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...ts. In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993), the U.S. Supreme C...

... a national scale. However, small boutique insurance agencies specializing in niche marketing or unique insurance products will also keep growing. Similarly, independent insurance agents will be disintermediated (eliminated as the middleman) by the Internet, although only for selective product lines, e.g., low-margin commodity products that consumers are willing to purchase without an agent's advice. At the same time, there will be fee-based reintermediation (in which intermediaries are introduced into new relationships or their roles and responsibilities are expanded) . And insurance agents will emerge as infomediaries. Finally, both insurance companies and independent agents will learn to cooperate and collaborate with each other to serve end users more effectively and efficiently. At the same time, it's likely that some insurance companies will acquire or invest in their distribution partners in the same way pharmaceutical companies dealt with their distributors (Merck buying Medco and Baxter acquiring Hospital Supply Corp.) . Not all the observations, conclusions, and recommendations found in this report will be applicable to all independent insurance agents. Each one will have to analyze their own context and drivers of change and attempt to use lessons learned from other industries and other independent insurance agent companies to determine their own path. MAJOR TRENDS OUTSIDE THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY Embrace of technology. Regardless of the industry, suppliers and distributors alike are embracing the Internet and other advances in technology to propel their businesses to new levels. Those who adopted the Internet early on seem to love the new playing field, while latecomers are scrambling to catch up. Channel shifting. Financial pressures and consumer expectations are driving suppliers to distribute their lower-margin products ...