A veteran in Florida's insurance community, Arturo Hoyo takesover as chair of the Florida Association of Independent Agents(FAIA) in September. His more than three decades of experience —most of it in the densely populated Miami area — have toughened hisskin, tilted his outlook toward positive, and made him very awareof how dramatically things can change in our industry. We spokewith him about his new role at FAIA and his perspective on theFlorida insurance market.

Q. As you have risen through the ranks of FAIA leadership, youhave had the opportunity to experience firsthand its challenges andsuccesses. Talk about FAIA's mission and goals, and how theassociation evolves to serve its members.

A. The mission — to serve the needs of Florida insurance agentsand consumers by promoting a healthy and competitive insuranceenvironment — never changes, but I believe how we deliver serviceto accomplish it does. Our board and professional staff makefrequent assessments of the “how” to remain relevant to ourmembers. Recently, FAIA hired Mason-Dixon to conduct a poll withinthe membership to retrieve the most accurate feedback possible. Theresults were both surprising and reinforcing. Surprising, becausesome of what I value most about FAIA — advocacy — did not poll aswell as in the past. Instead, this function ranked third behindaccess to products/services and educational resources (numbers oneand two, respectively). By the way, I believe the value assigned tothis second virtue ripens with age!

The polling information also reinforced that the association isdoing a number of things right, as evidenced by the popularity ofour resources such as the education library and other referencematerial available on the FAIA web site.

The financial reporting data we provide on property insurersalso came in a strong favorite, as member agents frequently mustmake qualitative assessments about these markets for their clients.Many agencies, especially smaller ones, appreciate access to thevarious FAIA Member Services insurance markets that can sometimesbe difficult to obtain.

Q. Your predecessor, Bill Gunter, advocated for widerparticipation in social networks such as blogs and other media. Heenvisioned social networking communities based on a governancestructure, and pushed for their use to become FAIA's preferredmethod of learning and communicating with members. How far has thisprogressed over the past year?

A. It's moved along faster than I can keep pace. And I know if Ican't keep up with it, Bill Gunter couldn't possibly! Seriously,under the terrific leadership of both Bill and Kirk Ball, whoserved as chairman before him, FAIA has done some amazing things toconnect better with our membership. It's such a difficult challengebecause you have to accommodate the younger generation and old guyslike me, who get their information so differently. That has made uscreate more outlets, including the use of social media, to reach awider audience of agents. While progress has been made, it willalways be a work in progress.

Q. Do you see signs that the collecting of dues has become morefair and trackable as the result of any recent changes?

A. We really have postponed any dues modification until theTrusted Choice component is added in September 2011.

Q. What does FAIA see as critical to professionals who fit theage and experience parameters of your Young Agents Council? Whatdoes today's landscape look like for early careerists in insurance,and what is the main responsibility the association must meet ontheir behalf?

A. Young agents are busy people, and they are often the“hunters” in their agencies. Thus, we have to be mindful of theirtime while providing leadership training, networking opportunities,and a larger view of the industry. Hopefully, these sharedexperiences will witness to many of them what an asset we have inFAIA, and they will feel a desire to serve.

Q. Current CFO Alex Sink received FAIA's endorsement forgovernor early on, and the group recently endorsed Jeff Atwater(R-North Palm Beach) as CFO. If your candidates assume these newpositions, what changes could they make that would directly impactFlorida's property market?

A. Both of these candidates have business backgrounds thatcontinue to serve them well in political office. We believe theyhave a good understanding of the real problems plaguing Florida'sprivate property insurance market. If elected, we look forward toworking with both of them to remake private property insurance asFlorida's market of first resort.

Q. Share FAIA leadership's thinking on the evolution — from theGov. Jeb Bush years to the present — of the office of insuranceregulation (OIR), and current commissioner Kevin McCarty. Where isthat fine line that state agencies must walk to protectpolicyholders from political pressure, threatening economics,disaster repercussions, and sometimes uninformed publicopinion?

A. It does not appear that the cabinet reformation that tookeffect in 2003 has made the commissioner's office less susceptibleto political influence. What has been allowed to happen to ourproperty insurance market during a four-year period of no hurricaneactivity says it all. The fragile state of the marketplace as wehead into this year's hurricane season could result in an economicdisaster for Florida at a time when we can least afford it.Political influence from the governor's office has caused the OIRto suppress rates, but that can only go on for so long. Now, we areleft with an expanding residual market, fewer company choices, andconsumer sticker shock as rates begin to rise dramatically.Wherever the “fine line” is, I believe we crossed it.

Q. The theme for the 2011 FAIA convention is “Road to Recovery.”That has an optimistic ring. Are you hoping to serve as aself-fulfilling prophecy?

A. We feel that “the glass is half full” approach is the onlyway we can pull ourselves out of this pit. No one really knows whenthe road to recovery is officially going to start, but why notright now? Restoring the private property market, providing agentswith better tools to compete on the Internet, and promoting TrustedChoice are all things that will help Florida's independent agentsturn the corner.

Q. Cite for us some of the major problems agents face today. Anarticle in Florida Underwriter last month by Rick Stark — presidentof Stark & Associates in Pembroke Pines — discussed the medicalloss ratio component of federal health-care reform and the fearthat commissions could “plummet.” What can your association do tomitigate this bleak prediction for your members, and what specialeducation packages are you considering to keep them at least levelwith the changes?

A. We are very concerned about the remuneration rate for agentswho sell health insurance. Currently, the action is reallyoccurring at the National Association of Insurance Commissionersand the National Conference of Insurance Legislators levels torefine the definition of the medical loss ratio. The IndependentInsurance Agents & Brokers of America and other groups aretrying to ensure that agent commissions are not swallowed up by adefinition that shortchanges consumer service. As implementationprogresses and begins to occur more at the state level, FAIA willbe on the front line defending agents' interests and providing themwith needed training.

Q. When you reflect on the Florida industry as a whole, whatwould you choose as one of the pivotal successes and the biggestchallenge yet unmet?

A. As an industry, I feel we have overcome so much. Our desireto move in the right direction has to be one of the most impressivequalities of independent agents. The biggest unmet challenge isgetting Citizens Property Insurance Corp. back to its originalpurpose as a market of last resort.

Q. Talk a bit about your own career and your partnership withThomas Webb, with whom you founded south Florida's CoastalInsurance Group in 1979.

A. Looking back, one thing that jumps out is how things havechanged. A big reason for this was Hurricane Andrew, a storm thatcompletely changed everything.

Like most industries in South Florida, ours was hit very hard bythe housing crash, along with company insolvencies in recent years.Things have been challenging for agencies statewide. As an industrywe battled back from Andrew just as we will from the currentdifficulties we are facing. A quote I like to use is, “Florida'sindependent agents are similar to Florida's palm trees: We willbend, but we seldom break.”

Our agency partnership has grown with the addition of our sonsPaul, Doug, Tommy, and Bryan. I try to remind them that thisbusiness is cyclical and we will be back. Keep your head up, workhard and do the very best for your customers, and things will workout.