CALCULATING lsquo;BONUS OVERTIME WAGES by Don Phin Many employers are freezing wages, telling employees that any additional pay will come in the form of a bonus if the...

CAN YOU DO BUSINESS AT A FAMILY EVENT? by Bill Cates You can - but be very careful! If your friends perceive you as trying to do business at a wedding, it could hurt your chanc...

Independent Agency System carriers that rank high on the Gomez insurance Web site index probably congratulate themselves on their achievement - the result of hard work, creativity, and spending in the nine or ten-digit range. But what if these high-ranking carriers are scoring well in the wrong game?

Suppose Gomez and other Web ranking services have no idea what they’re talking about? What if they base their evaluation criteria on an implicit misunderstanding of the insurance business? What if "winning" means embracing a bankrupt business strategy?

CASH BONUSES AND EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION by Chris Burand Would you be surprised to learn that not everyone is motivated by money? When it comes to offering employees an inc...

CATASTROPHE PLANNING: IS YOUR AGENCY REALLY PREPARED? by Grace Bauer After talking to a number of agents, I've learned that only 10% of agencies are truly prepared for a catastrophe! Sur...

CATASTROPHE PLANNING: IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN by Grace Bauer Some of us are nervous about spring, knowing that it brings tornados and floods. Some of us are in hurricane areas, where summer a...

San Diego, CA, February 17, 2016 - Industry veteran, founder and chief executive of Atlas General Insurance Services, LLC ("Atlas"), Bill Trzos has been named in Insurance Business America’s ("IBA") Annual "Hot 100 List" for 2015.

CHANGE IS A CERTAINTY by Al Diamond Attempting to maintain the same old business practices in a changing environment is as futile as trying to sit stationary in a rising tide. As ind...

Ten years ago it took $5 million in total agency revenues and about $30 million in Property/Casualty premiums to land on the top 100 agency list. Now an agency needs to have in excess of $10 million in revenues and $60 million in premiums to make the cut. Ten years ago the average independent agency in the country had $250,000 in total revenues with six to seven people. Today the average is close to $600,000 in revenues, also with six to seven people. To use a phrase from Bob Dylan, "the times, they are a changing."

CHECK FRAUD AND COUNTERFEITING by L. Burke Files As computer and duplicating technologies have advanced and become cheaper and more widely available, check fraud and counterfeiting have grown. T...