Latest Agencies Headlines

MyNewMarkets.com Announces Two More Exchange Conferences

Apr 8 2008 // SAN DIEGO – (April 8, 2008) – Due to the success of it’s inaugural Exchange conference, MyNewMarkets.com, has scheduled two additional conferences in San Diego, California on September 4, 2008 and Dallas,...

To Perpetuate or Sell – It’s a Big Decision to Make

Apr 8 2008 // If you run your business as if you will choose to perpetuate you’re maximizing value,” says John Wepler, president of the consulting firm Marsh Berry & Co. Then, whether you decide to sell your agency to a...

Insurers Keen on NCAA’s Basket-Full of Opportunities

Apr 8 2008 // The University of Kansas men’s basketball team may have been the big winner at last night’s NCAA championship — but when it comes to the NCAA’s bonanza of sponsorship benefits from basketball and...

Collectify Offers Home Inventory Software to Agents

Apr 7 2008 // Collectify LLC has released its new Collectify Home Inventor Edition software at special pricing to insurance professionals so they can provide it as a value-added service to personal lines insurance clients. During 2005...

Texas Insurance Agent Accused of Bribery in Rio Grande Valley

Apr 7 2008 // A Harlingen, Texas, insurance agent is accused in a federal indictment of providing cash, plane tickets and condo rentals to some Edcouch-Elsa school district officials in exchange for public contracts. Arnulfo Olivarez...

Agents in the East Find Recession Hurts Others More Than Them

Apr 7 2008 // How agents from Mass. to Virginia are faring as the economy slows, competition quickens and government changes the rules Agents across New England and the Mid-Atlantic states are worried about how they and their customers...

Agency Strategies for Surviving a Recession

Apr 7 2008 // Agents who have lived and worked through previous recessions say business fundamentals that make sense in any economic environment ring doubly true in down times. “To weather the storm, agents need to do what they...

It’s the Soft Market, Stupid

Apr 7 2008 // It starts with the housing market. Then it seeps into construction, typically residential followed by commercial. Then it travels to manufacturing, then retail, then hospitality. It differs by region. It might be worse in...

Insurers Keen on NCAA’s Basket-full of Opportunities

Apr 7 2008 // The Hartford and XL Insurance pursue insurance industry’s love affair with sports-related, 360-degree marketing Quite a few insurers’ names have been bounced and bandied about like basketballs on TV lately, and...

‘State v. Federal’ Fight Heats Up

Apr 7 2008 // In the face of growing economic turmoil the Bush administration is calling for an overhaul of system of regulating the nation’s financial services industries — including insurance. The reform proposal announced...

In Midwest, Economic Downturn Makes Soft Market Even Tougher

Apr 7 2008 // In recession-battered Michigan and elsewhere, agents pursue opportunities despite market conditions When it comes to dealing with a recession, independent agents in Michigan carry the dubious distinction of having more...

N.C. Agent Told to Hide His Fire Truck

Apr 7 2008 // State Farm insurance agent Darin Morton has had a fully functioning fire truck parked in front of his office in the Charlotte, N.C. suburb of Pineville for six years. But The Charlotte Observer reports that...

It’s the Soft Market, Stupid

Apr 7 2008 // It starts with the housing market. Then it seeps into construction, typically residential followed by commercial. Then it travels to manufacturing, then retail, then hospitality. It differs by region. It might be worse in...

Southeast Agents Fear Recession as Construction Woes Continue

Apr 7 2008 // Shrinking payrolls and receipts exacerbate soft market effects of lower premiums and commissions Southeast insurance agents do not all agree the economy is in a recession or on the causes of the slumping economy, but they...

People

Apr 7 2008 // Patrick G. Ryan, founder and executive chairman of the largest insurance intermediary, Aon Corp., said he intends to retire from Aon effective Aug. 1, 2008. “After 41 years as CEO and three years as executive...

‘State v. Federal’ Fight Heats Up

Apr 7 2008 // In the face of growing economic turmoil the Bush administration is calling for an overhaul of system of regulating the nation’s financial services industries — including insurance. The reform proposal announced...

Apr 7 2008 // People Rob Arnold has been named president of Houston-based insurance wholesaler Myron Steves. Arnold has been a member of the Myron Steves management team since 1995 and has also served as director of Business...

Double Whammy

Apr 7 2008 // It starts with the housing market. Then it seeps into construction, typically residential followed by commercial. Then it travels to manufacturing, then retail, then hospitality. It differs by region. It might be worse in...

California Assembly Considering Insurance Agent-Broker Bill

Apr 7 2008 // A bill that would help to clarify when an insurance professional is acting in the capacity of a broker versus an agent in California is scheduled come before the state Assembly Insurance Committee no later than April 16....

Take a P/C Soft Market, Throw in a Recession, and Stir

Apr 7 2008 // The P/C industry’s chief economist on how agents are affected when a recession coincides with a soft market The following interview with Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, took place...