In yesterday's installment, we examined why more U.S. businessesare turning to developing countries for growth,and why now is a perfect time for independent agents andbrokers to tap into the multinational market.

So how can independent agents go along for the ride? There areseveral ways, particularly through broker networks, saidColetta Kemper, vice president of industry affairsfor the Council of Insurance Agentsand Brokers.

The Council, whose core membership is middle-market agents andbrokers, started building its global member network about 15 yearsago. Since then, the Council has added about 40 non-U.S. membersall over the world, or about 16 percent of its overallmembership—brokers its U.S. members can access when working withcustomers overseas. This enables middle-market agents and brokersto compete with the big brokers for international business, Kempersaid.

Other well-known broker networks include BrokersLink, Assurex Global and Worldwide Broker Network, whichenable members to partner with other agents around the world toprovide service in countries without taking the risks and placingin the local market. These are servicing brokers under thedirection of the U.S. agent.

Agents can often benefit from being in more than one network,because not every firm in a single network may be able to handlethe risk that must be placed, Kemper said. “Agents can oftenservice the business through their own local offices but also havetheir own networks and may have independent brokers around theworld to service clients. This is essential, fundamental to doingbusiness globally.”

“The big advantage of working with partners in our network isthat the people you're dealing with overseas have been vetted,”said John Rodwell, vice president of internationaldevelopment for Assurex Global. Assurex has107 broker members with representation in more than 80 countries.“We send teams into countries to interview agents and brokersbefore making our final selection for membership.”

Building a strong relationship with a foreign business partneris essential to the process, said Jim Kapnick, president ofKapnick Insurance Group, anAssurex member. “To effectively handle a master global program, oneneeds to have a relationship with the local insurance providers forexpert advice in each country and have the ability to effectivelycommunicate back to the controlling broker,” he said. “As anAssurex member, we have the opportunity to meet and buildrelationships with our partners across the globe throughout theyear. This allows us to build deep personal relationships that areincredibly important to properly handle the servicing needs of amultinational client.”

Another primary source for assistance is with your existinginsurers. Chubb, Zurich and other carriers with a long-standingglobal presence are targeting midmarket growth abroad, andindependent agents are key to their strategy.

“Many global insurers have long, successful histories in manyforeign and emerging markets,” said BillSkapof, head of international commercial markets atZurich NorthAmerica Commercial. “Many begin with representative offices orby partnering with an existing indigenous company. Many countriesrequire participation by locals and most insurers find that hiring,training and promoting locals helps them to transition and alignsuccessfully. This knowledge can be important to agents, brokersand insureds who can take advantage of this experience bypartnering with these companies.” With a local presence inmore than 180 jurisdictions around the globe, and access to morethan 1,000 risk engineers and 8,000 claims handling professionals,Zurich is a good carrier partner for agents whose customers havesignificant global risk.

“Any independent agent can handle international customers,” saidKathleen Ellis, senior vice president, worldwidemanager at ChubbMultinational Solutions. “We encourage our agents to buildtheir confidence and sell their ability to handle global accounts,but they don't have to be global themselves.”

To assist its agents in becoming savvy in themultinational market, Chubb hosts an international producer schooleach year for agents who expect to have a book of business ofinternational customers. About 35 to 40 Chubb agents attend the dayand a half training each year. The program covers property-casualtyand specialty coverage, claims, serving the business andcountry-specific information.

State and federal government entities also are a potentiallyvaluable resource when going global. “Many trade bodies have set upshop to facilitate international trade, and these serve as avaluable resource for agents to advise their customers,” Rodwellsaid. “These include municipal and state chambers of commerce. Forinstance, Cincinnati has a well-established European-American Chambers ofCommerce, and Columbus is establishing a chapter to serve theneeds of European corporations doing business in Ohio, and viceversa.”

On the federal level, the U.S. Small Business Administration(www.sba.gov) is a usefulresource for any type of business that is targeting global growth,Kemper said.

Read Part 1: A booming market.

Read Part 3: Potential pitfalls.