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Industry News

Best Practices 
Six Independent Agencies Named Best Practices Top Performers

The Big “I” and Reagan Consulting announced the Best Practices Agencies for 2008-2009. A total of 189 agencies from around the country maintained their Best Practices status this year and one from each of the six revenue categories was named a Best Practices Top Performer:

-- Less than $1.25 million: Mostad Insurance Services in Langdon, N.D.

-- Between $1.25 and $2.5 million: Treutel Insurance Agency, Bay St. Louis, Miss.

-- Between $2.5 and $5 million: Bigham Kliewer Chapman Watts Insurance Agency, Killeen, Texas

-- Between $5 and $10 million: York International Agency, Yonkers, N.Y.

-- Between $10 and $25 million: SKCG Group, White Plains, N.Y.

-- More than $25 million: McGriff, Seibels & Williams, Birmingham, Ala.

The 2008 Best Practices Study Update, demonstrates that although positive revenue growth was difficult to achieve, Best Practices agencies continued to invest in new production talent. The majority of those agencies with revenues of more than $2.5 million hired at least 1.5 new producers during the last fiscal year, with the largest agencies hiring an average of 9.4 new producers. The average starting salary across all the revenue categories ranged between $52,000 to $95,000. The largest agencies (those with revenues over $25 million) tended to hire more experienced producers while those in the lower revenue categories tended to hire producers with less sales and/or insurance experience.

This year’s study indicates that Best Practices Agencies are proactively taking steps to grow even in a very soft market and during tough economic times.    

Click here to review the complete list of 2008 Practices Agencies, click here to order the 2008 Best Practices Study Update. For more information, e-mail BestPractices@iiaba.net.


InVEST
Awards Season Ahead

Each year, InVEST awards scholarships to students participating in a high school or community college InVEST class who plan to pursue higher education with an emphasis on insurance, risk management, actuarial science or business.

This past spring, InVEST awarded $60,000 in scholarships to 52 students. With the 2009 contest around the corner, it is time to rally students for this exciting competition.

Scholarships will also be awarded to students who will go directly from the classroom to a career. When college isn’t the appropriate option for a student, financial assistance for insurance courses can be a huge incentive. Students not transitioning to a two or four-year college are eligible for scholarships that would assist with licensing, IIA courses, CIC or ACSR. All award dollars are distributed directly to the educational institution or administrator.

In addition to the scholarships, InVEST will also present two other awards next spring --- The InVEST Teacher of the Year award, which recognizes an InVEST teacher who has made substantial contributions to his or her InVEST students, and the Dach Award, bestowed upon an InVEST industry liaison(s) dedicated to their InVEST students.

All award submissions are due on April 10, 2009. For more information, visit www.investprogram.org.

InVEST, a 501 (c)(3) educational trust, is dedicated to improving insurance literacy and attracting new talent to the industry.


Young Agents
Young Agents Speakers Database

Calling all Young Agents Committees! If you’ve had success with a keynote speaker or session facilitator for one of your Young Agents meetings, we want to hear about it! The National Young Agents Committee is compiling a list of outstanding speakers and facilitators for a speakers database that will be available on the Young Agents Web site. This tool can be used by Young Agents staff liaisons, Young Agents committee chairs and committee members to plan upcoming events and conferences. Please submit the speaker or facilitator you would like to recommend to Katie Cosgrove, manager of the Big “I” National Young Agents program, at 800-221-7917; katie.cosgrove@iiaba.net.


IA Magazine
Welcome Autumn with the October Edition

As the leaves fall and temperatures drop, pick up the October issue of IA! Meet the new Big “I” Chairman Brett Nilsson and learn about his passion for the industry in “Making a Living – and a Difference.” Discover how to help clients perpetuate their businesses with life-health products in “Exit Plan Options Create Opportunities." Get advice on adding and making the most of middle management at your agency in “The Middle Man(agement).” And check out how investing in relationships, passion and fun brought success to an agency in “Part of the Pack.”


Best Practices 
Webinars Help Agencies Become Client-centric

A new webinar series is available to help agency decision makers evaluate, implement and audit their workflow and technology efficiencies. Learn the Best Practices way to make real-time a reality. The three-part series, based on the newly revised Best Practices Guide to Agency Business Process and Information Management, is a must-attend for agencies looking to become a client-centric organization. The series begins on Nov. 5 with “Where Do I Begin?” an overview of the guide and instruction on how to assess current technology. The program continues on Dec. 3 with “Implementation and ROI,” which covers the nuts and bolts of real-time processing, carrier interface and workflow management. The series concludes with “Workflows-Auditing and Monitoring Compliance,” which helps agency decision makers ensure they are operating at peak efficiency. Laura Nettles of Nettles Consulting has helped more than 100 agencies maximize their performance and is ready to help your agencies do the same. Learn how to maker real-time a reality. Click here and register today.


Big "I" Markets 
Fishing for Specialty Markets

Big "I" Markets recently introduced several new products under the umbrella of Markel Outdoors. If you have a passion for fishing or know of a business owner who caters to fishermen, then this is a market for you. From wing-shooting preserves to sportsmen’s clubs, whether your client's guests are seeking upland birds, trophy deer or citation game fish, look to Big “I” Markets and Markel for business protection. Available coverages include: commercial general liability, umbrella/excess liability, property coverage and equipment coverage.

This specialty segment focuses on big game, wing shooting and fly fishing resorts, hunting lodges and southern sporting plantations. Guest activities may encompass a broad range of guided sporting and recreational offerings. These products are located on the commercial products menu of Big “I” Markets as Markel Outdoors rod & gun. Click here to log in and learn more and then go out and reel in some new business!


Big "I" Professional Liability 
An Interview with Swiss Re's Sabrena Sally

Sabrena Sally, senior vice president of commercial insurance at Swiss Re was recently interviewed for an article that appeared in Insurance Journal for its Sept. 22 series on agency technology. Sally discusses the additional agent E&O exposures created by the use, misuse and lack of use of current technology.

Click here to read the article.