Latest Agencies Headlines
All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Veteran Looks to Capitalize on Need for Experience
Mar 11 2013 // Looking back at the beginning of his career in the late 1960s, Steve Stonehouse recalls when there were no perpetuation issues and insurance was a much simpler industry. There were young agents aplenty. That was when he...
Agents Hang Onto P/C Market But Lose Ground in Personal Auto: Study
Mar 11 2013 // After experiencing dwindling premiums for years, the property/casualty insurance industry managed to grow substantially in 2011. Independent agents and brokers hung onto their share of the market with some independent...
Project CAP Launches Year-Long Agency Preparation Tool: Agency 2020
Mar 11 2013 // Project CAP has launched Agency 2020, a new program to provide independent agencies with insights and resources to help them create and implement a successful long-term agency strategy. Each month during 2013, the Agency...
Agency M&A Landscape
Mar 11 2013 // Insurance Journal recently had a chance to chat with executives from MidCap Advisors, a New York-based mergers and acquisitions firm. The firm focuses on small- and mid-size brokers and agencies, offering advice on issues...
How Process Improvement Drives Agency Profitability
Mar 11 2013 // To boost their profitability, agencies make investments all the time in people and technology, as well as in other businesses through acquisitions. But Dan Epstein, CEO of ReSourcePro, says there is another often...
The Woodlands Financial Group Has a Focus on Growth
Mar 11 2013 // The Woodlands Financial Group Has a Focus on Growth Richard “Gordy” Bunch, president and CEO of The Woodlands Financial Group, readily concedes that starting a personal lines-focused insurance business in Texas...
The Acquisition Cycle
Mar 11 2013 // Insurance agency mergers and acquisitions were up last year, at an all-time high in fact, according to the Chicago-based M&A advisory firm OPTIS Partners. A recent survey conducted by the financial services consulting...
How Benefit Professionals Can Help Small Public Entities Save When Complying With GASB 45
Mar 11 2013 // The sluggish economy has left many struggling in recent years – individuals, families, small businesses, large corporations, states, and even entire countries. One group that’s been particularly hard hit –...
Fine Art’s Place in the Insurance Market
Mar 11 2013 // Whether it’s in a museum, gallery or in a high-net-worth customer’s home, fine art and collectible items hold special places in the hearts of insureds. Andrew Gristina, the national segment leader for fine art...
Project CAP 2013
Mar 11 2013 // Independent agents should soon be getting some help with their personal lines sales – better late than never. The delayed Consumer Agent Portal – backed by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America Inc....
High-Tech Personal Lines
Mar 11 2013 // How technology is changing the way agents do business Many believe there is still opportunity for independent insurance agents and their carriers to grab personal lines market share. But to do so they must find a way to...
Insurance Agency M&As Hit All-Time High in 2012: Survey
Mar 11 2013 // A survey of insurance agencies in the United States and Canada shows that agency mergers and acquisitions hit an all-time high in 2012, according to a Chicago-based M&A advisory firm. There were 291 reported agency...
Jones on License Fee Hike, Affordable Care Act
Mar 7 2013 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones treaded lightly when discussing a fee increase on insurance licenses to be announced officially next week, but didn’t pull any punches when delivering his thoughts on...
USG adds Angi and Van Zanten to California Operations
Mar 7 2013 // USG Insurance Services Inc., a national wholesaler and managing general agent added producers/brokers Joyce Chambers and Angi Van Zanten. Chambers has more than 20 years of experience in insurance. Most recently Chambers...
UK’s Direct Fleet Insurance Names Cassidy to New Post of Renewals Manager
Mar 7 2013 // Direct Fleet Insurance, the UK market’s specialist insurance trading platform offering brokers a reverse bidding process for their commercial fleets, announced the appointment of Joanne Cassidy to the newly created...
Commentary: Agents Act Now on Healthcare Reform
Mar 5 2013 // For agents and brokers, 2013 is a relatively quiet period related to Affordable Care Act requirements. However it should be a busy time for agents and brokers to begin preparing their clients for what is coming in...
Garagekeepers Sometimes Lags in the Auto Repair Shop
Mar 5 2013 // The neighborhood auto repair shop or local gas station might seem to be an easy risk to insure. But there are a few misunderstood coverages that agents and brokers should know about, says one California broker specializing...
Atlantic Specialty Lines Announces ASLPRO Specialized Professional Liability Brokerage Unit
Mar 5 2013 // Miramar, FL, 03/05/13 – “Our goals in creating this department are multifold”, states Corporate COO, Seth Johnson. “First, the creation of this department will help us better serve our customers by...
Massachusetts Consumer Agencies Collect $13.9M in 2012
Mar 4 2013 // Massachusetts consumer affairs agencies collected over $13.9 million through awards, settlements, refunds and fines in 2012. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation oversees the divisions of banks,...
Bancroft Named Sr. Property Broker at Southwest Risk
Mar 1 2013 // ClearView Risk Holdings LLC (CVR), the holding company of Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Risk LP (SWR), announced that Simon Bancroft has joined SWR as a senior property broker. Bancroft started his career in the London...
