percentages regarding pricing movements to the nearest whole number.

“America’s insurers pay billions of dollars every year to help their policyholders recover from extreme weather, and they will be there for policyholders when the next disaster strikes,” Grande said. “We also continue to press Congress to fund more mitigation projects to reduce risk and better protect America’s communities from future extreme weather events. Climate change is a problem that affects everyone; needless legislation and political grandstanding aren’t part of the solution.”

“Insurers play an active role in facilitating a more resilient

economy through their investment strategies and by closely partnering with policyholders and creating products that support their own transition pathways,” added Wienecke.

“‘Hard exits’ prevent insurers from contributing what they do best — helping consumers and businesses understand physical and transition risk and operationalize their plans. Hard exits may also contribute to negative, global economic impacts, as we remain in a period where traditional fossil fuels are still very much in need and a hard exit would disproportionately impact

marginalized communities and developing economies.”

Public Citizen, one of a group of organizations endorsing the bill, said reducing climate risks “requires reducing the insurance industry’s financing and insurance of the fossil fuel industry.”

“While insurance companies flee states that face the most harm from the climate crisis, they continue to hold tight to their investments in fossil fuels,” said Carly Fabian, climate insurance advocate with Public Citizen. “The combination of a planet on fire and an insurance industry

underwriting and investing in the accelerant is not sustainable.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) gives an interview at the U.S. Capitol (Francis Chung/ POLITICO via AP Images)

14%

The percentage by which California workers’ compensation premium levels rose in 2022 due to the economic recovery from the pandemic-related downturn, according to the new Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California’s 2023 State of the System Report. The WCIRB report forecasts premiums to be above the pre-pandemic level in 2023 thanks to continued economic expansion and flattening insurer charged rates.

$1.5 Million Figures

The amount for which State Farm is suing the owners of a New York City garage that collapsed in April. State Farm says the building’s collapse was caused by the owners’ negligence. The insurer is suing them to recover payments to the garage’s customers who are insured by State Farm and whose vehicles and personal property were damaged in the collapse. The defendant garage owners named in the suit are 57 Ann Street Realty Associates Inc., Enterprise Ann Parking LLC and Little Man Parking LLC.

870,000

The number of F-150 trucks Ford Motor Co. said it is recalling in the United States because of the risk of an unexpected activation of the electric parking brake due to a potential wiring issue. The recall covers 2021 through 2023 model year F-150 trucks, according to a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It covers trucks equipped with a single exhaust system. Contact with the rear axle housing may damage the wiring harness, causing the electric parking brake to activate unexpectedly, the automaker said.

$43 Billion

The amount of insured losses from natural disasters during the first half of 2023, according to a report by Munich Re. The overall economic price tag is $110 billion, the reinsurer said. The insured losses were slightly lower than the $47 billion reported for the same period last year but were higher than the 10-year average for half-year losses of $34 billion, Munich Re said in a report titled, “Earthquakes, thunderstorms, floods: Natural disaster figures for the first half of 2023.”

Declarations

Seltzer Water High

“Maybe having a 10-milligram THCinfused seltzer water is something that’s more up your alley. … In my opinion, it’s more social.”

— Alex Buschmann, cannabis practice leader at Risk Strategies Company, said during an Insurance Journal panel discussion on emerging trends in the cannabis and hemp insurance markets. Buschmann said he thinks cannabinoid-infused beverages will take up a big space in the cannabis world because they appeal to consumers who may not be comfortable smoking a joint or want an alternative to alcohol.

Solar Panel Fire

“The batteries themself will burn out. It will probably burn for the next five, seven days. … It will be at a safe level where we don’t have to worry about a big fire again.”

— Chaumont, New York, Fire Chief William Lipczynski said of the health and safety risks from a northern New York solar farm battery fire that burned in late July near the tiny village of Chaumont. Local authorities told people within a mile of the solar installation to shelter in place for about four hours as a result of the fire, which was reported to have been sparked by a mechanical equipment malfunction.

Dog Emergency

“I recognize and own that. … I am going to learn from this and not repeat the behavior. I am truly sorry.”

— Jordan Addison, a Minnesota Vikings first-round draft pick, said in a statement after being stopped in late July by a state trooper who clocked him going 140 mph in a 55 mph zone. Addison told the trooper he was speeding because of an emergency involving his dog. The Minnesota State Patrol said Addison was pulled over without resistance in a Lamborghini Urus at 3:07 a.m. on Interstate 94 in St. Paul about a mile outside of downtown.

Louisiana’s Resilience

“We’ve experienced significant devastation in our recent history — from hurricanes, floods, sea level rise, subsidence, coastal land loss, habitat degradation and extreme heat. … Because we’ve been tested more than anywhere else in the country, Louisiana has gone to great lengths to increase the resilience of our communities, our economy and our ecosystems.”

— Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in testimony before U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, which is studying the fiscal impacts of climate change on the nation’s infrastructure.

No Certificates of Deposit

“In one instance, he convinced an elderly victim that Alfa offered certificates of deposit for purchase, when in fact Alfa is not a financial institution and does not offer certificates of deposit.”

— The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama said in a statement about Bret Chappell, 44, of Warrior, who pleaded guilty to defrauding people of more than $862,286 in life insurance. Between 2019 and 2022, Chappell, a former Alfa insurance agent, conducted a scheme to defraud numerous victims into surrendering existing Alfa life insurance policies for cash value, prosecutors said. The plea agreement comes six months after the agent was arrested.

Flawed Policy

“The problems and inconsistencies we found during this audit warrant systemwide changes at CSU. … In particular, the Chancellor’s Office must take a more active approach to overseeing campuses’ efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment.”

— California State Auditor Grant Parks said in a statement regarding an audit that showed flawed policy at California State University, the largest higher education system in the country, contributed to the closure of many sexual harassment cases without thorough explanation. There were more than 1,200 reports of sexual harassment by employees overall at California State University campuses between 2018 and 2022, the report shows. Of those, 254 were investigated.

News & Markets

Agency M&A Down 24% in First Half 2023: OPTIS

Investment banking and financial firm OPTIS Partners said the count of agency mergers and acquisitions during the first half of the year was 359, down 24% from 475 during the same time last year.

“The drop-off in deal count continues as we move through 2023, which isn’t surprising anyone if for no other reason than the cost of capital has increased so much,” said Steve Germundson, a partner at OPTIS Partners, which specializes in the insurance industry.

The first-half total was the lowest since 2020 but still equal to the average over the last five years, according to the firm’s M&A database.

Hub International and BroadStreet Partners recorded the most transactions in the first half with 29 and 26 deals, respectively. Inszone, World, and Patriot Growth followed with 22, 17, and 16 deals, respectively.

PCF, Acrisure, and Highstreet Partners — historically among the most active buy-

ers — cooled in H1, accounting for over 75% of the net decrease in the number of completed transactions.

“We’re seeing the effects of relative inactivity of some previously very active buyers, yet others are successfully completing more deals,” said OPTIS managing partner Timothy J. Cunningham.

Active firms that picked up the deal pace in H1 2023 versus H1 2022 are World Insurance Associates (up 112%), Risk Strategies (86% higher), and Broadstreet Partners (up 62%).

The report breaks down American and Canadian buyers into four groups: private equity-backed/hybrid brokers, privately held brokers, publicly held brokers, and all others. The private equity-backed/ hybrid group of buyers maintained their dominance in the buying spree with 69% of all transactions for the quarter, while transactions between private parties accounted for 22%. Publicly held brokers and all others accounted for just 9% of deals.

For sellers, the report breaks them down into four types: property/casualty insurance agencies, agencies offering both P/C and employee benefits, employee benefits agencies, and all other sellers — life/financial services, consulting and other businesses associated with insurance distribution.

P/C sellers accounted for 60% of the total, or 214 transactions. Sales of benefits agencies totaled 45, and there were 47 sales of P&C/benefits agencies. All other sellers accounted for 53 sales.

“The nine-quarter deal bubble that began in Q4 2020 is clearly in the rearview mirror,” Germundson said. “But we’re continuing to see interest in the buy-side from a large number of firms, and there is evidence that valuations for better firms remain strong. If interest rates continue to rise as expected, there may be more buyers forced to the sidelines, creating opportunities for those with stronger balance sheets.”

Big ‘I’ Report: Independent Agency Channel Slowly Growing

The independent agency channel is holding ground and showing slow, steady gains in lines of business penetration, including homeowners, according to the Big “I” 2023 Market Share Report.

Based on 2022 data, this year’s report points to the growth of the independent agency channel, which places 63% of all property/casualty insurance written in the U.S., an increase of 3% over the past five years’ average penetration rate.

While the independent agency channel held steady in commercial lines, placing 87% of all commercial lines written premium, its share of personal lines written premium grew to 38% in 2022, up from 37% in 2021, continuing a trend of personal lines growth over the past five years. In particular,

independent agencies saw gains in the homeowners line of business, up to 50% in 2022 from 46% in 2018. Direct written premiums reached $861 billion in 2022, up from $785 billion in 2021.

Independent agencies have also seen growth in surplus lines, with a 9% utilization rate in the past year compared to an average of 7% over the past five years. Private flood surplus lines in particular has

seen a large jump, with a 45% utilization rate in 2022 compared to 36% over the past five years. This correlates to a hardening market and carrier withdrawals.

“Looking at the past five years, the independent agency channel is gaining ground slowly but steadily, with no material losses in any area seen in 2022’s data,” says Jennifer Becker, Big “I” senior director of agent development, research and education. “As we begin to see signs of a hardening market, independent agencies are facing the challenges head-on as trusted advisors to their customers.”

The report compiles and analyzes property/casualty premium data from AM Best and provides insights for agencies and carriers on current market shares by distribution types.

Study: Motor Vehicle Thefts Soar in First Half of 2023

During the first half of 2023, vehicle thefts soared while most other crimes declined, according to a new study of crime trends in 37 cities released by the Council on Criminal Justice.

Continuing an upward trajectory, motor vehicle thefts have continued to rise since the onset of the pandemic. Considered a “keystone crime” that facilitates the commission of homicide and other offenses, the report noted, motor vehicle theft rose by 33.5% in the first half of the year, representing 23,974 more stolen vehicles in the 32 cities that reported data.

Seven cities reported an increase of 100% or more, led by Rochester, New York, (+355%) and Cincinnati (+162%).

The number of vehicle thefts between January and June 2023 was 104.3% higher than during the same period in 2019. Much of the increase is the result of thefts of Kia and Hyundai models, popular targets for auto thieves.

Robberies, residential burglaries, nonresidential burglaries and larcenies all decreased in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022, the study found.

Robberies fell by 3.6%, residential burglaries by 3.8%, nonresidential burglaries by 5% and larcenies by 4.1%.

In other findings, gun assaults (-5.6%) and aggravated assaults (-2.5%) fell in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same time frame last year. Drug offenses rose by 1% and domestic violence by 0.3%.

The study found that the number of murders in the first half of 2023 fell by 9.4% compared to the first half of 2022 (a decrease of 202 homicides in those cities).

Twenty of the study cities recorded a decrease in homicides during the first six months of the year, ranging from a 59% drop in Raleigh, North Carolina, to a 2% drop in Nashville, Tennessee.

Ten cities experienced an increase in homicides, ranging from about 5% in Seattle to 133% in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Expanding on the analysis of midyear 2023 trends, the study provides comparisons with offense levels recorded in 2019, before the coronavirus, the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing mass protests over police violence.

Violent crimes remained higher during the first half of 2023 compared to the

first half of 2019.

While homicides have gone down from their peak in 2021, levels remained 24% higher than in the first half of 2019, the study noted.

Further analysis indicates that even if homicide rates were to fall back to pre-pandemic levels, the 2019 homicide rate was still 15% higher than in 2014, the lowest level recorded since World War II.

Gun assaults (+39%), aggravated assaults (+8%) and robberies (+2%) also remained higher in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2019.

Property crime trends were mixed, according to the study, as motor vehicle thefts (+104.3%) and nonresidential burglaries (+5.1%) were higher in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2019, while drug offenses (-38.7%), residential burglaries (-26%), and larcenies (-7%) were lower.

Inflation, a reduction in prosecuting certain crimes and a return to normalcy after the pandemic could all be contributing factors to the upswing seen in property crimes, the study researchers concluded.

Business Moves

Rock was co-founded in 2006 by Jon Lipton, CEO and president. The firm’s offerings include builders risk, contractors insurance and bonds, general and product liability, restaurant, directors and officers, and home and auto insurance.

Lipton is an insurance industry veteran with 25 years of experience. His experience includes having served as an expert witness in construction, hospitality, real estate and product liability cases.

In addition to its focus on construction and real estate, Castle Rock also has business nutraceuticals, life sciences and professional services.

National

Marsh McLennan Agency, Graham Co. Marsh McLennan Agency, a subsidiary of Marsh, acquired Graham Company, a risk management consultancy and independent insurance and employee benefits broker.

Founded in 1960, Graham Company specializes in providing business insurance, employee benefits, and surety brokerage services to companies in a range of high-risk industries, including construction, real estate, manufacturing and distribution, health and human services, and professional services. It ranked No. 40 in Insurance Journal’s 2022 Top Property/ Casualty Agencies list.

All 215 Graham employees, including Ken Ewell, president and chief operating officer, and Bill Graham, chairman, will join Marsh McLennan Agency and continue to work from the Graham’s offices in Philadelphia and New York City.

East World Insurance Associates, Young Insurance Agency Group

Insurance broker World Insurance Associates acquired the business of Young Insurance Agency Group Inc. of Portsmouth, Virginia.

Young Insurance, founded in 1973, offers business, personal and life and health insurance, as well as security services. William “Bill” Young is president. World Insurance Associates is headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey.

Brown & Brown, New England Excess Exchange

Florida-based global insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc. has agreed to acquire Vermont-based wholesale broker New England Excess Exchange (NEEE).

The acquisition will be through Bridge Specialty Group, the wholesale insurance division of Brown & Brown.

Established in 1981 in Vermont, NEEE is wholesale managing general agency serving commercial and personal lines retail brokers and their clients in 15 states throughout the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions, from Maine to North Carolina.

NEEE will continue to operate from headquarters in Barre, Vermont, under the operational leadership of co-owner Todd Wood, while co-owner Ralf “Goober” Schaarschmidt will serve as an advisor to NEEE and Bridge Specialty Group. His parents, Ralf and Mari Schaarschmidt, founded NEEE in Montpelier in 1981. Wood joined the firm in 2019.

Brown & Brown has more than 500 locations worldwide. Bridge Specialty Group’s specialty and wholesale brands include Big Sky Underwriters, Braishfield, Hull & Co., MacDuff Underwriters, Morstan, South & Western, and Summit Risk Services.

Risk Strategies, Castle Rock Capacity

National specialty insurance broker Risk Strategies has acquired Castle Rock Capacity, a property/casualty insurance broker with a specialty in the construction, real estate and development industries.

Headquartered in New York City, Castle

Boston-based Risk Strategies now has more than 30 specialty practices and 100 offices.

Midwest

ALKEME, Wiggins Farha Insurance Group ALKEME recently acquired a pair of Midwestern agencies.

ALKEME added the Wiggins Farha Insurance Group, a full-service insurance agency operating out of Wichita, Kansas. Wiggans Farha Insurance Group is an independent insurance agency serving the state of Kansas and the Midwest region as a subsidiary of Paul Kinan Insurance Group.

ALKEME also acquired The Milestone Company, a Cadiz, Ohio-based full-service insurance agency with additional offices in New Philadelphia and Steubenville, Ohio. Founded in 1946, the Milestone Agency is a fourth-generation, family-owned insurance agency that has been serving eastern Ohio with a wide variety of property and casualty insurance solutions to individuals, families and businesses.

ALKEME is based in Ladera Ranch, California and backed by GCP Capital Partners.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Hagan Insurance Group

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Hagan Insurance Group.

Hagan Insurance Group provides insurance member benefits and financial management to professional associations

and affinity groups. Brian Hagan, Michael Murphy and their team will remain in their current location under the direction of Kevin Garvin, head of Affinity North America for Gallagher’s retail P/C brokerage operations.

Arthur J. Gallagher is an insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

South Central

NR West, Foster Benefit Resources

NR West, the parent company of The Insurance Exchange, a Dallas-based general agency, acquired Foster Benefit Resources, a full-service general agency specializing in fully insured and self-funded employee benefits in North Texas.

Foster Benefits has a history of providing superior service to its clients through its dedicated team, a majority of whom have a tenure of 10-plus years. Moving forward, brokers can continue to expect the same industry-leading service and expertise, along with expanded resources and employer-benefit solutions.

Southeast

Hub International, Edbrooke/Stelcner and Associates

Global insurance broker Hub International Limited has acquired the assets of Edbrooke/Stelcner and Associates Inc. in Coral Gables, Florida.

Edbrooke/Stelcner is an employee benefits brokerage and consulting firm specializing in the aviation, hospitality and healthcare industries. Edbrooke/ Stelcner provides benefits, human resource consulting, retirement plans, and life insurance programs to large employer groups throughout the Southeast.

President and co-founder Lissette Fernandez and the Edbrooke/Stelcner team will join Hub South Florida. The brokerage will be referred to as Edbrooke/Stelcner and Associates, a Hub International company.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub has more than 16,000 employees in offices located throughout North America.

Tokio Marine HCC, Gulf Guaranty Employee Benefit Services

Tokio Marine HCC has agreed to acquire Gulf Guaranty Employee Benefit Services Inc., a Jackson, Mississippi-based third-party administrator and managing general underwriter that designs, underwrites and administers group gap medical plans for small and mid-sized businesses.

Gulf Guaranty’s group gap medical plan, called MedPlus, pays limited benefits for expenses otherwise covered by an employer’s primary medical plan, but not payable due to the deductible and co-insurance provisions of the primary plan.

Houston-based Tokio Marine HCC is a member of the Tokio Marine Group.

PointeNorth Insurance Group, Cooper Insurance & Associates

PointeNorth Insurance Group has acquired Cooper Insurance & Associates in McDonough, Georgia.

Cooper, founded in 1988, offers liability, physical damage, cargo, workers’ compensation and general liability insurance for the transportation industry across the South. Charles “Ed” Cooper, CEO, will continue to lead the agency and the firm will continue to operate under its name, but as part of PointeNorth.

PointeNorth, led by CEO Bill Skeeles, entered the transportation insurance business in 2015 with the acquisition of Caribou Insurance Agency. Since then, the firm has acquired four other agencies. The agency is headquartered in Atlanta.

West

Nexus Underwriting, Evolve Cyber Insurance Services

Nexus Underwriting completed its acquisition of Evolve Cyber Insurance Services in California.

Evolve is a cyber managing general agency. The company operates out of offices in California, New York and Texas, and has more than 3,000 broking partners nationally.

With its global headquarters in London, UK, Nexus Underwriting is an independent, specialty MGA with a focus on niche insurance classes of business. Nexus is a

wholly owned subsidiary of Kentro Capital Limited.

Evertree Insurance Services, Alliance Insurance Services, The Banks Agency Evertree Insurance Services LLC has acquired 1st American Insurance in Longmont, Colorado; Alliance Insurance Services in Arvada, Colorado; and The Banks Agency in Golden, Colorado.

Evertree has grown to more than 100 employees, acquiring seven independent agencies across the U.S., and has now established a Midwest, Mountain and Mid-Atlantic regional footprint. Evertree is a technology-enabled insurance brokerage specializing in personal lines.

1st American Insurance Agency provides risk management for a variety of personal and business insurance needs. Alliance Insurance Services was founded in 1992, and it also has locations throughout Metro Denver, as well as Northern Colorado. The Banks Agency is a boutique risk management consultancy and insurance brokerage firm servicing clients in multiple states.

ALKEME; Paul Kinan Insurance Group

ALKEME acquired the Paul Kinan Insurance Group in Placentia, California. Paul Kinan Insurance group provides a variety of property/casualty insurance services to individuals, families and businesses.

ALKEME, based in Ladera Ranch, is backed by GCP Capital Partners.

McDonald-Leavitt Insurance, Leavitt United Insurance Services

McDonald-Leavitt Insurance has merged into another Leavitt Group affiliate, Leavitt United Insurance Services.

This merger is intended to provide Kim and David McDonald — McDonald-Leavitt founders and co-owners — with broader market access, a dedicated claims department, loss control services, and a robust risk management platform. Leavitt United Insurance Services will bring resources to McDonald-Leavitt’s Santa Rosa office while its staff, contact information, and physical location will remain unchanged.

Leavitt Group is a privately held insurance brokerage.

People

National Miller, an independent specialist re/insurance broker, expanded its U.S. Casualty team, appointing Galen Brislane and Danielle Thorsteinson as account executives.

Brislane is based in Bermuda and Thorsteinson is based in Miller’s London office. Both report to Mark West, head of U.S. Casualty.

Brislane has more than 30 years’ experience working in London and Bermuda, focusing on large and complex casualty clients. He has broad experience across insurance, reinsurance, and captive management. Most recently, he worked as executive vice president, US Casualty, at Prices Forbes (Bermuda), he has also held senior producing roles at Aon and JLT.

Thorsteinson brings over 17 years of wholesale and retail casualty experience. Prior to joining Miller, she was a director in Price Forbes’ London Construction team. She has also held roles at Aon, RT Specialty and Worldwide Facilities Inc.

Embroker promoted Ben Jennings, the company’s chief revenue officer for the last four years, to chief executive officer.

Founding CEO Matt Miller stepped down at the end of January following a leave of absence for health reasons.

Jennings will continue overseeing ONE by Embroker, launched in January as a unique single destination that uses technology and AI to combine industry-specific product

suites based on a business’s individual risk profile and coverage needs.

Marsh appointed Pat Donnelly, president, Marsh Specialty and Global Placement. He is based in Chicago.

Donnelly has been president of Marsh’s U.S. business since the start of 2022. Prior to that, he was head of Marsh Specialty for Marsh U.S. and Canada since 2019 when JLT was acquired by Marsh.

Lucy Clarke, who also came over in the merger, had been president, Marsh Specialty and Global Placement.

In his new role, Donnelly will oversee Marsh Specialty’s global business, which includes the specialties of aviation, construction, credit specialties, energy and power, financial and professional lines (FINPRO), marine and cargo, and private equities, mergers and acquisitions (PEMA). His responsibilities also include Marsh’s global placement capabilities, with responsibility for all retail and international placement hubs, portfolio solutions and insurer consulting, climate and sustainability, captive solutions, and claims.

Michelle Sartain will move up to Donnelly’s prior role as president of Marsh US.

Sartain, previously head of Marsh Specialty for the U.S. and Canada, will oversee Marsh’s insurance brokerage

and risk advisory businesses across the country. Sartain is based in New York.

Axis hired Andy Shaw as its new specialty team leader for North American Programs.

Shaw joins Axis from Nationwide, where he most recently was vice president for property/casualty program, casualty and ocean marine.

With Axis in this newly created role, Shaw will help shape the overall direction of the company’s specialty programs portfolio business and establish underwriting, pricing, portfolio modeling standards and governance for its MGA and MGU partners, as well as manage program authority. He is based in Phoenix.

Victor appointed Ashleigh Cashman president of International Catastrophe Insurance Managers LLC (ICAT), its U.S. property catastrophe managing general agency.

Cashman joined ICAT in 2003 and was named chief underwriting officer in 2018. She took over the leadership of ICAT on an interim basis in December 2022. She will also remain in her role as chief underwriting officer of ICAT.

East AXA XL Insurance appointed Adele Smith as head of Mid-Market Generalist in the next phase of its targeted U.S. Mid-Market insurance business launch.

Based in New York, Smith will build the underwriting unit

providing multi-line property/ casualty insurance for midsized generalist business in the U.S.

Smith joins AXA XL from CNA where she managed a $500 million P&L for mid-market business out of New York. She has been in the mid-market business throughout her career with experience at both The Hartford and Crum & Foster.

Midwest

Ron Keller has been named senior lead underwriter, E&S Casualty, at Ascot Group U.S. Keller is based in Ascot’s Chicago office and is responsible for the central region. Keller has 25 years of experience on the brokerage side, most notably at One80 Intermediaries and recently in the brokerage casualty division at IFG Companies, aka Burlington Insurance Co. Ascot Group U.S. is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

DOXA Insurance Holdings, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, welcomed two new team members — Liz Coakley and Caitlin Murphy. Coakley and Murphy, senior-level underwriters with over 15 years of experience in the commercial excess and surplus (E&S) property insurance space, will lead DOXA’s property program facility.

Coakley will serve as president of the new organization. She previously served in several leadership positions at Lexington Insurance Co., most recently as senior regional manager. Before that, she served as regional vice president at XL Catlin.

Murphy will serve as underwriting director. She previously

Adele Smith

Ben Jennings

Pat Donnelly

Michelle Sartain

worked at Lexington Insurance Co., most recently as regional underwriting manager. Before that, she served as regional vice president at XL Catlin.

Pinnacle Actuarial Resources Inc., based in Bloomington, Illinois, hired Michael K. Chen as a senior consulting actuary.

Chen has 20 years of actuarial experience and is returning to Pinnacle. His previous roles include commercial pricing actuary for FBL Financial Group and actuarial analyst for American Republic Insurance Co.

Chen is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Atain Insurance Companies in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hired Barb Habel as vice president and head of excess casualty.

Habel is based in Phoenix, Arizona., and has more than 15 years of industry experience.

Before joining Atain, Habel was an executive underwriter at HDI Global Specialty and served for seven years at Core Specialty and Starstone. Before joining the carrier side, she worked for RT Specialty and CRC in Chicago.

South Central

Watkins Insurance Group, headquartered in Austin, Texas, hired H. Lee Loftis as director of sales and carrier relations.

Loftis has over 45 years of insurance industry experience, most recently serving as chief legislative officer for the

Independent Insurance Agents of Texas, advocating for independent agencies in the state legislature.

The Insurance Professionals of Greater New Orleans (TIPOGNO) installed the 2023-2024 Officers and Board of Directors at its 80th Annual Installation Dinner in June.

TIPOGNO elected Brittany Schule Orlando, general manager for First Onsite, in New Orleans, to serve as president. Orlando has been in the insurance industry since 2018, serving in the property restoration industry. A dedicated member of TIPOGNO, she has assisted in many aspects of the organization.

Other newly named leaders include President-Elect Casey Darden, Peachtree Special Risk Brokers; Vice President Stacey Campo, The Hartford Insurance Group; Secretary Tiffany Forest, Forest Insurance Facilities; Treasurer Heidi Thrash, Paulin & Associates; and Immediate Past President Katie Liljeberg, Dave Millet Insurance Agency.

Named to the board of directors are Debbie Lee, LAMMICO; Chad Harrington, Hull and Co.; and Shaunte LeGuin, Strategic Comp.

Southeast

The national insurance broker McGriff named Jimmy Conroy vice president and marketing account executive for its Birmingham-based energy practice.

Conroy joins McGriff with almost 10 years in insurance,

focused on renewable energy. Recently, he was vice president for a managing general underwriter in the clean tech space.

McGriff is a subsidiary of Truist Insurance Holdings.

The Latin American Association of Insurance Agents elected a new board of directors for the term that lasts through 2025.

At its 53rd annual convention held in Hollywood, Florida, the association named Juan Carlos Diaz-Padron, vice president at Miamibased GIC Underwriters, as national president. He succeeds Javier Naranjo, CEO of Everisk Insurance Programs.

Diaz-Padron joined GIC in 2009 and has more than a decade of experience in wholesale business operations, including program development, underwriting, strategic planning, and procedural oversight.

He previously served as president for the South Florida CPCU Society Chapter. He is the former chairman of the Insurance and Risk Management Advisory Board for the city of Coral Gables, Florida.

Other new board members include Vice President Al Mendez, Mendez Insurance; Treasurer Hector Trujillo, Arena Insurance Agency; Secretary Allison Kallman, Marshall & Sterling of Florida; Director David Hand, Pini

Insurance; Director Barry Sanders, Knight Insurance; Director Shelby Morena, Wright Flood; Director Rudy Valdes Diaz, Hull and Co.; Director Maria Fisk, International Insurance Center; and Director Jason Grodensky, Greenshield Risk Solutions.

The Latin American Association of Insurance Agencies was founded in 1969.

West SAIF, Oregon’s not-for-profit workers’ comp insurance company, headquartered in Salem, named Olivia Keefer as its new chief actuarial officer.

Keefer previously served as actuarial director. In her new role, she manages the reserves process, oversees ratemaking and the rate filing process, maintains the economic capital model and makes recommendations to the CFO, executive team and board on surplus levels.

Talage Inc., headquartered in Reno, Nevada, appointed Craig Fuher as its new CEO.

Fuher is also a founder at Affective Business Intelligence Corp.

Company co-founder Adam Kiefer will transition to the newly created founder and executive chairman role.

Kiefer co-founded Talage Inc. in 2015 and has been its CEO since its inception. He has also served as a cohort member at BrokerTech Ventures and Forum Ventures and as vice president, business banking relationship manager at Nevada State Bank.

Michael Chen

H. Lee Loftis

Jimmy Conroy

Olivia Keefer

Juan Carlos DiazPadron

Is Automation the Answer to Microbusiness Insurance Profitability?

By Allen Laman

Could self-service and digital quoting and binding be gamechangers for independent agents and brokers working in microbusiness lines?

Though they’re the smallest of small businesses, microbusinesses account for the largest portion of small businesses in the United States. They dominate small business insurance books. But they also represent the smallest amount of premium because the average policy premium is so low.

“Pushing close to 75% of all small businesses are below 20 employees,” said Jack Ramsey, vice president of the agency channel at Next Insurance. “And a high percentage of those are below 10 employees. That microbusiness space is the largest volume of customers that any agent has if they do

any small business selling.”

When it comes to account handling, he said the premium amount is irrelevant, and that it is just as difficult and cumbersome for traditional carriers to take care of accounts with $1,000 premiums as it is to take care of larger small business accounts that have $30,000 premiums. The same manual processes exist across that spectrum.

“And that’s where talking to agents about a digital-first model for that micro space is a gamechanger,” Ramsey said.

Microbusinesses require frequent proof of insurance in their operations, and agencies

have had to make decide: Do they hire dedicated employees at a “massive expense” to do what Ramsey described as “busywork,” or do they leverage expensive carrier service centers instead?

Even if they opt for the latter, Ramsey said traditional carriers have not been able to build the infrastructure for significant self-service capabilities. This is where Ramsey believes organizations like Next can step in and reshape the solution.

“Traditional carriers — and this was the world I came from — don’t have that ability,” Ramsey said. “The legacy systems are so difficult to

build and manage. It’s been hard for those carriers to build a true self-service or a true digital quoting and binding experience that matches the micro needs.”

Agents who work with Next receive personalized embedded links that enable customers to quote and bind their own insurance policies on behalf of the agent. This ensures the agent still owns the account. Agents can still be involved in manual servicing work, too, or they can tap the Next service center.

He did acknowledge the need for “a manual, human

‘That microbusiness space is the largest volume of customers that any agent has if they do any small business selling.’

intervention role in larger” small business accounts. There’s a certain threshold at which public data isn’t as easily accessible and an individual must insert themselves, ask questions and further evaluate underwriter risk, he said.

But for accounts below a certain size and certain threshold, with a company that has access to reliable in-house and third-party data, “you should be able to create a digital experience for a certain box of micro,” Ramsey said. “And make it seamless.”

Ramsey brought more than three decades of insurance industry experience when he began his current role at Next in April. He believes the agency channel’s largest pain point

is controlling and managing a large amount of microbusiness. His goals are to show agents how to take care of the different categories of small businesses in different ways and grow relationships.

“You have a discussion around small business, and oftentimes, the first reaction is, ‘We have enough small business carriers. We don’t need another small business carrier. In fact, we have too many,’” Ramsey said.

“But then helping them understand the difference between small business and micro, and confirming the pain point that I already know they have, which is to take care of that micro space. And what if I could provide a solution

for you that is 100% digital, saves you from having to leverage service centers from across dozens of carriers at an expense, and allows you to service it the way you want? Would that be helpful? And the answer is always ‘yes.’”

Ramsey’s big message is that solutions exist that can help agents and brokers with “the part of their agency that is the most (transactional), busiest, low revenue part.” Next can help them, he said, create a revenue stream in the microsmall business sector.

Next Insurance recently announced its integration with Ivans Download for general liability and workers’ compensation policies.

According to a press

release, this feature offers a seamless exchange of policy data between Next and its appointed agents. With this integration, any time a policy change occurs, Next will send the associated data, including customer information, limits, coverages, new policy sales, cancellations, reinstatements, premium changes, etc., directly to the agents’ Ivans Exchange account.

Agents using agency management systems that offer real-time delivery of download data can now receive hourly updates. Once configured in their agency management system, accounts will be automatically updated, eliminating any manual data input or processing of bound policies.

Closer Look: Nonprofits Nonprofits and Risk Management

tion secure. People will begin to wonder if they can join using the online portal or if their information is secure on their member page. Volunteers might be concerned that their contact information could be compromised. All of these ideas could keep members, donors, and volunteers from continuing to join, donate, or volunteer.

They made a bad employment decision. It’s not likely that there will be any reputational harm done if they hire a facilities maintenance manager that doesn’t do a good job keeping the buildings in good condition. But if they hire an accounting team member who steals $500,000 over a three-year period, that’s newsworthy and will result in reputational damage.

By Patrick Wraight

When you ask the internet what a nonprofit organization is, you get several answers. Many of those answers have to do with setting up a nonprofit and obtaining a tax-exempt status. More than being a form of business that is not required to pay taxes, nonprofit organizations have two unique challenges that many for-profit businesses don’t have to deal with.

Many nonprofits have paid staff, including their back office, an executive director, or even an executive leadership team. In addition to their employees, many nonprofits have a volunteer workforce that gets involved in every level of work within the organization, including volunteer boards of directors. Other

businesses have customers who purchase products, and many nonprofits also sell products, but they are not generally the primary driver of revenues. Nonprofits are often funded by the donations and memberships purchased by those who support the mission of the nonprofit organization.

The risks faced by nonprofit organizations are very similar to those faced by other businesses. They can face supply chain risks. They deal with talent issues. They have revenue troubles. Another risk that nonprofits face at least as much as other businesses is reputational risk. In some ways, the downside of reputational risk is greater for nonprofits than for other businesses.

What Is Reputational Risk?

Reputational risk is the

risk that the reputation of a business is damaged in the marketplace due to the actions of the business. What are the primary ways a reputational risk can manifest for a nonprofit?

They got hacked. Let’s face it. Many businesses do not have the appropriate cybersecurity in place because they think it’ll never happen to them. Nonprofit organizations are no different. They may think that their data isn’t useful to anyone. Except for their client list, giving lists, contact information for executives, and plans for their future. Any nonprofit with any kind of internet presence is subject to the potential of being hacked.

The reputational damage here comes in as the public loses faith in the organization’s ability to keep their informa-

The bigger the nonprofit, the more open they will be to criticism related to the hiring and firing of executives within the organization. Another similarity that nonprofits can have to other businesses is that executives can be expensive to hire and getting that wrong can result in reputational damage. I’ve seen where organizations have hired executives from outside of their affinity group.

In that case, everything worked out fine, but the organization had to deal with pushback within from the membership and suffered a degree of reputational damage.

Someone did something. Nonprofit organizations are not immune to the poor decisions of people, especially the poor decisions of leadership. People in every business make bad decisions. The president of a

Fortune 100 company decides to invest heavily in a tech startup because it could be bigger than Google. Six months later, the CEO of the startup is being walked out of the company headquarters in handcuffs for lying about the product the company was working on. This could affect the reputations of both companies.

If you’re talking about a nonprofit organization, the effect on the company’s reputation can be even more severe.

Certainly, a nonprofit can make poor investment decisions, but they are often barred from certain investments.

What if the president of the nonprofit gets up at a convention and makes a speech that causes the organization to go in a different direction related to their leadership? What if they do it quietly until someone makes it public? That’s a big reputational hit.

So what can be done once the reputational damage is done?

Communicate Internally

The people within the organization will know what happened. At least, they’ll know what they heard happened. The organization must begin to immediately tell the

whole team what happened.

Tell every detail. What happened? Who was involved? How did the organization come to the decision that they made? What’s going to happen next?

If the organization does not communicate these things to their internal staff, members, volunteers, donors, and anyone else connected with it, all of these concerned parties, will take what details they know, mix them with the rumors on social media, fill in the blanks with their own imagination, and tell everyone what they “know.”

Getting in front of whatever the issue is will be the best way to stop the rumor mill and keep some of the members and volunteers from quitting.

Communicate Publicly

Bad news never goes away. It only gets worse the longer it sits waiting for someone to tell it. If the event is not immediately communicated publicly, the public will assume that the organization didn’t want to say anything because it was hiding something — which it was hiding. Organizations don’t talk about things that they don’t want other people to talk about. The problem with not talking about a bad event is that it’s the only thing that the public will talk about.

If it was ever a good idea to hide a bad thing from the public eye, that time has come and gone. The world of 24/7 news and social media is a recipe to get an organization’s continued on page 22

‘The reputational damage here comes in as the public loses faith in the organization’s ability to keep their information secure.’

Closer Look: Nonprofits

continued from page 21

bad news in front of as many eyes as possible and if someone else is releasing the bad news, they are going to put their bent on the story. They will control how the story comes out, what details are included, and what the headline looks like.

No nonprofit organization can keep bad news from getting out, but they can control how it comes out and what is communicated — if they take the opportunity to do it.

Communicate Honestly

This simple truth that what we learned back in kindergarten still applies. Tell the truth. Tell the whole truth. Don’t embellish. Don’t hide details. There is no need-to-know list.

Even if the organization tries to get in front of the bad event and tries to tell the team and the public what happened, if they do not tell the truth, they are still going to look like

they are hiding something. In the end, it all means the same thing, rather than controlling the reputational damage, the organization inflicts additional reputational damage.

No one wants to tell the whole story about how they messed up, but people have a massive capacity to forgive and understand when someone simply says that they did something, or they were responsible for something, and they recognize that it was a bad decision. Every impulse from corporate counsel to personal egos will be to give some limited bit of information that doesn’t really say anything but all that does is delay the inevitable because once one detail of a bad decision comes out, more will follow. It’s better to tell the truth up front.

Communicate Continually

It seems like you should be able to tell the story once and

let it be, but the problem is that it doesn’t actually work that way. The organization will need to keep telling their story again and again. This is especially true as details come out, or as the results of the bad event become clearer.

It is much better to come out early with whatever information is available at that time and then when more information is available, put that out as well. There is a sheriff that is well known for having press conferences whenever there is an arrest in the county. He is known to say that he will give out all the information that he has immediately and that you should expect more information to come out over several days as the department finds out more about the case.

How Can the Organization Recover?

Any organization that suffers a reputational loss should

consider carefully how they intend to mitigate the damage and recover from it. Mitigation is one thing. It’s limiting the scope of the immediate damage. Recovery is another thing altogether. Recovery is about restoring the reputation that was damaged.

The best way to recover is similar to the way this damage is mitigated. It’s about making informed changes so that the event that caused the reputational damage doesn’t happen again. Then, communicate with every stakeholder what is being done.

Repairing reputational damage is similar to repairing a relationship where trust was broken. It’s all about doing better, and being open and honest with each other.

Wraight, CIC, CRM, AU, is director of Insurance Journal’s Academy of Insurance. Website: www.ijacademy.com

Email: pwraight@ijacademy.com.

Risks & Opportunities in Emerging Cannabis Products

By Allen Laman

New cannabis products like gummies, drinks and new consumables bring the promise of exponential growth and the normalization of public consumption, promising to significantly reshape the business landscape for insuring cannabis specialists.

Four industry experts recently gathered for an Insurance Journal panel discussion that centered on emerging markets and the state of insuring cannabis and hemp businesses. Though the participants had unique perspectives, they seemed to agree: Brokers must be wary of vendors’ transparency and product testing – as well as the regulations that apply to these emerging goods.

Edibles

A common theme throughout the panelists’ conversations was the need for reliable quality and consistency in the creation and sales of edible products. In a nutshell: Potential negative social impacts present risks and opportunities.

“It’s a double-edged sword in my opinion,” said Alex Buschmann, cannabis practice leader at Risk Strategies Company. “Because it’s a ridiculously booming segment in the cannabis industry that’s not going to go anywhere. But being able to put those protocols in place is something that everyone’s going to have to figure out pretty quick.”

Charles Pyfrom, chief marketing officer at CannGen Insurance Services, highlighted the importance of advising cli-

ents to be mindful of packaging and imagery. Fellow panelist Erich Schutz, vice president and cannabis practice leader at Jencap Specialty Insurance Services, expanded on that point, saying having products that look like kids’ products is a “huge issue.”

“And that is most prevalent in the hemp space,” he added. “You see it in the cannabis space, but it’s really the illicit cannabis. Because it’s not lawful.”

Hemp-derived Delta 9 gummies are a “hot button,” Schutz explained. This stems from the lack of regulation and controls in the hemp space, yielding what is essentially a self-policed market that creates variability.

“Variability concerns underwriters,” Schutz said, “and that translates to a limited marketplace for those types of products.”

Drinks

The global market size for cannabinoid-infused beverages is poised to grow exponentially in the coming years. Buschmann believes these drinks will take up a big space in the cannabis world because they appeal to consumers who may not be comfortable smoking a joint or want an alternative to alcohol.

“Maybe having a 10-milligram THC-infused seltzer water is something that’s more up your alley,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s more social.”

It’s also a scientifically different high. Schutz explained that gummies and other edibles enter the bloodstream through the liver, while drinks absorb immediately after hitting

the tongue and esophagus. This creates a different user experience.

“And that’s why you see a lot of the low-dose products that are coming out in lounges and that are going to be more prevalent as cannabis consumption in public spaces becomes normalized and more prevalent,” Schutz said. He has been seeing beer brewers carve out sections in bottling facilities to create secured cannabis operations.

Other Opportunities and Risks

The creativity that abounds in the cannabis and hemp spaces opens the doors to new markets.

“I think there’s a different product for everybody,” Buschmann said, “and what they’re feeling and what they’re comfortable with. So, the more the merrier when it comes to these products that are actually following the rules and doing it the right way.”

While much attention was given throughout the webinar to the current risks associated with hemp, Schutz highlighted how the legal hemp sphere’s lack of regulation allows

Go Deeper

innovators to do “a lot of things that you can’t do in the regulated cannabis space.” This idea incubation could trickle into cannabis. “I think that space is where we’re going to see different novel products,” he continued.

“Inhalers, vaporizers – different routes of administration.”

White the U.S. Farm Bill federally legalized hemp in 2018, from an underwriting perspective, the hemp insurance marketplace is limited. In the beginning, Schutz said underwriting forms were either “overly broad or overly restrictive.” One example he shared was a market that tried to intentionally write Delta 8 products. Delta 8 vaporizers were included in the business description at the top of the quote – but the forms included a THC exclusion that contradicted the description. “On the other side, there were just no forms, and people lost their shirt in the early days,” Schutz said. “And that’s why some of the big domestic carriers that were around 10 years ago haven’t dabbled in it since.” Schutz’ advice to brokers: Read the forms. Find a knowledgeable partner. Build a team of trusted advisors.

The full webinar includes conversations on state regulations, hemp and cannabis account anecdotes and how speakers believe cannabis lounges could reshape social gatherings. The recording can be accessed at: https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/22422/.

Closer Look: Private Client

Private Clients Need More Than the Standard Coverage From Baseball Cards, Sneakers, Jewelry, Cyber and More

By Jahna Jacobson

When it comes to helping high net worth (HNW) clients get optimal coverage, there’s more to it than just adding a couple of zeroes to premiums and payouts.

HNW clients have different interests and concerns that require customized insurance programs. Whether it’s real estate, cyber threats, or protecting the collections that fire their passions, insurers and their agent partners must take extra care to assess needs, account for unusual risks and creatively cover the gaps.

Collectibles

One of the best benefits of wealth is indulging in the things that spark joy, whether it’s fine art, vintage cars, jew-

elry, or collectibles that harken back to childhood, like baseball cards or comic books.

Whether a collection is sentimental or purely a financial investment, collectors want to know that their collectibles are protected, said Hayden Kopser in his recent Academy of Insurance course, The Art of Insuring Collections.

“To me, there’s really nothing more exciting and interesting in insurance than insuring people’s collections,” he said. “They’re passion assets.”

Kopser is president of North Improvement LLC, a boutique property/casualty brokerage catering primarily to the complex needs of HNW clients. Kopser uses his mobile app development background to help protect clients’ assets and reputations from modern

risks, like cyberattacks and online fraud. Before founding his firm, Hayden was a senior underwriter with AIG’s private client group.

A collection can be any number of items that a person is passionate about or holds value as individual items or as a group, Kopser said. Everything from fine art and antiques to jewelry to model trains. Even bottle caps and sneakers can hold monetary, historical and sentimental value that needs to be insured, he said.

“It’s as many items, or as few items as makes sense, and in total value, you could go up to billions,” he said. “I’ve seen billion-dollar collections, and you could go down to a few thousand bucks,” he said. “You can insure things like wine. You can insure things like cameras, as long as it’s an

individual, not for business use. And some of these are not going to be sublimited,” Kopser said. “They may fully be covered by a homeowner contract, but unlike with some art or some collections policies, they’d be subject to a deductible. They might have restrictions on certain loss types.”

Collectible coverage needs can quickly become complex and specialized and depend on location, the items themselves, the age and scope of the collection and the dollar amount assigned by an appraiser. While some items will have limited coverage under other policies, such as homeowners, people want more protection when it comes to insuring more extensive and expensive collections. When shopping for coverage, a new appraisal is the best

way to gauge insurance needs accurately, according to Kosper.

Carriers may have reputable appraisers they recommend or even in-house appraisers. However, Kopser cautions that an appraiser must be a disinterested third party.

If it has been a while since the collection was appraised, providing blanket coverage can be a stop-gap measure until the collection can be appraised, he said.

“Blanket coverage basically says here’s the maximum limit for a class in the collection, maybe jewelry, fine art, silverware, and here’s the maximum single item limit,” Kopser said.

While the base value of the items can be established through expert opinion, comparative items and market value, a lot of other factors can come into play when it comes to how much coverage a collector needs and wants, he said. Coverage can be customized for appreciation, location, provenance, diminution and while in transit.

Geographical areas at greater risk for catastrophes like hurricanes and wildfires will have higher premiums for collectibles. For example, “Simply moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn can triple the premium for the same coverage because there is a greater risk

of theft and loss,” Kopser said. Other things to consider when insuring valuable items might include their past owners. For example, a vintage watch could be insured for one amount, but if that vintage watch used to belong to Paul Newman, and the insured has the paperwork to prove that ownership, then the item could have an extra, intangible value attached that could also be covered.

“It [insuring collectibles] requires a lot of knowledge, but it also affords much more flexibility in the way you can set up a client’s coverage than with, say, home or auto insurance,” Kopser said. “You’re playing a part in protecting history so it’s really exciting.”

Personal Cybercrime Risks

HNW individuals and families are also at greater risk from cyberattacks, Kopser said in his Academy of Insurance course, Modern Trends in High Net Worth Cyber Insurance.

First, HNW families are more likely to have homes with more IoT-connected devices and more people with access to those devices, networks and passwords, including children and staff members.

“You have so many different access points for which someone can get into your private

https://www.ijacademy.com/

information and can take over your technology,” Kopser said. More people and more access mean more opportunities for bad internet hygiene, such as posting revealing information online or clicking links that invite malware into the system.

popularity involves criminals observing high-dollar transactions by hacking emails and other communications. In such scenarios the criminals often pose as an institution or organization such as a real estate company or car dealership to request a fraudulent transfer of funds, Kopser said.

or https://www.ijacademy.com/

High net worth individuals are also generally higher profile people, so it is easier to find information about them, their households, lifestyle and habits online, making them more vulnerable to cyber and “real world” crimes, such as burglary. Higher profile people may also be targeted by ransomware attacks that hold information hostage until a ransom is paid, typically in a cyber currency such as Bitcoin.

One scam that is gaining

“There has been fine art [crime] events that have gone well into the billions,” he said. “And by the time the money is sent, and you realize that the item you’re trying to purchase is not being delivered to you because the person who was supposed to deliver it never really received payment, the money’s out somewhere in Eastern Asia. By the time that happens, it’s too late.”

The HNW clientele also worries about protecting their reputation, Koper added.

When a cyberattack exposes personal information, such as text messages, emails or other confidential materials, “it can cause extreme damage to their reputation and lead to things like losing jobs, or at the very least, damaging their career for the long term,” he said.

continued on page 26

‘Everything from fine art and antiques to jewelry to model trains. Even bottle caps and sneakers can hold monetary, historical and sentimental value that needs to be insured.’

To view Hayden Kopser’s Academy of Insurance courses, visit

modern-trends-in-high-net-worthcyber-insurance

insurance-for-collectors.

Closer Look: Private Client

And there can be additional public relations expense to manage reputational crisis.

continued from page 25 massive issue because there are maybe hundreds of thousands of policies with ransomware coverage, both personal and commercial policy.

The FBI and state governments have begun to advise insurance carriers and individuals do not pay ransoms for these cyber threats, Kopser said, which will create a

Even though personal cyber risk is not as high as commercial cyber risk, more carriers are beginning to cater to the cyber coverage needs of high net worth clients. While many financial institutions and businesses have coverage for losses due to fraud, personal cyber coverage can help cover the gaps and mitigate the damage if an individual is impacted by a commercial cyber incident. “And if you don’t have cyber coverage in place and the company that got spoofed doesn’t have cyber coverage in place, you’re probably out of luck unless you want to sue them,” Kopser said.

HNW Clients Need Expertise

The HNW client market

can significantly benefit from agents and brokers, said Ana Robic, division president of personal risk services at Chubb, in an interview with Insurance Journal.

“The advice and counsel, really, of an independent agent, to ensure that a high net worth individual and family has the coverages that they need to protect their uniquely valuable possessions” is critical, she said. “It’s a spot in the marketplace that really requires that intermediary.”

For example, high value home insurance designed for HNW individuals can offer guaranteed replacement costs, non-depreciated cash settlement options, deductible waivers, broad liability coverage and flexible coverage limits, Robic said. “Where brokers and agents can work with the high net worth carriers to demonstrate the value

that certain targeted insurance products have to those that are being underserved by standard markets.”

Lacey Garrison Strom, executive vice president and director of private client practice at Heffernan Insurance Brokers in California, said the current high net worth marketplace will better tailor programs beneficial to the carrier and the client.

“Relationship building is the most important factor here,” she said in an Insurance Journal interview. “The better the relationship a broker has with their underwriters, the more pre-underwriting a broker does on their own, and a broker that is brutally transparent will receive terms more consistently and faster than their competitors.”

Insurance Journal’s Allen Laman contributed to this report.

High net worth individuals are also generally higher profile people, so it is easier to find information about them, their households, lifestyle, and habits online, making them more vulnerable to cyber and ‘real world’ crimes, such as burglary.

News & Markets

Washington Dollar Tree Store Fined for Worker Safety Violations

Dollar Tree in Washington faces $132,000 in fines for reported work safety violations including locked emergency exit routes, improper stacking of boxes, and scattered debris.

The fine is in connection with violations at the Tacoma Central Plaza store at 3208 South 23rd St. A Washington Department of Labor & Industries inspection reportedly identified three repeat willful violations, issued when a

business repeatedly puts employees at risk when they knew or should have known relevant safety requirements.

L&I cited Dollar Tree for the same hazards for three months earlier.

Inspectors reportedly found boxes in top heavy stacks more than 6 feet high, creating a collapse danger, and they found debris on the floor in the storeroom and in aisles where customers walk.

According to L&I, the agency has inspected Washington Dollar Tree stores more than 30 times in the past four years, resulting in more than $1

million in fines. L&I inspectors found that too much inventory and not enough storage space at the stores often leads to high stacks of boxes and other safety issues. Inspectors also reported often seeing boxes blocking exits.

The company is part of L&I’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which means its stores are subject to inspections at any time. Dollar Tree has appealed the citation. Penalty money paid from a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping injured workers and families of those who have died on the job.

California Firm to Pay $1M for Selling Devices to Thwart Truck Smog Controls

ACalifornia company will pay $1 million for violating federal environmental laws by making and selling devices that defeated smog controls on diesel trucks, prosecutors announced.

Sinister Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Roseville, doing business as Sinister Diesel, pleaded guilty in early August to conspiracy and to violating the Clean Air Act by tampering with the monitoring device of an emissions control system of a diesel truck, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney`s office.

Prosecutors said that for nearly a decade, Sinister sold products referred to as “delete devices” or “defeat devices” that were designed to bypass diesel truck emissions controls, along with software that could alter a truck`s on- board computer so that it appeared to run normally.

The company “also counseled customers on how to evade state emissions tests,” the U.S. attorney`s office statement said.

Such devices, which have been sold by several companies, are promoted as increasing horsepower. Some diesel truckers have used them to intentionally spew big black clouds of diesel exhaust, which is known as “rolling coal,” environmental groups have said.

While Sinister marketed the devices as being geared for racing and off-road driving, the company knew most were used on public roads and at times a quarter

of its gross revenue came from “delete” products, prosecutors said.

“EPA testing has shown that a vehicle altered with these parts can emit more than 100 times the amount of certain harmful air pollutants, compared to a vehicle with an intact emissions control system,” said Larry Starfield of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

An EPA report in 2020 found that more than 500,000 diesel pickup trucks in the country had been illegally deleted, the U.S. attorney`s office statement said.

Diesel emissions can contribute to respiratory ailments such as asthma and lung

cancer, and one study attributed 21,000 deaths a year to diesel particulate matter, according to the statement.

“Environmental laws that control diesel pollution are especially important to protect sensitive populations such as the young, the elderly and people who suffer from respiratory conditions,” said Phillip A. Talbert, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California.

Sinister agreed to pay a $500,000 criminal fine and another $500,000 to settle a federal civil case. The company agreed it wouldn't make, sell or offer to sell delete products.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

My New Markets

Commercial Marine Risks

Market Detail: Charter Lakes Marine Insurance Agency offers specialty programs for a variety of commercial marine risks. Experienced account executives understand the marine insurance marketplace and have a wide array of quality markets (rated A or better by A.M. Best) to provide you with the best solution to your clients’ marine insurance needs. They have specialty programs for the following marine risks: airboats, small commercial fishing boats, fishing guides, sport charter boats, sightseeing and eco tours, dive and snorkel boats, sailing charters, water taxis, excursion and dinner cruise boats, paddle wheelers, sailing schools, jet ski and boat rental fleets, passenger boats, and small cargo vessels.

Available Limits: Not disclosed.

Carrier: Rated A or better by AM Best.

States: Available in 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Contact: David Graham; David_Graham@ ajg.com; 616-975-0657.

Inland Marine Programs

Market Detail: Travelers Inland Programs offers customized programs for inland marine risks. We know that understanding the market and providing appropriate services is key to the success of a program. Our program unit works with various industry groups, professional associations, and hobbyist or buying groups. We have extensive experience providing tailored inland programs for a wide range of industries. Our dedicated fine art presence has recognition as a market of choice offering extraordinary capacity and expertise for fine art dealers and collectors in a variety of cultural and historical areas.

Available Limits: Not disclosed.

Carrier: Travelers; admitted; rated A+ by AM Best.

States: Available in 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Contact: Lauren Cutro Berry; lcberry@ travelers.com; 800-238-6225.

Commercial Output Program

Market Detail: Gridiron Insurance

Underwriters offers a commercial output program. Target occupancies are offices,

light retail, and warehouses. Focus is on risks that are JM or better, and 1980 and newer. Risks seeking wind coverage must be five miles or more from the coast. Model driven approach to pricing. Broad coverage form with lots of enhancements. $3.5 million maximum premium; $750,000 minimum premium; has pen; appointment required.

Available Limits: Up to $3 million in capacity.

Carrier: Allianz Global & Corporate Specialty; admitted.

States: Available in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington.

Contact: David DeMott; ddemott@ gridironins.com; 954-473-3653.

Zoos & Aquariums

Market Detail: A program specifically tailored for zoos and aquariums is available through American Specialty Insurance & Risk Service Inc. Types of coverage available include general liability (volunteers as additional insureds, sexual abuse/ molestation), excess/umbrella, liquor liability, commercial auto, and property. Various deductible/SIR options are available. American Specialty is broker-friendly, requiring no volume commitment and paying competitive commission levels.

Available Limits: Not disclosed.

Carrier: Admitted; non-admitted; rated A+ by AM Best.

States: Available in 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Contact: Jordan Dawes; jdawes@americanspecialty.com; 260-969-5431.

Restaurants, Bars & Taverns, Dining

Market Detail: From single, independently owned locations to corporate-chained establishments, Granada Indemnity Co. offers specialized insurance coverages including commercial package policy (CPP), property, general liability, liquor liability (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut only) and spoilage for a variety of restaurant risks: bars and taverns, dine in, take out, family style, cafes, sushi/hibachi, food

trucks, bakeries, delis, pizzerias, fast food and off-premises catering, and more. New ventures and 24-hour exposures acceptable. Marketed through independent brokers; direct appointments available; has pen.

Available Limits: Not disclosed.

Carrier: Granada Indemnity Co.; admitted; rated A- by AM Best.

States: Available in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania.

Contact: Tim Cotugno; producer@lancerinsurance.com; 516-431-9191 x 3236.

Parcel Delivery – Workers’

Compensation

Market Detail: Omaha National provides tailor-made workers’ compensation solutions designed to meet the needs of each parcel delivery client. We do everything in-house and offer three payment options, which include 12 monthly installments, monthly self-reporting, or pay in real-time with one of our three payroll programs. We are open to high mods and entertain labor intensive risks. Open brokerage with no volume requirements and competitive commissions; appointment required. Submissions requirements: fully completed Acord 130; three to five years of carrier produced loss runs valued within 100 days; current experience modification worksheet — if applicable; any supplemental application.

Available Limits: Not disclosed.

Carrier: PPIC, Palomar, Omaha National Insurance; admitted; rated A- (Excellent) VII by AM Best.

States: Available in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina.

Contact: Marketing rep; sales@omahanational.com; 844-761-8400

This section brought to you by Insurance Journal's sister website:

www.mynewmarkets.com

Special Report: Sales & Marketing

1. Network with Your Competition. They will often have no appetite for certain lines of business that you wish to target.

2. Hard Market. Today’s insurance market is one of the hardest markets many have ever encountered, even if they’ve spent decades in the insurance industry. Now is the time to reach out to your customers, review property values, and develop a plan for re-marketing those accounts with significant rate increases/non-renewal or other factors that demand a new look. — Nancy Germond, Independent Agents

& Brokers Association

3. Be Product Wise. Know the product you are selling. Good and bad points. Be the expert that can explain how the product can help your client. — Richard Petry, Retired Insurance Exectutive

4. Customer Appreciation with a Personal Touch. Take the time to personally thank your clients for their business and confidence. Request an in-person meeting to learn about their business and meet the owner. This small act could serve as a catalyst toward securing new business and help to retain existing business for years to come. — Tony Caldwell, One Agents Alliance

5. Be a Safety Advocate. Become a safety advocate in your community, testifying and writing in support of traffic, fire, playground, bicycle, etc., safety measures and awareness.

6. Ask and Receive. Anything you can tell, you can ask. Engage the audience with questions. — Gina Butchin, Nautilus Insurance

7. Consider Your Audience. No matter how relevant, informative or even eye-catching your campaign is, if it doesn’t resonate with your audience, it’s

immaterial. — Katherine Blaine, QBE North America

8. Consider AI. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage right now but might seem less relevant to the independent agent in terms of day-to-day activities. That’s not true. There are a number of ways agents can use AI and the simplest is likely this: Use AI to help generate content, both copy/words and images. It is necessary to proof and verify AI generated material, but once you get the hang of it, AI will help the average agent to be far more prolific at posting content than they previously were. Try it — you can’t break it. — Doug Coombs, SIAA

9. Be Accessible.  Make your website accessible and easy for customers with disabilities.

10. Be Mission Centric. The rising generation of talent is mission driven, socially conscious and cares deeply about the impact they’re making on everything around them — and they want to know that their employer values these things, too. Having a values focused culture will give you an edge in standing out when you hire the next generation of young talent. — Grace Grant, Gamma Iota Sigma.

11. Say No to Meetings. Your time is precious and cannot be returned to you. Know when a meeting should

be an email. Choose your meetings wisely and use the time returned to you to build and nurture client and team relationships. — Tony Caldwell, One Agents Alliance

12. Recognize Safe Workplaces. Identify customers with superior workplace safety records and create publicity for them around that.

13. Be Proactive in Your Communications. Today’s market is a tough one, but effective communications with existing clients in particular will help mitigate client churn. People tend to be less reactionary when they understand what’s going on. Blogs, newsletters, short videos, can all help communicate to your clients (and yes, prospects) what is happening in the market and how it will impact them. In the long-term, they will appreciate the up-front, proactive nature of your communications, rather than unleashing surprises on them at renewal. — Doug Coombs, SIAA

14. Give Thanks. Send out thank you cards to clients, well before their renewal date. For long-time clients, give them a call and thank them for their business.

15. Sponsor Car Washes. Let local kids use your parking lot for car washes to raise money.

16. Maintain an Innovative Mindset. Policyholders want agents who present continued on page 30

Special Report: Sales & Marketing

continued from page 29

them with the best options available for their insurance needs. Agents and brokers who maintain an innovative mindset will look to partner with MGAs and carriers that freshen their tech to meet customer needs and target pain points in the insurance distribution process. By working with MGAs and carriers with sophisticated underwriting and distribution capabilities, you can provide quotes quickly and rest assured you are securing optimal coverage options for your clients. —

Katy Murray, INSTANDA

17. Target Relevance and Customer Needs. Sell only the products that are relevant and customer need based, not pushing a product for profits. Concentrate on after sales services, available on as needed basis. — Unnikrishnan Nair P, UK Nair & Associates

18. Work with a Specialist. Agents and brokers can find enormous value in specialty insurers for policyholders who are navigating inflation, supply chain shortages, rising interest rates and more. A specialty carrier that knows the insured’s niche, including the leading and emerging risks, and best practices, will be able to supplement a broker’s expertise, boosting the broker’s value in the eyes of the insured, while ensuring superior service and coverage. Working with a specialty carrier can offer valuable risk mitigation insight for agents and brokers looking to protect their insureds from the variety of risks threatening business today. — John Smith, Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co. (PLM)

19. Get Involved. We all know that today’s talent and potential clients are looking to partner with socially conscious businesses. Make philanthropy and charitable giving a core part of your company’s mission. Find new ways to give back and support your community, whether through the local chamber

of commerce, reaching out to local nonprofits and schools, asking staff about their passions, or partnering with a larger resource such as the IICF’s Global Membership Program, which offers agents and brokers easy access to a number of philanthropic resources in addition to networking opportunities.

— Bill Ross, Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)

20. Choose Partners with the Right Tech. Customers want seamless, frictionless transactions. MGAs, carriers and agents do too. Consider tech-enabled insurance partners who can simplify and speed up all aspects of the insurance process, allowing you to deliver superior products and service to your policyholders in a timely fashion. — Tim

Hardcastle, INSTANDA

22. Be Note Ready. Keep a pen and notepad by your bathroom sink. It always amazes me how often I remember an important task while brushing my teeth. — Greg

Rueter, R&R Insurance Advisors

23. Get a Mascot. Create a mascot for your agency. It could be a real pet or made-up cartoon. Hold a contest to name it. Use it in your advertising and marketing.

24. Sell More Professional Lines and Management Lines Business. Spend less of your valuable time trying to save the day from carrier non-renewals

and market unavailability in more traditional lines of business. My advice? Offer your business owners something cool like E&O, D&O, Cyber, or EPL coverage. You’ll make more sales, separate yourself from the rest, and keep your sanity! —

Juan Adame, Apogee Insurance Group

25. Think About Your Brand. Always be thinking about your agency brand and how you are projecting it to your clients and prospects. Think of it as your business personality — are people drawn to it, does it project a positive image, and have you built it intentionally? Consider how you can improve your image and how the community perceives you. Start with a mission statement, a few core values, and a value proposition. You’ll be surprised how easily the rest of it comes together. — Doug Coombs, SIAA

26. Don’t Accept NO. Anticipate any objections that customers might have to your pitch. Prepare compelling responses that highlight the value of your proposition. — Kristen Nevins, Direct Connection Advertising & Marketing

27. Stay Social. Stay engaged with your network and main-

tain relationships. Every connection is a potential opportunity. With the growing world of social media, your network is now continuously at your fingertips. Take advantage of such availability to share your wins and market your business. —

Sarah Thomas, Jones Jones LLC

28. Meet Customers Where They’re At. It’s an old adage, but it’s easier said than done. 27% of people abandon purchases because the experience was too long or complicated, and yet so many insurance products require the policyholder to answer long lists of questions or wait for the agent to discuss with an underwriter before providing an indicative price. Digital, frictionless business is a must-have in the modern world to meet customers where they’re at. Revise your quoting and application journey to ensure you have a digital plan is a must. —

Naish Berran, INSTANDA

29. Be an Expert in Your Field. Leverage your experience and expertise to reach your audience where they are and provide effective insights and advice to help potential clients overcome everyday challenges. Sharing your expertise will showcase how you can be a useful asset to potential customers and continue to help existing clients find success.

— Jestin Davis, DOXA Insurance Holdings

30. Put the Customer First. Ensure the customer is always the main focus, and provide a human touch. It’s easy to hide behind electronics and forget

that there is another human being on the other end of your communication. Take a minute to pick up a phone and share an update with someone instead of emailing it. Pick up a pen and write a thank you note to the agent who has given you a new piece of business or 10 years of consistent business. —

Jennifer Brownyard, Brownyard Group

31. Contact Clients. If you’re an agent who reaches out only at renewal, you’re in danger of losing your clients to online quoting or competing brokers. At least quarterly, reach out to your insureds to discuss topics such as property values, solicit any changes in operations, update payroll and sales for commercial clients, or discuss general industry trends. — Nancy Germond, Independent Agents & Brokers Association

32. Boots on the Ground. Even as technology has developed since the pandemic, face to face interaction remains essential to supporting insureds today. Nothing trumps the value of an on-site visit to your insured’s business. A boots-on-the-ground approach can provide essential insights into an insured’s risk profile while helping to build the relationships among the agent, insured and insurer. — Larry Chasin, PAK Programs

33. Truth in Testimonials. Get local commercial customers and people you respect to be in testimonial ads. You get publicity and so do they.

34. Promote Your Work. Charitable giving is a powerful way to attract new talent and business partners, yet getting involved is only the first step. Take the time to consciously promote your dedication to philanthropy to generate additional business success.

This could include regular social media posts, working with leading industry media to get your message and story out there, writing blog content about giving back or by sharing personal interest stories with the greater insurance community. — Bill Ross, Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)

35. Communicative Proactively. As inflation continues to rise, insureds may not be prepared for the inevitable rate hikes and may consider reducing their cov-

erage or shopping for better premiums. Proactive communication is key to client retention in these times. To maintain positive relationships with their clients, agents should reach out to their clients early, often and thoughtfully to explain how today’s macroeconomic factors may impact their insurance coverage and provide counsel as to how they can limit their unique risk exposures. — Rod Hughes, Kimball Hughes Public Relations

36. Hire Quality Sales Managers. Invest in a high-quality sales manager who knows how to motivate and guide members to their goals.

37. Develop Cyber Expertise. Learn all you can about cyber risk, security and insurance and share what you know with your customers at every opportunity so they understand the importance. Every business is at risk. Eventually continued on page 32

Special Report: Sales & Marketing

continued from

page

they will appreciate your expertise.

38. Keep Up with Changes in the Law. Anytime your state changes an insurance law or regulation that affects your customers, let them know. Become a trusted source for information.

39. Power of Personalization. Incorporate personalization into your marketing efforts wherever possible. Address emails with recipient names, recommend products and services based on their preferences, and demonstrate the value of their individual needs. —

Kristen Nevins, Direct Connection Advertising & Marketing

40. Ask Questions. Never be afraid to ask questions or reach out to someone for their input. This industry is uniquely supportive in terms of knowledge-sharing and making introductions and you never know where taking a small leap will lead. —

Megan Bell, Falvey Insurance Group

41. Create a Welcoming Committee. Start a committee of citizens to welcome new residents and guide them on a tour of the town, its services and unique features.

42. Develop a Foodie Network. Gain some tasty publicity and goodwill by sponsoring and emceeing a local “Top Chef” restaurant competition. Invite prominent local citizens to be the judges.

43. Focus on Current Clients. Hunting for sales outside of your office doesn’t have to dominate your strategy. Your current clients present a great opportunity for new business sales.

44. Practice Active Listening. Pay close attention to your customers’ concerns

and requirements when they speak. Pull out any pain points you can help solve that they may not have directly stated. This will help customize your strategy and add greater value. — Erin Dwyer, Direct Connection Advertising & Marketing

45. Don’t Be Blindsided in a Crisis. A crisis can hit any business at any time and too often companies are unprepared. Take the time to build out a comprehensive crisis communications plan. This plan will provide your company with a road map for addressing the situation, including clearly defined roles for personnel and appropriate language for whatever scenario may arise and steps to respond. — Rod Hughes, Kimball Hughes Public Relations

46. Plan the Plan and Work the Plan. Agency management means working with agency partners to outline expectations for service as well as production. This comes in the form of a simple or rolling plan between carrier partners and agencies. So, plan

the plan — and work the plan to deliver on a win-win-win for insureds, agencies and insurers. — Steve Discher, ReSource Pro

47. Invest in Professional Development.

Encourage your team members to learn and grow. Offer training and growth opportunities to strengthen their skills, stay up on trends, and keep them motivated. Keep it fun and let team members choose the areas they want to focus on! — Erin Dwyer, Direct Connection Advertising & Marketing

48. Make It Personal. Using AI (artificial intelligence) can be an efficient and inexpensive way to generate consumer-facing blogs, white papers, newsletters and emails. But be sure to fact check and personalize AI-generated copy. Shape it to sound like your company voice and eliminate that generic, chatbot quality. Also, by making the copy your own, you’ll be staying on the right side of evolving copyright laws. —

Ronimarie Acord, Aartrijk

business situations. — Kitty

Ambers, Wave Financial Partners Inc.

50. Build a “Partner Ecosystem.” Building a partner ecosystem is critical as cross collaboration fuels the most successful agencies/organizations. — Marc

Flood, Crum & Forster

51. Use LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn Ads is your ticket to targeted marketing where you can target specific demographics, industries and job titles. Create compelling ad campaigns that speak directly to your ideal clients, and watch the leads pour in. Drive traffic to your website, landing pages, or lead capture forms, and offer irresistible resources like eBooks or webinars that make prospects excited to share their contact information. —

Hadie Mulvey, IMCA (Insurance Marketing and Communications Association)

52 . Capitalize on AI. Recent improvements to AI content generators are astounding! Simply input a thought or idea into one of the many free, online options and watch the magic happen! Be sure to edit the content for accuracy, but this can be a huge time saver for web content, blogs, social posts, newsletters, etc. — Ashley

Wingate, Smart Choice Agents

53. Piggyback Promotions. Team up with other local professionals on seminars and speakers on topics of interest to target groups such as new homeowners, new pet owners, new parents, seniors, boat owners, etc.

54. Do Your Homework. Don’t call on a business client without having an idea of who they are, what they do, their history, and how you might be able to help them. This goes for existing clients also. Know what has happened and how things and personnel have changed since the last time you met with them.

55. Focus on Your Distinction. Drill down on what really makes your

brand different from the competitors in your space. Don’t get distracted with things like logos, taglines and websites — those tactical things come much later. Focus on your people and the unique value propositions that your team brings to the table every day. The things that make you uniquely you. Work with your leadership team to “discover” your unique brand-sauce. Then leverage that sauce in every aspect of your business. From hiring to firing and investing in all aspects of your business, your brand needs to always have a seat at the table and be central to the focus of your decision making. —

Jim Flynn, ONEFIRE

56. CRM and AMS. Your Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) and Agency Management Software (AMS) are not the same thing. Most properly built and well-maintained CRMs have a $100,000-plus sales opportunity annually. By leveraging marketing automation, you can do win-back campaigns for churned business, or closed lost business by knowing when their policy is up for renewal. — Trent

Warner, Strategic Brand Builders

57. Make the Message About Them. Connecting with your target audience cannot be about what you want to sell them. Your brand’s narrative will only resonate with your target audience if your message is about them — their pain points, motivations, unique needs, etc. Once you understand your target market, create messaging that connects your offerings to their needs. The magic happens here: You’re offering your customers what they want, that your competitors can’t. — Kathryn Smith, Jencap

58. Know the Blog Score. A third of respondents to a new Insurance Marketing & Communications Association survey do not blog, and 81% of those who do don’t allow comments as a way to listen to their customers. But blogging is more important than ever. It drives potential customers to your website. It humanizes your company. It answers your readers’ questions about insurance and establishes you as their expert. — Ronimarie

Acord, Aartrijk

59. Race to Win. Sponsor a local road race, bed race, slow bike race and/or toboggan race in your community. Get businesses, municipal leaders, fire fighters, police, nonprofits, etc., to compete for prizes.

60. Think Blog-Based Marketing. To enhance your digital presence with a limited budget, make a blog the cornerstone of your marketing campaign. Most importantly, don’t sell. Inform! 1.) Determine what your target clients want to know but are afraid to ask. 2.) Answer one or several related questions in a blog posted to your website. 3.) Use blog snippets to build social media posts and emails, linking everything back to your website. 4.) Rinse and repeat. — Ronimarie Acord, Aartrijk

61. What Are You Learning? Even experienced insurance professionals need to keep advancing their knowledge year over year. Try picking a topic for the year. For me, in 2023, it has been artificial intelligence. I regularly put the term in a search engine and went through the results, subscribed to newsletters on the topic, and took 20-30 minutes each week to examine the information out there. — Charles

Wasilewski, Aartrijk

62. Use the News. Use real local news, weather, and events to discuss risk management and insurance scenarios in your own blog or newsletter. Examples might be a business hit by a data breach, car thefts in the community, a canceled outdoor event, etc. continued on page 34

Special Report: Sales & Marketing

continued from page 33

63. Save Time with ChatGPT. Using ChatGPT as a personal assistant is a real time saver! For example, it can make banner ads, update a Wufoo form,

needs, etc. Your agency can rely heavily on referral business for growth, if you’re making your existing client relationships a priority, and building trust and loyalty. — Paul Taylor, Smart Choice Agents

industry groups, dive into discussions, and share your insights with the right audience at the right time. When you contribute and connect, you position yourself as a trusted advisor, and that’s when the magic happens. — Hadie

coordinate with the web team to get it published, ask for approval from the chief content officer on Asana, and then post this test submission in my voice — while I was playing Farmville all day!

64. Stay Connected. Connect with every person you meet in a day on LinkedIn before you go to sleep. Soon you’ll have a growing and more importantly, targeted, following! — Mindi

Zissman, Zissman Media

65. Pickleball Mania. It’s the fastest growing sport and it’s getting a lot of attention and participation. Think of ways to help and be involved. Create a central portal or place for scheduling matches, finding partners, creating teams, keeping scores and standings. Or even offer space for a court.

66. Stay in Touch. Stay in contact with clients regularly to build rapport and relationships. Don’t just make the sale, and never get back in contact with them to discuss life changes, additional

67. Ban Stock Photos. Reduce or eliminate stock art on your social sites and agency website. Customers and prospects know it’s all fake. Instead, proudly show your people in action at work and in the community. Demonstrating a positive culture builds excitement — and a stronger employment brand. — Peter van

Aartrijk, Aartrijk

68. Be Intentional and Consistent on Social Media. Be active, engage with your

Mulvey, IMCA

69. Homeowners Replacement Values. 1.) Run a replacement calculator, then add a 25% - 50% buffer to allow for higher true replacement costs ... probably higher than their current Coverage A. 2.) Ask if they installed solar, if so, does their replacement cost account for the increased values? — Warren

Wettenstein, Wettenstein Insurance & Financial Solutions

70. Agencies Are Marketing

connections, and become a valued member of the community. Join

Organizations. Given the complexity of insurance agency operations, agency principals can sometimes lose sight of the fact that while it is important to have insurance knowledge — that is a means to an end. Insurance companies pay a commission to sell their products. That should serve as a reminder that insurance agencies are first and foremost marketing organizations, and that the other operational capabilities should be viewed in the context of their role in facilitating sales and service. Technical knowledge has its role, but the agency investing in social media and digital marketing will enjoy the growth that the technicians are missing out on. —

Dave Evans, Aartrijk

71. A Star Is Born. Become the face and voice of your own agency in advertising. Do it well and it will promote credibility.

72. Listen and Deliver. Deliver on promises or own

up to why you couldn’t. Honesty is the best policy and ethics are a must. If your client is not interested in either of these you shouldn’t be working for them. Listen, find common ground with prospective clients, and listen to their thoughts and needs, work on getting them what they need, and if it works, what they desire. —

Brian Braden, Crum & Forster

73. Be Curious. What are your customers saying about you? What trends are your agents and brokers seeing? What is your claims department hearing? Check in frequently to stay current on how your brand is perceived and how you could be doing things differently to meet emerging needs. — Lawrie

Bolger, Aartrijk

74. Have a Social Presence. Persistency and consistency along with sharing high value content specific to your prospect’s role, industry and risks over time are the keys to getting responses and generating first appointments. — Susan

Toussaint, ReSource Pro

75. Hold a Newbie Party. Hold an annual party for new residents, families and businesses of your town so they can meet each other, and you.

76. Breathe Your Personality. Still don’t have a marketing-communications professional at your agency? This is a must-have to grow. Engage a local professional as a part-timer or consultant; they could be a community college student, return-to-work professional, or a consultant. You will create more buzz, referrals, leads, quotes and new business. Retention will improve. Your firm consistently must breathe its personality out in the marketplace. — Peter van

Aartrijk, Aartrijk

77. Data Is King. Selling insurance is too important to do so in any manner or method that is not backed by science and academic research. If anyone shares and suggests a process or method with you, make certain to assess the scientific support. — Frank Pennachio, ReSource Pro

78. Keep a Negative Keyword List. If you’re running a paid ads campaign, make sure you’re properly maintaining a negative keyword list. Your negative keyword list tells Google (and/or Bing) keywords you don’t want to bid on. I’ve seen insurance brokerages trying to sell “renters insurance” bidding on “jet ski rentals” because they didn’t have a negative keyword list set up properly. — Trent Warner, Strategic Brand Builders

79. Ramp Up Referrals. Create and enforce a regular and consistent program

of asking for referrals from new and existing customers.

80. Forget Cheap, Fast, Free. Remove keywords like “cheap,” “fast,” and “free” from your keyword lists and ad copy. People that convert on these keywords will shop out their insurance annually and tend to take the most time to service. — Trent Warner, Strategic Brand Builders

81. Walk the Talk. Spread the word on what a great career insurance is. As an industry we need to reach out to young people to let them know that insurance is vital to our economy, it’s stable and offers solid career advancement. Volunteer at a high school career night, look for speaking opportunities at colleges and in your community, and offer internships to students. — Lawrie Bolger, Aartrijk

82 . Invest in Your Employees. The growth of individual employees means growth for the company as a whole. — Melissa Muirhead, Cavignac

83. Business Is Online. The idea of being a neighborhood business is gone. Business is now done online, and the most effective businesses online have figured out how to become brands. Insurance brokerages can become brands by having a clear and consistent message in everything that they do. — Trent Warner, Strategic Brand Builders

84. Know Your Customer. It may sound simple, but “know your customer” continued on page 36

Special Report: Sales & Marketing

continued from page 35

remains relevant regardless of where you are in the sales cycle, or even lifecycle of your customer. Understanding their needs, their market, their channels allows marketers and sales folks to tailor the materials and offers. It also allows us to show that we understand their needs, which goes a long way to building trust and relevance for our products. —

Hallie Harenski, Crum & Forster (and IMCA Board Member)

85. Warm the Tummy. Send prospects a box of cereal, a pizza or a box of cookies. Tell them you’d like to meet for breakfast, lunch or a break sometime.

86. Embrace AI. Let’s face it, artificial intelligence isn’t likely to disappear. Identifying opportunities to incorporate generative AI into marketing and communications strategies can create efficiencies and ignite creativity. Because ambiguity still exists related to whether content is protected, we should develop processes about how we use these tools to foster transparency and rules of engagement. Have fun with AI! And I did not use ChatGPT to create this tip. :) — Natasha

Suber, SCOR

87. Respond Quickly. Be able to say “No” faster. Understanding your client and their needs is “table stakes,” but speed can often make the difference. Even if you cannot serve the need this time, being responsive quickly shows you know your market well and that you care about the relationship, which can prove meaningful over the long term. — Hallie Harenski, Crum & Forster (and IMCA Board Member)

88. Increase Your Digital Footprint. In today’s tech-savvy world, increasing your digital footprint is crucial for expanding your reach and connecting with potential customers. One highly effective strategy is to leverage social media platforms to create a strong online presence. Regularly post valuable content that educates your audience about insurance-related topics, industry trends, and tips for better coverage. Engaging content helps build trust and positions your agency as an authority in the insurance domain. Incorporate eye-catching visuals like infographics, videos, and images in your posts. These multimedia elements grab attention and enhance the shareability of your content. — Victoria King, IAT Insurance Group

89. Have a Social Media Plan. Make sure you have a social media plan each month, and you’re updating them at least 2-3 times a week. The worst thing you can do is have social media pages with no activity. Content should be relatable, informative and encourage conversation and discussion. It is a powerful sales generator when you use it as an education platform and can help you have meaningful discussions with your clients. — Joe Fisher, Smart Choice

90. Target Relevance and Customer Needs. Sell only the products that are relevant and customer need-based, not pushing a product for profits. Concentrate highly on after sales services; make them available around the clock, as needed. — Unnikrishnan Nair P, UK Nair & Associates

91. Infuse Your Marketing with Personality. No one

you’re marketing to, no matter what job title they hold or what industry they work in, likes to be bored. Humor is a great tool to use. It’s unexpected, especially in financial services, it entertains, it shows your human side, and it makes you memorable. Don’t be afraid to use it. —

Amy Hourigan, HAI Group

92 . It’s “You,” Not “We.” Avoid the most common marketing error by saying “you,” not “we.” Been in business a million years? Shape that info in a way the customer will care: “You get a million years of insurance expertise on your side.” Don’t say, “We offer homeowners insurance.” Instead say, “Protect your home.” Customers won’t care about you until they know you care about them. —

Ronimarie Acord, Aartrijk

93. Get Familiar with LinkedIn Sales Navigator. It’s a powerful tool that helps you find your dream prospects and engage them with personalized messages or InMail. This tool has advanced search filters and lead recommendations to help identify and engage with prospects effectively. It’s like having a secret agent

on your side, guiding you to potential clients who are a perfect fit for your insurance offerings. —

Hadie Mulvey, IMCA

94. Think Dogs and Cats. Pet insurance is in demand. Get licensed and start selling it today. Sponsor or advertise in the local dog park, pet stores and vet offices.

done it” is stunting your brand’s growth. It’s time to rival that complacency. As insurance marketers, it’s our job to bring new, non-traditional ideas to our industry. Invest time in learning about emerging and trending platforms like Threads and TikTok. While these avenues may not make sense for your brand — their styles in content delivery, like short-form video, might be suitable in other communication channels that work for you. —

Taylor Evans, IAT Insurance Group

95. “Re-learn” Proper Telephone Etiquette. Too often some people rely on text messaging and/or email to convey information. This can sometimes be misconstrued or misunderstood. Why create an “email trail” when a one- to two-minute conversation on the phone can provide an answer, solve a problem, further solidify a business relationship, and/or create good will. —

Michael Farrington, Crum & Forster

96. Focus on the 20/80. Focus on the 20% of your clients that generate 80% of your revenue. Have them be on your agency council, have special events exclusively for them, e.g., advise on retaining employees and ask them regularly for referrals. These 20% of your clients will generate 80% of your new business over the next five years. They are the fuel for your agency’s future growth.

Treat them royally! —

Lynn Thomas, Thomas Consulting Inc.

97. Try Something New. “That’s the way we’ve always

98. Leverage Your LinkedIn Presence. By leveraging your LinkedIn presence, you can build meaningful connections, drive sales, and forge valuable partnerships with agents, brokers and markets alike. Every day for the past year, our workers’ compensation wholesale brokerage shared insightful and educational content, industry news, and success stories. As a result, we positioned ourselves as a thought leaders in workers’ comp and established industry-wide credibility. If you leverage your LinkedIn presence and take advantage of this free social media platform, it will be a gamechanger for your wholesale brokerage, too. —

Connor Thomson, Associated Specialty Insurance Agency Inc.

99. Nurture Relationships. Relationships are at the foundation of our business, and learning, understanding, and applying interpersonal relationship skills can be steppingstones to successful relationships — with clients, co-workers and prospects. In 2023, these are not “new” ideas, but in the age of apps,

APIs and automations, it can be easy to let these basic, interpersonal or relationship building skills fall to the wayside. It requires a strong mindset, a commitment to people, and discipline to keep these “soft skills” sharp and not allow our technology to replace the thing that sets us apart — our ability to build and nurture our client relationships. —

Nicole Wilson, PAC Insurance Group

100. Build Media Relationships at Conferences. Conferences present great opportunities to build valuable relationships with industry media. Attend industry events and set up meetings with trade reporters so they can get to know the broad strokes of what you offer and you can better understand the topics they want to cover. When the reporter needs a source for an article, your company will now be top of mind.

—

Rod Hughes, Kimball Hughes Public Relations

101. Data Usage vs. Data Ownership. Know the difference between data usage and data ownership! The most valuable asset an agency has is their customer data. Don’t unwittingly give away your greatest asset. With the proliferation and ease of data sharing, agencies must understand the rights to data usage and data ownership agreed to in terms/ privacy policies with each vendor. Don’t retain ownership but sign away unexpected data usage rights that may extend even after partnerships end. —

Kiki Johnson, Insurance Agent App

Idea Exchange: Talent

A Renewed Approach to Recruiting and Retaining Talent

In the past three years, we’ve experienced the height of a global pandemic, followed by the most challenging talent landscape many have ever experienced. Even though we are entering what appears to be a slightly easing insurance labor market, having the right employees in place remains essential.

priorities and work-life balance still frequently take a front seat. Rather than resisting these shifts, embrace them and consider how your team can rise to meet new demands.

Focus on Retention

now at least 55 years old, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, Jacobson’s recent Insurance Industry Succession Planning Study found 38% of insurers have no formal succession plans in place and the majority do not have plans that extend past senior management.

By Mike Abate

Sixty-seven percent of insurers plan to add staff this year, according to The Jacobson Group and Aon plc’s Q1 2023 Insurance Labor Market Study. Understanding professionals’ current expectations and taking a renewed approach to attracting and retaining high performers is key in remaining competitive and building a loyal workforce that’s ready to tackle tomorrow’s challenges.

Acknowledge Shifting Employer/ Employee Dynamics

The pandemic played a unique role in transforming business as we know it. Previously, employee attitudes and expectations largely ebbed and flowed along with the economy; however, in the pandemic’s wake, we’re seeing a fundamental change in professionals’ values and priorities. Overall mentalities have shifted for the long term, and most individuals won’t hesitate to move on from companies that are unable or unwilling to meet their needs. Flexibility remains vital, and insurers are taking note, with 92% of carriers currently offering hybrid work options. It’s not likely these sentiments and expectations will reverse, even in the event of an economic downturn.

Along with a realignment of priorities, the employee/employer power balance has also experienced a shift. During the height of the candidates’ market last year, employees became comfortable having the upper hand, asking for notably higher salaries and increased work flexibility. While these expectations have become more realistic in recent months, personal

In the current climate, effective retention and employee engagement strategies are essential. Industry unemployment is low, yet job openings remain abundant. The industry’s workforce is also continuing to age, with 25% of insurance professionals

Recognizing what is important to your employees and then working to the best of your ability to meet those unique needs is key to retention. Hold stay interviews with employees to uncover essential information such as their motivators,

what would make them leave, whether they feel challenged and satisfied in their work, and more. This also enables you to better understand individuals’ career aspirations and ensure you’re aligned from a succession planning standpoint.

Leverage the information garnered from stay interviews as you build individualized retention plans and prioritize factors such as compensation, professional challenges, and flexibility based on each employee’s unique motivators and values.

A sense of connection and shared purpose is also crucial, especially in hybrid and virtual environments. Consider setting up regular one-on-one coffee chats among

teammates, encourage non-business conversations and ice breakers at the start of team meetings, and provide opportunities for open communication and knowledge sharing. If all or part of your team works virtually, also strive to build face time into your budget — even if it’s just getting together twice a year. In-person meetings can have an incredible impact on working relationships and team productivity, even if they happen infrequently.

Stand Out in the Current Market

Along with retaining and growing talent within your organization, it’s also important to rethink traditional recruiting

tactics in the context of today’s labor market. A talent shortage remains, making it necessary to be creative and intentional in how you position open roles and design the candidate experience.

Job postings often serve as an individual’s first touchpoint with an open position and your company. Ensure you’re writing these in a way that is inclusive and candidate focused.

For instance, rather than sharing a list of daily tasks and responsibilities, promote the role’s greater impact on the company and its customers. If possible, allow the role to be performed virtually; not only is this a selling point for many candidates, the option also opens up your talent pool by removing geographic restrictions. Further broaden your reach by removing rigid requirements around experience and qualifications. Mandating certain degrees or past titles is likely to exclude individuals who would be able to excel in the role. Instead, focus on the transferable skills and attributes that are essential to success but more difficult to teach, such as a growth mindset and emotional intelligence.

Today’s talent landscape also requires the interview process to be intentional and efficient, with shortened timelines, fewer interviews, increased communication, and virtual hiring. Determine who will best represent your company in the interview, focus on the areas that resonate with individual candidates, and have a clear understanding of what each conversation aims to uncover. If you get to the point of an offer, be quick and make it as strong as you can — highlighting how you have tailored it to the individual.

Whether you are growing talent from within, hiring from the outside, or aiming to increase productivity and employee satisfaction, recognize that effective talent strategies have evolved. By being flexible, focusing on communication, and aligning to individuals’ motivators, you’ll be poised for continued success.

Abate is a managing director for the executive search practice of The Jacobson Group, a global provider of talent to the insurance industry. Phone: 312-8840429. Email: mabate@jacobsononline.com.

Idea Exchange: The Competitive Advantage

Facts Are Friends

Recently, a carrier’s representatives walked into one of my client’s offices. This carrier announced they needed a 25% rate increase because of the carriers’ poor loss ratios. My top clients are well informed about their carriers’ profitability thanks to my consulting with them, so my client showed the carrier their five-year average loss ratio of 40% in that state and asked, “Why in the world do you so desperately need a 25% rate increase?

By Chris Burand

Are your expenses so high that your loss ratio can’t exceed 15% (40% minus 25%)?”

Facts were not those marketing reps’ friends. Marketing reps never research their own companies’ results. They simply repeat whatever message their boss told them to deliver and odds are high their boss did not research the results either. I’ve seen many instances where CFOs did not understand their own results either. This industry runs by myth, assumption, hope, and tremendous amounts of wishful thinking, but rarely quality thinking.

I read an excerpt from the most recent Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders’ meeting where Charlie Munger was asked if he and Warren Buffet ever make bad decisions. His response is something every business leader should live by. He said that of course they sometimes make bad decisions, but “they never make emotional decisions.”

Frequently, when I show an agency owner the extremely weak financial facts of some carrier, they will continue to place business with that carrier because they like them. I have seen carriers bald face lie and the agency owner continue to trust the

carrier more than the facts. Many a carrier depends heavily on agents not knowing the facts, not making decisions based on facts, and playing the ostrich by putting their head in the sand so they don’t hear the facts. Most agents are being taken advantage of, quite purposely. And with your head in the sand, another part of your anatomy is ripe for a whipping.

A Universal ‘Bad’ Market?

Many carriers are trying to sell agents, consumers, and insurance commissioners

on how horrible the market is. Indeed, this is an awful market, but the reason it is bad and how universal the “bad” is a different matter. A key reason the market is bad for many carriers is because they lost so much money in their investments, not their claims. I’ve yet to read this in a press release and I actually check press releases against carrier financials. Facts are interesting.

Another blame is reinsurance, reinsurance, reinsurance. Well, reinsurance is an issue if the company is purchasing a lot of

third-party reinsurance. However, many quality carriers buy little reinsurance. They might reinsure 5% or even as little as 2% of their premiums. Even if reinsurance prices increase significantly on 5% of their premiums, the increase in the overall scheme is minor and sometimes not even material. The increase might be less than one tenth of one percent of the carrier’s premiums.

When a carrier blames reinsurance, one of three factors is happening. The first is they are too dependent on reinsurance to begin with. That should be a red flag

anyway. In this case, they want everyone to believe every carrier is too dependent on reinsurance and they hope no one checks. The second is they have no idea what they’re saying, and they are simply parroting what they’ve heard. They are effectively clueless. Third, they know what they’re saying and they are not dependent on reinsurance, and they also know everyone is too lazy to check the facts.

Another consideration exists and that is where the carrier buys reinsurance from themselves. If the price of reinsurance is

increasing significantly, but the carrier is buying reinsurance from themselves, what difference does the price make? Some carriers buy the vast majority of their reinsurance from themselves. (I know this sounds oxymoronic.)

Get the Facts and Move Forward

Whether I am consulting for insurance carriers or agents, my clients who deal with facts best (and not by their own judgment because the most emotional continued on page 42

Idea Exchange: The Competitive Advantage

ones always think they’re the most logical ones), achieve greater success. Hands down they achieve more success if for no other reason than that they get to the point 10 times more quickly.

Carriers have a fairly logical decision to make relative to agent and network compensation. Currently, they are paying most agents too much money and their best distributors too little. This is what you get in a socialistic compensation system, considerable inefficiency because merit is not rewarded. Emotion is all that is truly holding carrier executives from making the decision to reward distributors more efficiently on merit. The two carriers, and one in particular, that made that decision several years ago is outperforming most every company and never looking back. Take Charlie Munger’s advice and quit making emotional decisions, because even when you don’t make any decision, you’re making an emotional decision.

Facts vs. Emotions

Here is a really, really good example of how facts tell a different story than emotions. This is an insurance company story showing how carriers’ narratives don’t match the facts (because I have audited facts for carriers whereas with agencies and distributors, this level of detail on an audited basis does not exist).

The narrative is that homeowners loss

ratios are horrible, awful, no one can make money, so on and so forth. The five-year unweighted average loss ratio for homeowners in the U.S. is 67.4% per AM Best. Carriers won’t make much money at a 67.4% loss ratio, but if the carrier is well managed, it won’t go broke either. A carrier that advises they’ll go broke at a 69% loss ratio is a poorly managed carrier — fact.

But the results really are not even that bad. There are two states with five-year averages exceeding 100% (Iowa and Louisiana). Carriers are racing to the exits in Florida and California, but Florida’s five-year loss ratio is “only” 86.5%, still horrible but almost 27 percentage points better than Iowa’s!

California’s loss ratio is just barely higher than the national average. (Louisiana, unfortunately, probably needs a wholesale innovative approach to homeowners involving the coverage forms to fix their truly severe problem.) Carriers are not exiting Iowa in droves, so the issue is not being driven by a profit analysis.

Take it further and the states with loss ratios exceeding 80% over the last five years include Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon and South Dakota. Notice that California is not on the list? Most of these states have bad results almost every year (Oregon is the exception). Treating all states equal, meaning taking an unweighted average and eliminating U.S. territories, the average

five-year loss ratio of any given state is 65.0%. Removing those states with loss ratios exceeding 80%, the average loss ratio of any given state is a very respectful and profitable 58.9%. The industry does not have a homeowners loss ratio problem.

To get into a tiny bit of statistical detail, this is a great example of how this industry is run by people that know nothing about statistics. If you map out the loss ratios by state relative to how many states have good or bad loss ratios, the result is not a normal curve. The narrative the carriers are telling about homeowners assumes a normal distribution of loss ratios. As with almost everything in this industry except maybe to actuaries, is that normal distribution curves have no application. Catastrophes cannot by definition be catastrophes unless they are exceptions and exceptions don’t fit normal frequency curves (this is actually a huge problem for actuarial analysis and property claims).

The majority of states have good loss ratios. The issue is that a few states have really horrible loss ratios. Therefore, the solution lies in fixing those states’ loss ratios specifically.

The industry does not have a homeowners loss ratio problem. It has seven states with severe loss ratio problems. Taking actions by restricting writing in the other 43 states is not the solution.

Taking severe actions in states with okay loss ratios like Texas, a state with the most average loss ratios of any state, makes little sense.

If a carrier or agency was to deal with the facts, they would take advantage of those carriers incapable of making logical decisions, who believe their own stories. There is a lot of money to be made in these situations where the results are so skewed but the carrier executives will not deal with the actual data.

Take Charlie Munger’s advice and make fully considered decisions, but do not make emotional decisions and absolutely quit believing the narrative without checking the facts.

Burand is the founder and owner of Burand & Associates LLC based in Pueblo, Colo. Phone: 719-4853868. E-mail: chris@burand-associates.com.

Research & Trends Center Powered by Insurance Journal

Search dozens of topics and trends like cyber risk, artificial intelligence, customer experience, marketing, agency growth, and many more.

Access hundreds of high-quality white papers, webinars, reports, articles, and other resources.

The majority are absolutely free.

Idea Exchange: Is It Covered?

Logic & Language and Forms & Facts

The Price Is Wrong

If you’re shopping for insurance online, with apologies to Bob Barker and Drew Carey, the price isn’t right. That is, shopping solely on price for any product or service that isn’t truly a commodity is the wrong approach, and insurance isn’t a commodity.

Yes, there are industry standard forms and coverages but they are usually modified by perhaps dozens of endorsements, and many policies are proprietary to the insurer. Even where language in policies is identical, their interpretation can vary by insurer, as can the claims practices of said insurers.

A System Test

To test the system, I requested a quote on my own house. For the most part, I simply had to enter my address and the site could come up with a premium which, according to the website, was “based on public records, such as those from the county auditor.”

The quote included a replacement cost value of my home, on which the premium was largely based. According to the website, the value was derived from five data points based on public information. Unfortunately, for my home, four of these data points were wrong, including

the square footage of my home being understated by about 1,000 square feet. Understating the living space of a home might be advantageous from the owner’s perspective when property taxes are due, but not at the time when insurance is being sought, as the consumer would learn at the time of a serious claim.

Most homeowners programs have many dozens of coverage options in the form of endorsements. I was asked about none of these. I live on a lake and have a boat dock that would likely cost about $40,000 to replace. Most homeowners policies cover “other structures” but only if they are on

By Bill Wilson

I recently followed a LinkedIn thread that began, “Why do you quote your insurance with another agent? Because you want to make sure you’re not overpaying. That’s it.” The original post went on to mention the value of “target pricing” when agents are shopping an account. We know it’s done, but we do a lot of things we shouldn’t.

Consumers don’t understand that there’s more to insurance shopping than price comparisons. Sadly, that’s also true of far too many people within the insurance industry.

A few years ago, one very large personal lines carrier touted their new online homeowners insurance quoting system, which allowed consumers to get a quote in less than 15 minutes.

According to the company CEO, “We think [this service] will compel a lot of homeowners to take a few minutes to make sure they’re getting the right coverage at the right rate.” Read that sentence again. How does the consumer know they’re getting “the right coverage” at “the right price” when nothing in the quoting system really asks about their unique risks of loss?

the residence premises. My dock is located on Army Corps of Engineers property.

My current insurer covers the dock by endorsement only. Would a consumer know this? Absolutely not. Would an internet-based automated system ask a question like this? Almost certainly not. Does their homeowners policy cover potential liability claims arising from volunteer activities at the local school PTA? What about the 22 acres of “vacant” land I own 60 miles from my house. What about the $20,000 worth of bonsai trees in my greenhouse? Does their policy cover my paid activities as an umpire of youth baseball games? What about my classic rock band, The Spyders? Is an umbrella policy something I might need? Or might I need something more that this carrier never addresses because they sell only one or two types of policies?

While I invested less than 15 minutes in this process, hopefully it’s obvious that this time was completely wasted. No substantive information was requested or provided that would justify this as a viable means of buying insurance. But, as an industry, we’ve convinced consumers in our advertising that price is pretty much the only important consideration they need to make in the purchasing decision.

Sales pitches like “You get the SAME COVERAGE, often for less” and “SAME COVERAGE, better value” can lead to bankruptcy.

Sell Coverage, not Price

One venture capitalist, supporting his decision to invest in a new insurtech startup that was going to revolutionize the insurance buying “customer experience” said, “In a world where we can summon

a car, or our favorite Mexican restaurant’s veggie burrito, at the touch of a button; shouldn’t we be able to get insurance cover for our homes by just providing our address?”

As illustrated in this article, just providing an address is insufficient to insure a home, especially considering that homeowners policies provide more than just property coverage.

Worse, this person clearly doesn’t understand the difference in the purchasing decisions between an insurance policy and a burrito.

Perhaps we can excuse this ignorance in someone outside of the industry, but not this statement from a top executive at one of the largest insurers in the country: “If people can buy paper towels on the internet, why not insurance?”

Making an uninformed decision about a burrito or a paper towel product is quite a bit different from entering into a complex legal contract where an uninformed decision may lead to financial ruin because the consumer did not exercise due diligence in protecting assets and income.

Tim Wahl is an agent in Missouri who I’ve mentioned in this column before. Tim sells on coverage, not price. At least weekly, he is approached by a business owner wanting to know if Tim can save him money on his insurance. More often than not, Tim lands the account at a premium higher than the customer is already paying. The reason is, he compares his current coverage with the prospect’s actual exposures to loss and explains why he needs additional coverage, often for very little additional premium.

Do your prospects and customers understand that it is foolhardy to price-shop insurance? Does your staff understand this and can they explain why to prospects and customers? As marketing guru Seth Godin says, “Low price is the last refuge of the marketer who doesn’t care enough to build something worth paying for.”

Wilson, CPCU, ARM, AIM, AAM is the founder and CEO of InsuranceCommentary.com and the author of six books, including “When Words Collide…Resolving Insurance Coverage and Claims Disputes.” Email: Bill@InsuranceCommentary.com.

Idea Exchange: Agency Management

Dodging Distractions: Focus on Relationships for Long-Term Agency Success

Life has never held more opportunities for our attention to be pulled away from what is most important. We have all seen the statistics about the number of messages the average American has bombarding them every day. While these distractions do fragment our attention, they do not pose the threat to our businesses that something more insidious does — disintermediation.

By Tony Caldwell

In today’s agency business, virtually everything is changing and at a pace that is almost beyond anyone’s ability to keep up. These challenges seem to come more quickly and with more complexity every day and at the same time seem to make all too real a future that increasingly pushes the independent agent out of the picture. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Agents who choose to understand the changes coming at them and greet them with renewed energy to do what agents do best — build and maintain relationships with policyholders and team members through service and development opportunities respectively — will see past the distractions and toward a profitable future.

Change Is Upon Us

The insurance marketplace, as well as society as a whole, has undergone tremendous change in recent years from a global pandemic to economic turmoil and now, to a hard insurance market.

The economy is fundamentally different than it has been for at least a generation and not even the experts know how to predict its direction. Attempts to manage economic distress with historically effective tools appear to be no longer working. Additionally, the apparent rise of artificial intelligence and the speed at which it may impact our business is unprecedented.

Further, insurance carriers have reacted

to the post-COVID environment with a belated ballooning of rates and a slashing of availability in one of the most challenging hard markets to hit in a long time. This is frustrating agents and clients as finding comprehensive, affordable coverage becomes increasingly difficult.

Finally, retirements of a majority of agency, and carrier, employees are picking up steam as baby boomers age out of the workforce. At the same time, employees who remain are demanding flex time and work-from-anywhere arrangements while

managers struggle with productivity and margin compression.

All of these challenges are distracting to owners, managers and even producers as they seek to grow their businesses, serve clients, and think about how to do so in the immediate future. But the disintermediation these challenges could translate to is even more concerning and seems to be growing like a thunderstorm cloud on a hot summer day.

Disintermediation has been on agency professionals’ minds for a generation.

Occasionally, something occurs that brings it back to the forefront, Brigadoon-like. The dramatic increase in direct-to-consumer sales of personal insurance, and some limited small commercial products, in the United States proves it’s a real threat. Additionally, new AI tools and solutions have turned up the temperature, and potentially, the timing of when disintermediation could upend our way of doing business as agents.

Common Misconceptions

One reaction to these challenges is to

focus on driving more volume through the agency itself and the constituent books of business produced and managed by its employees. Another is an ever-increasing focus on price as the predominant value in what the agency produces. Unfortunately, with so many issues to navigate, it can be easy to pursue an ill-advised approach and make the issues worse instead of better. At the root of each of these challenges is either a function of productivity or product cost. And in each case, I think agency leaders often calculate the cost incorrectly. Many years ago, at the beginning of my career, I had a client who took me to lunch in a big S Class Mercedes car. He was my age, an attorney and obviously doing well. He was also a friend so I asked him, “how can you afford to drive such an expensive car”? He said, “your pickup will cost more than my Mercedes because the difference in what you bought it for and what you will sell it for will be much more than mine.” He was looking at the real cost of ownership while I was hung up on price.

As a large insurance company senior executive once told me, “Price is table stakes,” and we cannot ignore the costs of our client’s coverage. But today too many agencies focus on price as the first, and most important, factor in approaching how they sell. I believe for most consumers price is very important, but I also think an agency that focuses on price alone immediately disqualifies itself in the eyes of the customer for long-term service. Eventually, they’ll move their business, and possibly to an agent who offers more in terms of service even if the price is higher.

On another note, pushing productivity, and its close relative, volume, as a priority is also turning off talent and hurting agency employee retention rates. Today’s employees have many more choices of where to work than ever before. They are seeking development opportunities where they can learn, grow, and build their careers, more deliberately.

Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

The solution to these urgent challenges, for both clients and colleagues, is the same. It is to recognize that seeing them one dimensionally in cost terms devalues them. It does so because this focus on costs, either in terms of discounted insurance sales or professional development costs, misses the long-term value found in retaining long-term clients and developing skills of team members.

It takes time to develop a relationship that is more than transactional. In the case of an agency’s clients, it’s the relationship nurtured by all the agency’s team members that results in world class retention. Retention is the ultimate driver of agency profits and long-term retention is in turn driven by a deep relationship. No agency can always produce the lowest price.

In the same way, outstanding, long-term team members want more than a job today. They can have that anywhere. They seek a culture that is affirming, encouraging and altruistic. Peter Drucker is credited with saying “culture eats strategy for lunch,” but I think the future requires agency leaders to think about how to strategically build team centered cultures to drive their success.

The time and effort involved in getting to know someone, whether an employee or client, takes money. Whether leaders view this as a cost to be minimized or avoided or an investment to be maximized is based on their ability to find ways to cut through the distractions and focus on principles.

If our industry, and our individual businesses, are doomed because of any of the challenges I’ve mentioned, this is the time to abandon ship, not cut costs.

On the other hand, if human nature remains unchanged, then focusing on building, deepening and nurturing relationships with our clients and team members is the most important investment we can make.

Caldwell is an author, speaker and mentor who has helped independent agents create more than 250 independent insurance agencies. Website: www.tonycaldwell.net. Email: tonyc@oneagentsalliance.net.

Idea Exchange: Workers' Compensation

Why Employers Need Options in Return-to-Work Programs

Lost time claims can lead to increased workers’ compensation premiums for an employer because they can raise the experience-modification (e-mod) factor that is used, in part, to determine workers’ comp insurance rates.

carrier pays for the medical treatment — meaning the claim is no longer a lost time claim, helping protect the policyholder’s e-mod rating.

On-Site Modified Duty Options

that could be employed elsewhere in the company, yet be light duty?

Off-Site Transitional Duty Assignments

By Abby Seymour

The e-mod is one factor in workers’ comp rate determinations that employers can influence. To do so, they’ve traditionally assigned light-duty tasks to recovering employees, which can ease their transition back to work and shorten their lost time claims. The greater benefit for the employer is to its e-mod: When the employer pays the employee’s full wages during a modified or transitional duty work assignment, the workers’ comp

Often on-site light-duty tasks have involved filing and inventory. While those are necessary tasks, they may not always keep returning workers fully engaged. Agents can help clients come up with additional options for in-house light-duty work that needn’t be within the injured employee’s particular job set. Ask the employer:

• What tasks or jobs has no one had time to do?

• What important project never makes it to the top of the priority scale?

• What are this particular employee’s personal interests, strengths or skills

Some workers’ comp policyholders have resisted temporary off-site transitional duty assignments in the belief that they aren’t cost-effective. At the same time, recovering workers — whose jobs once provided them with purpose as well as income — can feel frustrated by light-duty tasks that they perceive as not being meaningful or fulfilling. They also can feel anxious about whether they’ve recovered sufficiently to resume work.

Employers can use transitional duty assignments to reduce lost time claims while helping recovering workers to feel supported and fulfilled.

Nonprofit Solutions

One such option is to cooperate with local nonprofit organizations for a three-way win: The charity gets a needed volunteer. The employee remains engaged with the company and has work that is meaningful but not overtaxing. The employer makes a useful donation to the community, heightens its public relations image, and protects its e-mod rating.

Many employees assigned to a nonprofit for return-to-work duties have found the experience to be so fulfilling that they continued to volunteer even after they returned to their normal work.

Getting to ‘Yes’

Policyholders may benefit from learning more about various

return-to-work options. When suggesting the employer work with a nonprofit, for example, ask them to consider:

• The average transitional duty assignment lasts around one or two months. Paying an employee to work for a nonprofit during that time may lead to a lower e-mod.

• Can or should the company mirror the recovering employee’s working hours and wage?

• Is there a meaningful not-for-profit opportunity that could keep a recovering worker’s life and routine as consistent as possible? Consider the advantages of that. Helping the employer find answers can bring the conversation to a “yes.”

Build a Portfolio of Options

What is appropriate for one employee may not work for all. But designing a number of return-to-work solutions that can work for a variety of people will help policyholders retain good employees. That can be especially important in the current economy with worker shortages.

Have a realistic conversation with the employee — consulting with their nurse case manager, if one is assigned — to determine what the injured worker can do within their restrictions and if their interests can reasonably be considered.

Agent Intervention

Typically, a carrier’s claims professional will discuss the details of an employee’s return to work with a company’s human resources department. But it’s helpful for agents to have conversations with policyholders about the benefits of returnto-work options throughout their work with the policyholder.

This is a great opportunity for the agent to provide practical help to the policyholder. Leveraging their pre-existing relationship with the company’s COO or CFO, the agent can have a general conversation about return-to-work options. They can help the policyholder evaluate the complete picture by assessing overall workers’ comp premium costs compared with the benefits of return-to-work options.

The best return-to-work plans aren’t “one size fits all.”

Helping employers innovate modified or transitional duty solutions can benefit everyone — the injured worker, the employer, the workers’ compensation insurance company and the insurance agent.

Seymour is claim program manager with Westfield Insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina. Email: AbbySeymour@westfieldgrp.com.

August 21, 2023

Farmers Insurance Exchange

6301 Owensmouth Avenue

Woodland Hills, CA 91367

The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to amend their Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810, Boston, MA 021186200, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.

August 21, 2023

Truck Insurance Exchange 6301 Owensmouth Avenue Woodland Hills, CA 91367

The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to amend their Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810, Boston, MA 021186200, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.

August 21, 2023

HDI Global Insurance Company 161 N. Clark Street, 48th Floor Chicago, IL 60601

The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to amend their Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810, Boston, MA 021186200, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.

August 21, 2023

SiriusPoint America Insurance Company 1 World Trade Center, 285 Fulton Street, Suite 47J New York, NY 10007

The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to amend their Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810, Boston, MA 021186200, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.

Closing Quote

The Fast Path to Agency Growth

By Ashley Wingate

As an independent agency owner, you have tremendous potential to grow your business. It can take a long time to build an agency that would attract acquisition attention or sustain future generations. It’s important to assess where you are, and then advance with intention. If you want to really grow your business, there are numerous ways to go about it.

Strategies for Growth

As a successful agency owner, you already know how to staff for a diverse portfolio, offer a wide range of insurance products, keep your sales pipeline full, and retain customers using outstanding customer service and follow-through.

The good news: All these actions will help you methodically build your business.

The bad news: These actions are unlikely to create an inflection point at which you begin to grow exponentially — sometimes referred to as “hockey stick growth.”

Achieving radical growth requires more than simply investing more time and money. Working harder will only get you so far. Radical growth requires breaking out of the status quo and changing your business model with an unprecedented, giant leap

forward — the kind of surge that occurs when you purchase another agency through acquisition.

Acquisitions are common in the insurance sector. Small and midsize agencies sometimes don’t have the contracts, advertising budgets, and other resources they need to compete with bigger agencies. Developing an acquisition strategy can be key for long term growth.

Developing Relationships for Multifaceted Growth

As an agency owner, you recognize the importance of building relationships. To retain clients year after year, cross-sell new products and earn referrals, you need to cultivate strong connections with your customers. These types of relationships are the foundation that helps you sustain organic growth.

Unfortunately, many agency owners stop there and do not maximize potential partnerships.

By intentionally building relationships with other industry professionals, financing partners, and an insurance

network, agency owners can pave the way for radical growth through acquisition.

In addition to offering access to essential markets and back-office support, some networks help their agencies with the entire acquisition process — from finding target agencies to connecting agents with financing partners.

Time to Think Big?

The U.S. Census Bureau says 10,000 people turn 65 every day. By 2030, all baby boomers will have reached retirement age. Independent insurance agencies owners are retiring in droves, and as a result, there will be a lot of agencies up for sale over the next decade. This is an incredible opportunity for younger agents who want to grow their business through acquisition.

This is the time to think big. By growing your agency (both organically and through acquisition), you can achieve tremendous levels of success — increasing your revenue now and preparing for your eventual retirement and the sale of your agency.

You’ve already built a

successful business. Now, it’s time to build an estate.

Securing Your Retirement

For many agency owners, the sale of their agencies is a key part of their retirement planning. A successful sale can accomplish two important retirement goals.

First, you’ll receive funds for your retirement. As many people are behind on their retirement savings goals, this may be critical.

Second, you can ensure the agency you worked hard to build continues to thrive in your absence. When you set the terms of the sale, you control your legacy and ensure your employees and customers are well cared for.

The more attractive you can make your agency to potential buyers, the more likely you are to secure a successful sale. It’s easy to see how increasing your agency’s value today can secure the future you envision for tomorrow.

Wingate is the senior vice president of sales at Smart Choice. He oversees the expanding markets and growth for all carriers and products.