A new trade association has been formed to focus specifically on a segment of the property-insurance industry that has seen substantial growth in the last several years: The Council for Insuring Private Clients (CIPC) has its sights on developing best practices for providing insurance solutions to the high-net-worth demographic.
Richard Kerr, CEO of MarketScout, says the Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange is a founding partner and developer of the association, which already calls Ace, AIG, Fireman's Fund and Lloyd's among its partners. A dozen of the largest high-net-worth personal-insurance firms are on board, he adds.
"It has been phenomenally well-received," Kerr tells NU. "This is a segment of the industry that has received a lot of attention the last few years; independent agents solely devoted to this product line have popped up everywhere."
The segment is notoriously underinsured. Kerr says carriers known for specializing in high-net-worth clients have maybe 40 percent of the business. The rest of the market is with standard Personal Lines writers such as State Farm, Allstate and GEICO.
The CIPC is in its infancy, but it already has an annual conference scheduled for April 2013 in Grapevine, Texas—complete with networking opportunities with professional-sports and entertainment agents as well as wealth managers.
"Our goal is to develop a set of best practices and risk-management techniques—a common set of goals," Kerr continues. "These clients are so unique; providing services for them really requires a unique skill set.
"This isn't just insuring a house and car," he adds. "This is four or five homes, many cars—driven and shown—plus Umbrella, travel, boats, jewelry, art and Kidnap & Ransom, to name a few [coverages]."
And to signify that a person has the specific training to serve the high-net-worth niche, the trade group is rolling out a new designation: Certified Personal Risk Manager (CPRM), accredited with every state board of insurance. A CIPC education committee is working to create exams.
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