Latest Agencies Headlines

All the headlines from our Agencies Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Insurance Tries to Keep Up with Sharing Economy

Feb 4 2019 // As more and more consumers click for services and borrow rather than buy, the sharing economy is benefitting.According to Harvard Business Review, the sharing or on-demand economy is attracting more than 22.4 million...

Independent Agent Group Taps Texas Mutual as Endorsed Work Comp Carrier

Feb 4 2019 // Texas’ largest independent insurance agent association and the state’s leading workers’ compensation insurance carrier have formed a strategic partnership.The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT)...

CAUTION: Safety U-Turn for Truckers with Animals

Feb 4 2019 // Hours of Service, Other Safety Exemptions for Livestock Haulers Raise ConcernsMidwest Center for Investigative Reporting It was sometime around 4 a.m. on a cool, spring morning when James McGilvray lost control of his...

Big deals

Feb 4 2019 // Marsh/JLT, Brown & Brown/Hays Topped 2018 P/C Agency MergersA handful of big deals dominated the very busy property/casualty insurance agency and broker merger news cycle for 2018. Based on Insurance Journal reporting,...

People

Feb 4 2019 // AmTrust Financial Services announced leadership changes as it moves forward as a private company. Its $2.95 billion privatization plan was finalized on November 28, 2018 after receipt of all approvals. AmTrust announced...

Taking a Page from the Insurtech Playbook

Feb 4 2019 // How Insurtechs Can Help Attract Millennial Talent to Agencies, CarriersThe rules of the game are changing for companies wishing to attract top, young, qualified talent. Millennials, Generation Y, Gen Next, Boomerang...

Navigating Today’s Nonprofit Insurance Market

Feb 4 2019 // Nonprofits are a lot like most insurance clients; there’s not much difference. They seek trusted and consultative relationships with their agents, brokers and carriers. They seek partners that understand their...

Agencies Promote Soft Benefits to Gain A Distinct Recruiting Advantage

Feb 4 2019 // It’s Part of Who We Are“When I first brought up some of these new ideas you would have thought I suggested we all go to the moon,” said Michelle Trueblood, chief human resources officer at The Horton...

Insurance Agents Assured of Trump Pass-Through Tax Break Under Final Treasury Rule

Feb 4 2019 // The U.S. Treasury issued final regulations and other guidance on a provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that allows owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, trusts, and S corporations to deduct up to 20 percent of...

Reaching the Moonshot Goal in Flood Insurance Coverage

Feb 4 2019 // The private flood insurance industry made significant strides to insure more households against the peril of flood in 2018. Factor in recent major flood events and an ever-changing regulatory landscape, and the role of...

Wishes & Predictions… in their own words

Feb 4 2019 // Ely Kaplansky, President, Kaplansky Agency, MAIncreased market share. Rate increases.Continued profitable growth.Crag Shink, Managing Partner, C.H. Shink & Associates, NYA harder market in some segments.Increasing...

Nonprofits Prove to be a Growing and Loyal Niche

Feb 4 2019 // Nonprofits are growing, which is good news for agents and brokers specializing in this diverse niche market.Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in August 2018 shows that the job...

How One Agent Adopted a Niche within a Niche

Feb 4 2019 // Phillip Hawley, president of Hawley & Associates in Bellevue, Wash., understands the power of referrals in the nonprofit insurance world. His entire agency’s book of business took root with nonprofit referrals...

Texas Brokers Have Until Feb. 28 to Correct Late-Filed Surplus Lines Policies

Feb 3 2019 // Brokers who file Texas surplus lines policies with SLTX will have until Feb. 28, 2019, at 5 p.m. central time to file any necessary adjustment forms or make corrections before the annual late filers report is produced, the...

Breckenridge Insurance Services To Hold Investor Property Insurance Webinar for Agents

Feb 1 2019 // Atlanta, GA, February 1, 2019 — Breckenridge Insurance Services will hold a webinar for agents who are working with insureds that have real estate investment portfolios such as property investors, property managers and...

Risk Management Is Answer to Football’s Insurance Problem, Says Top Sports Broker

Feb 1 2019 // ESPN ran an in-depth report recently about insurers being unwilling to cover the National Football League (NFL) for general liability and workers’ compensation due to concerns over player concussions and traumatic...

Insurers with Best Service Win More Business from Independent Agents

Jan 31 2019 // It may be obvious to those in the industry that the more satisfied independent insurance agents are with an insurance carrier, the more business they will conduct with that carrier. But the message may not be getting...

Specialist Re/Insurance Broker THB’s Completes Leadership Transition for Europe Division

Jan 31 2019 // THB, the London-based specialist insurance and reinsurance broker, confirms the completion of its THB Europe leadership transition.Joaquim Caria retires today as managing director of THB Europe, which was first announced...

Private Equity Again Drove Agency M&As in U.S., Canada in 2018: OPTIS

Jan 29 2019 // Mergers and acquisitions of insurance agents and brokers last year broke several records in 2018, with private equity/hybrid buyers accounting for 68 percent of the total.According to consultants at OPTIS Partners’...

Southeast Officials Focus on Curbing Fraud, Rising Auto Rates, Flood Insurance, Distracted Driving

Jan 29 2019 // For the seventh year in a row, the Florida insurance industry, regulators, and consumer advocates will push for reforms to the state’s assignment of benefits issue that has now become an insurance crisis, according...