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... beginning of 1984, the principals entered into an agreement with our firm, ARI Services, Ltd., under which we now manage the agency and share in its ownership. The bank holding company principals retain ownership of the business that was on the books at the time the agreement went into effect. All new business is owned jointly by them and our firm. In this article, I'll explain how we sell insurance through this arrangement and share the proceeds from this business with our partners. Although this relationship is still in its infancy, I think it's safe to say that it has tremendous potential for our firm; and I have yet to see any serious drawbacks. ARI Services, Ltd., came into existence in 1981 in a merger of four firms. It has divisions dealing with auctioneering services, real estate, and insurance. We have premium volume of about $1.75 million. I am one of five owners of ARI Services and am in charge of its insurance operations. The bank agency that ARI Services now manages was operated for years as a profit center by the principals of a local bank holding company. The owners realized they lacked the time and expertise to develop the agency as fully as possible. They believed the agency had potential, however, and wanted to maintain an incidence of ownership in it. That left them with two options: Hire professional people to operate the agency or contract with a management service, which is essentially what they did by entering into an agreement with ARI Services. We were on good terms with the bank and its owners even before ...