To get where you're going, you have to know where you are.

Scott Anderson, owner and executive vice president of Concorde General Agency and a past president of the American Association of Managing General Agents, found this out while fleshing out an idea he calls “Vision 2017.”

When he conceived this initiative in 2007, he saw it as a way to focus on what the industry would look like for wholesalers and MGAs in 10 years with regard to technology and the evolving marketplace.

However, Mr. Anderson soon discovered that in looking at how wholesalers would operate in the future, there was a degree of uncertainty as to how they are viewed in the present, particularly by retail agents. Mr. Anderson and the rest of the professionals that make up Vision 2017 have now refocused their efforts on defining, and perhaps redefining, the role of the wholesaler.

In 2007, Mr. Anderson, who was then AAMGA's president, decided that it would be beneficial to attempt to examine where the industry would be in 10 years, and so an initiative named after that concept was started–Vision 2017.

“I just decided that it was something that might be valuable to [the AAMGA] membership to have ideas or things to watch for, or kind of a checklist as we move forward, and to determine what we can do to ensure our value in the distribution channel,” Mr. Anderson said.

The AAMGA board endorsed the Vision 2017 idea, Mr. Anderson said, and he self-appointed the group that would comprise its membership, which he described as a cross-section of the industry.

The members of Vision 2017 are:

o Mr. Anderson, who said that he represents the general wholesaler.

o Chris Jameson, chief information officer of Max Specialty Insurance Company, who offers a technology perspective.

o John Latham, senior vice president in operations at Markel Corporation, who represents the E&S perspective.

o John Hayden, president of the American Modern Insurance Group, who represents personal lines in the insurance industry.

o Tom Albrecht, who is the current president of the AAMGA.

o Paul Goodwin, client executive at Munich Re America, who represents the reinsurance perspective.

o Bryan Clark, senior vice president, underwriting at the Harry W. Gorst Company, who is a managing general agent representing the younger, under-40 perspective.

o Gary Clark, programs and facilities leader at Miller Insurance Services, Ltd., who represents the London perspective.

o Robert Fulwider, chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, who represents the retail agent perspective.

Mr. Anderson said that he is looking to add someone from the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents.

To date, the group has had one meeting, where it identified some of the topics that it wanted to explore. Mr. Anderson said the meeting was initially going to focus on the future: what the industry will look like and how wholesalers will conduct their business. “We didn't even talk about that,” he said. “We talked about how we are viewed in the marketplace.”

Mr. Anderson said that when Mr. Fulwider talked about how wholesalers are viewed by retail agents, it became clear the group needed to get a better understanding of the present, so they could better prepare for the future.

Retailers, Mr. Anderson said, view wholesalers as a market of last resort–where they go when they can't find coverage somewhere else. The first Vision 2017 meeting, he said, examined how the industry could move beyond that perception to show retailers the value that wholesalers bring to the distribution chain.

“What I wanted to do originally is paint a picture and say, 'Okay, wholesale industry, here is one image of what we think things could look like in 10 years,'” Mr. Anderson said. “Well, that's totally out the window. Now we're saying, 'Let's be proactive and move to get ourselves entrenched in the distribution channel.'”

The issue, he said, is image, and the image that retailers have of wholesalers and general agents stems from the traditional role of these professionals. Mr. Anderson noted that wholesalers started as void fillers, and most still fill this role. For example, a retailer will turn to a wholesaler to secure E&S coverage for a bar that they cannot obtain coverage for elsewhere.

“[Wholesalers] are niche underwriters,” Mr. Anderson said. “We need to be. We're experts in that.”

But Mr. Anderson said that wholesalers can be a lot more to retail agents than simply a market of last resort. He explained that his office “is not a market of last resort for a lot of agents. We have a standard company, we have E&S companies, we have specialty personal lines, and we're oftentimes the first choice [retailers] have. And so we're trying to come up with a way to invite the retail sector to use the wholesalers not only as the market of last resort…but to also look at us as an alternative for primary coverage– first look.”

The plan is now to start an awareness campaign designed to improve the image of wholesalers and GAs, Mr. Anderson said. Part of this drive, he said, will involve “getting brand awareness out there–letting them know what the AAMGA is.”

The group will also have to address additional obstacles that come between the relationship of the retailer and the wholesaler. For example, Mr. Anderson said the group discussed the fact that “retail agents live on their contingents in some cases.”

“When [they] deal with wholesalers, typically we take the contingent out of the picture–and they don't like sharing in that commission. So that adds to…the negative perspective,” he said.

But wholesalers do bring enough to the table in the way of unique opportunities to perhaps improve their perception among the retail agent community. Mr. Anderson said.

“What we want to do is enhance our value through the chain and say, 'Here we are. We have primary products for you.' Although they may not be mainstream like homeowners [policies], we can encircle the homeowners with [our] products” such as coverages for watercraft, motorcycles, golf carts, travel trailers, or campers, he said.

While the first Vision 2017 meeting focused on identifying how wholesalers are currently viewed, he said the next step is to examine ways to improve that image.

The next meeting, scheduled to take place after the AAMGA's annual meeting this month, will focus on bringing a technology presence to the industry. If wholesalers can make business easier for other agents through technology, Mr. Anderson said, that may give wholesalers some “credibility” in the eyes of the retailers.

“The path of least resistance is what human nature tends to follow,” he said. “So that's where the technology part of it really fits in.”

Mr. Anderson said that three issues he hopes to eventually address and explore through Vision 2017 are image, technology and perpetuation. He encouraged AAMGA members to get involved and share ideas on how to improve the industry in these three areas.

The AAMGA Web site notes that findings from the Vision 2017 group will be shared through association publications and at meetings. Those interested in the initiative can contact AAMGA Executive Director Bernie Heinze at bernie@aamga.org.

“We're trying to come up with a way to invite the retail sector to use wholesalers not only as the market of last resort…but to also look at us as an alternative for primary coverage–first look.”

Scott Anderson, EVP, Concorde General Agency

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Forward-Looking Project Reveals Need To Redefine MGA Value

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