Articles by Andrea Wells

Andrea Wells is a veteran insurance editor and Editor-in-Chief of Insurance Journal Magazine.

Squeezed from All Sides: Restaurants Pressured by Labor, Food, Insurance Costs

The food services industry is anticipating record sales for 2024. But insurance specialists serving the restaurant and bar sector say that forecast isn’t all good news. With higher sales come higher costs all around. Restaurants are being squeezed from all …

Hard Market Adaptation

Agents and brokers are “going the extra mile” to prioritize client communication, retention, technology, and team morale as the hard market lingers on. According to a recent survey by Trusted Choice, the national consumer brand representing the members of the …

Small Business Market: Rising Costs, Hard Market but Hope for New Opportunities

There are reasons to be optimistic about the small business insurance market. New businesses are opening their doors every day. Small business start-ups are booming with record-breaking new business applications reported in 2023. While the rising cost of insurance for …

Wild West

Use of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise but most firms making use of the new technology do not provide appropriate guidance. That’s according to Gallagher’s 2023/24 State of the Sector report, which found that 71% of firms using …

Happy Employees

This issue reveals data and compensation insights gathered from Insurance Journal’s annual Agency Salary Survey. For the second year in a row in the survey’s 15-year history, salary averages reported were higher than ever before. While that trend may be …

Agency Compensation Rose Again in 2023 But Not Everyone Is Pleased

Agency salaries and total compensation rose in 2023 for everyone in the Insurance Journal Agency Salary Survey. But while insurance agency personnel made more money last year, not everyone was satisfied. Managers/owners and producers were less satisfied with their compensation …

Salaries, Total Income Skyrocketed in 2023 But Satisfaction with Compensation Waned

Insurance agency employees and producers on average made more money in 2023 but, overall, employees reported lower satisfaction with their compensation than in 2022, a year when overall satisfaction rose, according to the latest Agency Salary Survey, published annually by …

What’s to Come in 2024: AI Expansion, More Catastrophes, Network Consolidation

No one can predict the future, but insurance professionals are likely the best qualified when it comes to predicting risk. For this special report, Insurance Journal magazine asked industry thought leaders their predictions for the property/casualty world in 2024 and …

Hard Market Prices Continue

While not news to independent agents, commercial lines renewal rates rose again in the fourth quarter of 2023 — another sign that the hard market is here to stay — at least through 2024. According to the Ivans Index, the …

What’s to Come in 2024: Hard Market, AI Expansion, More Catastrophes, Network Consolidation

No one can predict the future, but insurance professionals are likely the best qualified when it comes to predicting risk. For this special report, Insurance Journal asked industry thought leaders their predictions for the property/casualty world in 2024 and what …