THE MARKETPLACE RESPONDS
We celebrate the independent insurance agent this month. Walt Gdowski, president and CEO of The Rough Notes Company, Inc., is known in the industry as a strong advocate. Rough Notes magazine is 134 years old and The Insurance Marketplace is almost 50. Both publications are designed for (and used by) independent agents. Walt gives us his perspectives on the independent agency system. He also provides both the history of The Insurance Marketplace and a look into its future.
IMP: You and The Rough Notes Company are well known for your support of the independent agency system. What do you think are the system's key strengths?
WG: First, they are independent business people. Second, they are insurance agents. Like all business owners, independent agents want to grow their businesses, and the key to growth is relationships—with clients, insurance carriers, and in their communities. As entrepreneurs, independent agents understand the risks and insurance needs of personal and commercial accounts. As a business owner myself, I wouldn’t deal with anyone except an independent agent—someone I know and trust and feel comfortable sharing my financials with. As your personal and business assets grow, it becomes more important to protect them by working with an experienced independent agent.
In addition to arranging insurance, many independent agents also provide their clients with other services: risk management, worker safety programs, financial and retirement planning, and employee benefits. As a business owner, I can deal with a moderate increase in my property and casualty premiums. Where I need help is in controlling the skyrocketing costs of employee benefits. I turn to my independent agent for that help.
IMP: Rough Notes is also known for its long-standing commitment to the wholesale sector of the insurance market. Retail agents use The Insurance Marketplace to find markets for risks they can't place in the standard market, and IMP builds a bridge between the retail and wholesale sectors of the market. Can you give us a brief history of IMP and tell us about any upcoming changes?
WG: Rough Notes has published The Insurance Marketplace for 49 years. It was the idea of Wallace Clapp, CPCU, a long-time editor at Rough Notes, and it first appeared as a 32-page insert in the September 1963 issue of Rough Notes magazine. It became a separate publication in 1964. In 1992 we created Insurance Marketplace 800, so an agent could call our 800 line and we would look in IMP to find a specialty market for him or her.
We started publishing IMP online in 1996. At that time (when the idea of the Internet was still new to so many people), some of the markets didn’t understand how they would benefit from having their IMP message online. For a small fee, we actually helped some of the markets create a URL, and we encouraged them to create a homepage so an agent who used IMP online could link directly to the market.
We totally redesigned the IMP website (www.insurancemarketplace.com) in 2011, with enhancements for both agents and markets. A market can have a free storefront on the site and can log on and update its listing with the most current information. That market can also put its own videos and white papers on the site. We had 48,000 unique visitors per month to the IMP website in 2011. That shows how eager retail agents are to connect with excess-surplus and specialty markets, even in a soft market.
In 2011, we added a new section to IMP called the Benefits Directory, which lists employee benefits products and services providers. This is a large and growing market for retail agents. They can now use IMP as a resource to find coverages for clients that have needs that standard benefits markets can't meet.
In January, we’ll introduce a new IMP feature called IMPULSE: Insurance Marketplace Update Lead Specific Emails. Since last July, we’ve been sending agents a brochure asking them which specialty lines they’re most interested in and would like to receive information about. So far, we've received about 3,000 requests. This month we’ll begin sending emails to those agents with information about the markets listed in IMP that offer the coverage they seek. The agent will receive only emails about the coverages he or she has expressed interest in and won’t be bombarded with unwanted messages about other topics.
The Insurance Marketplace Cybercast is another way that we try to build bridges between retailers and wholesalers. Each month, the Cybercast focuses on a particular niche market and presents solutions from experienced MGAs, MGUs, wholesale brokers, program managers, and specialty carriers.
All of these initiatives show the importance that we at Rough Notes place on relationships. We have supported the excess-surplus and specialty marketplace with IMP for almost 50 years. We have a strong relationship with the Target Markets Program Administrators Association and other specialty market organizations. We are also committed to helping retail agents connect with wholesalers that have products and services to meet the needs of clients when coverage is not available in the standard market.
IMP: The long soft market and the recession have created serious challenges for independent agents as well as wholesalers and insurers. We’re now seeing some signs that the market is beginning to harden. What does this mean for readers of Rough Notes and IMP?
WG: We’re looking ahead to a good year for the property/casualty industry overall. That’s good news for retail agents, wholesalers, and carriers that have struggled during the recession and years of a soft market. We think 2012 will be a banner year for everyone who counts on Rough Notes magazine, IMP, and all the other products and services we deliver to build and strengthen relationships in our great industry.
2011 CONTRIBUTORS TO THE INSURANCE MARKETPLACE CYBERCAST
INSURANCE COMPANIES | MANAGING GENERAL AGENTS
PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS | SURETY COMPANIES | WHOLESALE BROKERS
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