Although Bob Fulwider believes the first six months of his term as chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America has earned him a "B" average grade, he does not shy away from asserting that he and his association team have room for improvement on certain subject areas.

At the start of his one-year term last fall, Mr. Fulwider--principal and president of the Ray Wuestenberg Agency in West Liberty, Iowa, and Fulwider Agency in West Branch, Iowa--laid out eight goals he wanted to see advanced during his tenure.

These benchmarks, he explained in an interview with National Underwriter, are his own personal goals that he extrapolated from the Alexandria, Va.-based association's long-range five-year plan, and its more immediate two-year operating plan.

Those goals, which he credits to the work of everyone in the association, cover:

o Agency advocacy.

o Promotion of the independent agent branding initiative, "Trusted Choice."

o Greater use of "Real Time" agency technology.

o Sustaining and strengthening the profitability of IIABA.

o Attracting new membership from outside the traditional bounds of the association.

o Bolstering support services for producers.

o Improving the paths of communication between the state and national associations.

o Improving the relationship between insurance carriers and independent agents.

The best grades went to agency advocacy, profitability of the association and attracting new membership--efforts that he felt earned an "A" or "A-minus." (See the accompanying graphic for the full report card.)

Advocacy has long been one of IIABA's strongest suits, and he characterized the association's efforts as "outstanding" in its work to educate and influence lawmakers on behalf of agent interests.

He credits the group with development of legislation to create "NARAB-II"--a federal bill creating a National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers to improve the ease of multistate licensing for producers while keeping producer oversight at the state regulatory level.

IIABA remains financially strong, he noted, and even managed a budget surplus last year. However, to keep the association viable, it must increase membership, especially with continued agency mergers and acquisitions lowering the total number of agencies--even though the survivors are bigger and stronger overall.

He said the need to attract new members underscores the value of expanding the association's horizon, especially on an international level. "We have a nice start in this area," he said.

Interest in international membership is growing, and the association must now begin to tackle the question of how non-U.S. groups might be incorporated into the IIABA, he said.

Large agencies are joining the association, some enjoying dual membership with the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, he noted. While the small- and medium-size agencies remain the backbone of IIABA, he observed, the association needs to look beyond those producers to the larger firms to develop opportunities that will benefit agencies of all sizes.

Another area of growth opportunity is to address the life and health insurance portions of the group's property-casualty agency membership, he said. Indeed, growth on the individual sale or employee benefit side in life and health can help agents counteract the top-line pressure being created on the property-casualty side by falling premiums in the softening market, he added.

"We have never done much from an association perspective in helping our agents build that book, or giving them management techniques or other things that will make them a better life and health producer," he pointed out. "We are looking at ways we might do that."

Mr. Fulwider gave out a "B-plus" for IIABA efforts to advance the association's "Real Time" campaign and improve communication between Big I and its state affiliates, while grading efforts to boost support services as a "B."

The Real Time program--launched to make agencies aware of the opportunities to improve their operating efficiency by boosting their use of technology--is seeing "big improvement" but still has a long way to go, he confessed.

Too many agencies allow themselves to fall into a rut, he said, relying on familiar company systems instead of progressing to use of Real Time technology, which allows agents to access several company sites with a single sign-on.

He underscored the importance of promoting the program by pointing out that there is fear that companies will not invest to keep expanding Real Time initiatives if they feel agents are not using them.

He still feels a need to bolster the dialogue between the state and national Big I groups but cites dramatic improvements over the past six months.

He gave association support services a grade of "B." Many IIABA initiatives, such as InVEST--aimed at developing student's interest in finding a career in the industry--along with other programs to help develop agency professionalism, remain strong, he said.

However, he sees room for improvement in technical affairs, dealing with policy development and language, which he feels has fallen behind the times. He pointed out that many policies in use today were developed 30 or 40 years ago, and need to be updated.

The two areas where he handed down the lowest grade were in the promotion of the Big I's branding program, "Trusted Choice" (a "C-plus") and improving the producer-company relationship ("C-minus").

While membership in Trusted Choice has grown among both agents and companies, he doesn't believe enough agencies are "living the brand," using all the tools of the program at their disposal to get the message out to consumers about the value they bring to the table--particularly versus direct writers and captive agents working for just one carrier.

Additional efforts to help agents realize the branding dream are in the works, he added.

As for relationships with carriers, strains unfortunately remain, he said, noting that agents do not always have a "warm and fuzzy feeling" about their company partners.

"It's not a lack of trust," said Mr. Fulwider, who cited an element of concern among both parties as to what each partner is doing to secure the relationship for the long term. He added that he hopes some plan will be in place by the fall to address this issue and set the stage for improved agent-carrier relations.

While he gave his own overall performance a grade of "B," he said he is not satisfied and wants to raise it before the end of his term. "I want to be an honor student," he remarked.

Special Reports /

Big I Chairman Gives Himself 'B' Grade But Looks To Become An 'Honor Student'

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