CULTIVATING THE AGENCY TEAM by Carol Hammes Use these ingredients to build and maintain an effective operation. Whether your agency's business plan includes growth from internal pr...

DO BANKS OVERPAY FOR P/C AGENCIES? by James M. Campbell Since 1998, the banking industry has been the most active acquirer of Property/Casualty insurance agencies....

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? There’s a general perception that agency value has been increasing during the past few years. Bill Schoeffler explains why this belief is partially true and partly the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

During the past few years, there have been some notable acquisitions of agencies that seemed to push the agency value envelope. In some cases, banks were making their platform acquisition and thus willing to pay top dollar to their first acquisition of a large, well-run firm. In other cases, publicly traded firms were able to exploit their high price-to-earnings ratio to offer a high price to the seller.

ESTABLISHING AGENCY VALUE by Chris Burand Why nine out of ten agency acquisitions end up losing money. If youre considering buying, merg...

EXTERNAL GROWTH WITH SUCCESSFUL ACQUISITIONS by Carol Hammes Be prepared to do an acquisition before the opportunity presents itself. INTRODUCTION Most agencies will have the opportu...

FINANCIAL SERVICES CROSS-SELLING: MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER by Eric Moberg Tap into the goldmine of selling financial services to your P/C clients before your competitors beat you...

GETTING A HANDLE ON YOUR AGENCY'S LIFE POTENTIAL One reason agencies shrug off their Life potentials is they have no idea how big that potential may be. In each agency, of course, the precise figure...

GROW REVENUES OR SHRINK EXPENSES: HOW TO IMPROVE AGENCY PROFESSIONALISM by Elizabeth Miller Although weve seen many agencies enjoy tremendous profits over the years, Elizabeth Miller believ...

MAKE A SMARTER DEAL: BASE AGENCY VALUE ON PROFITABILITY, NOT A MULTIPLE OF COMMISSIONS! by Roger E. Thomas What multiple does an agency sell for these days? 1.25 times commission? 1...

Six reasons why mergers and acquisitions fail.

Few business transactions pack the high-stakes potential of a merger or acquisition. Done well, the deal can help an agency attain new levels of prosperity. Done poorly, it can be crippling.