Latest Independent Agencies Headlines

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

Progressive CEO Renwick to Retire; Griffith Chosen as Successor

May 13 2016 // The Progressive Corp. announced that Glenn Renwick, president and chief executive officer, will retire after more than 15 years as CEO and almost 30 years with the company, effective July 1, 2016. Tricia Griffith,...

Why Independent Agents Went to Capitol Hill to Lobby

May 12 2016 // Independent insurance agents and brokers from all 50 states convened in Washington, D.C., last month for the Big “I” Legislative Conference. Our members met with almost every U.S. Senate and House office to...

Indiana Agency Exec Named Chairman of Associated Risk Managers International

May 3 2016 // Independent insurance agency network, Associated Risk Managers International Inc. (ARMI), have elected Greg Easley to serve as chairman of the ARMI board of directors.Easley currently serves as vice president and corporate...

Big ‘I’ Agents Honor Wilson with Yates Lifetime Achievement Award

Apr 22 2016 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”) has awarded Bill Wilson with the Jeff Yates Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor the association bestows on a non-agent, for a...

New Hampshire’s Minkler Honored With Big ‘I’ Woodworth Memorial Award

Apr 21 2016 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America has awarded Tom Minkler with the Woodworth Memorial Award, the highest honor the association bestows on one of its members, during the annual Big “I”...

Survey: Revenue Up, Independent Agents Seeking New Carriers

Apr 18 2016 // Independent insurance agents continue to grow and want to grow more with the help of new carrier appointments.This is one of the initial findings of a new national survey of agents conducted by Channel Harvest Research and...

Texas Republican Congressman Named Big ‘I’ Legislator of the Year

Apr 15 2016 // Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, is the Gerald Solomon-Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) Legislator...

Independent Agents Seek New, Strong Performing Carriers: Survey

Apr 14 2016 // Independent insurance agents are seeing revenue growth and would like to grow more, but they’ll need help from carriers. Agents indicate a strong desire to add new carriers, but only if those carriers can demonstrate...

San Antonio Independent Agents Honor Whitaker with Binford Award

Apr 14 2016 // The Independent Insurance Agents of San Antonio (IIASA) has honored Gary Whitaker with the Ben R. Binford Award for outstanding service.Whitaker is vice president of Whitaker Insurance Associates. During his 30 years of...

Powell to Retire from North Carolina Agents Group; Will Join Appalachian State University

Apr 12 2016 // The Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) announced that E. Stuart Powell Jr., MA, CPCU, CIC, CLU, ChFC, ARM, AMIM, AAI, ARe, CRIS will retire on July 31, 2016 from his current position as vice president...

How Technology May Alter Small Commercial Lines Advantage

Mar 21 2016 // As more small business owners become comfortable buying everything including insurance online, exclusive agent carriers will gain an advantage over independent agency carriers in the highly-fragmented and increasingly...

Why Small Commercial Lines May Not Be So Bright for Agency Carriers

Mar 3 2016 // As more small business owners become comfortable buying everything including insurance online, exclusive agent carriers will gain an advantage over independent agency carriers in the highly-fragmented and increasingly...

Insurance Industry Analyzes Google’s Failed Online Insurance Experiment

Feb 23 2016 // The insurance industry had a lot to say about what Google did wrong a day after the search engine giant said it would be pulling the plug on its year-long Google Compare experiment selling auto insurance online.Many...

Merger and Acquisition Activity Sets New High-Water Mark

Feb 22 2016 // Merger and acquisition activity for 2015 set a new record with 456 deals, sailing past the previous high-water mark of 325 deals set in 2012, according to recent data. The fourth quarter closed with 104 announced...

Brands & Independent Insurance Agencies

Feb 8 2016 // Much has been discussed and considerable investments have been made specific to branding within the independent insurance agency market over the past five to 10 years. Intense pressure to “brand” exists because...

Listen to Your Customers, and Win

Feb 8 2016 // For decades, the competitors of independent insurance agents have been frustrated.It seems that every so often our industry is treated to a parade of consulting firms predicting the impending demise of the independent...

8 Industry Trends to Exploit for 2016

Jan 25 2016 // It is time to put on the thinking cap and roll up the sleeves to determine what needs to be done to put the firm in a great position for growth and profit in 2016.Those that like to be proactive by being strategic and...

2016 Insurance Industry Meetings & Conventions Directory

Jan 11 2016 // Welcome to Insurance Journal‘s 2016 Insurance Industry Meetings and Conventions Directory. The information in this directory is taken from a larger database containing additional information on these and other...

Stage Set for Another Banner Year for Independent Agents

Jan 11 2016 // The Big “I” is very pleased that 2015 yielded a number of legislative successes.Early in 2015, the association scored a tremendous double victory when Congress acted on both the National Association of...

Big ‘I’ Names Hanley as Director of Agency E&O Program

Dec 29 2015 // The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (Big “I”) has named James Hanley as the new director of its agency errors and omissions insurance program. Hanley will lead the insurance and risk...