American Agent & Broker August 2006
Features
NAPSLO and AAMGA provide specialized training to members
PROFESSIONAL education and competence are essential to the career of anyone in the insurance industry, but perhaps even more so to general agents, wholesalers and surplus-lines brokers. To provide the specialized training needed to navigate the E&S
Features
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Are E&S carriers nimble enough to bell the 'cat'?
THE INSURANCE industry is obsessed with cats--as in catastrophes. Hurricane cats--especially "Kat-rina"--have raked insurers for billions of dollars in the last couple of years. Many reinsurers have become particularly allergic to this
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Understanding the risks of independent medical laboratories
AGENTS and brokers interested in creating a specialty in the medical field don't have to confine themselves to such high-profile, litigation-prone risks as doctors and hospitals. Medical labs constitute another possibility. They can be found in
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A marketplace with a $34 billion vote of confidence
The world of insurance constantly changes, and it will continue its dynamic course of developing and responding to risk. The conventional wisdom and practices that affect behaviors and cultures in agencies, brokerage firms, and insurance and
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How your agency can tap the power of benchmarking
The following article was derived from a presentation at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America's National Legislative Conference and Convention, held in April in Washington, D.C.) Last year, while speaking to a group of insurance
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How agents and brokers work with the E&S marketplace
THE E&S marketplace is a valuable tool for most independent agents and brokers. Indeed, American Agent & Broker's annual reader survey consistently shows that nearly 90% of the magazine's recipients regularly work with E&S carriers,
Columns
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Policy Issues: Business awaits on the other side of the looking glass
With apologies to Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" from "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There":"Beware the stereotype, my son!The assumptions that bite, the judgments that trash!Beware the prejudices, and shunthe baseless
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For The Manager: No position is so minor it can't become a major problem
A long time ago, in a faraway land, I started my working life as a French fry chef in a fast-food restaurant. Frying fries was the only job I was qualified to do at the time and, oddly enough, it was considered an easier task than mopping floors. Yet
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Agency Technology: 'Real-time' is one key to more time with clients
As the peak of hurricane season approaches, the insurance community is holding its breath, wondering what the coming months will bring. Everyone seems to agree that the best protection against disaster is an effective preparedness plan--one that
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Strictly Sales: A conversation about sales and customer relationships
The Dynamics of Selling and the Marketing & Sales Ruble Seminars faculties write "Strictly Sales." This month's column is from Brandie Jensen.] Scene: A coffee shop, where Ellen, a successful producer, has by chance met Leon, a top
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What's Going On: Can states and feds agree on E&S regulatory reform?
IN AN ARTICLE in this month's issue, agents and brokers discuss how they interact with the E&S marketplace. One of those agents, John Tallarida, senior vice president of the Heffernan Group in Palo Alto, Calif., cited one problem retailers can
Departments
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Down To Cases
In January 1997, a general contractor entered into a contract with the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department for the construction of a community center. A subcontractor on the project had a liability policy with a policy period running from Sept. 5,
