At a recent insurance industry event, the Insurance Executive Forum (which was sponsored by Illinois State University’s Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services) the panelists discussed the rapid pace of merger and acquisition activity in the insurance industry.
I read an article published by Business Insurance that reported on the event (full article here). The article described how consolidation in the industry, and decisions made during and after the merger and acquisition process, have the potential to damage an agency’s relationship with its customers.
The article suggested that companies have a mandate to achieve certain financial results when they acquire or merge with another company. Often, this drive for results disrupts the relationship between agencies and their clients, because mergers and acquisitions often lead to changes in agency personnel. All to satisfy a mandate to deliver a certain level of financial performance.
To us, if a deal is bad for customer service and for policyholders, then it’s a bad deal.
Unfortunately, we see this happen—a lot.
This is why BroadStreet’s℠ approach is different. We focus on making investments in our partners, not stripping them of their most important assets: their people and the client relationships that they’ve built. We encourage our partners to invest in new producers and to build-out the next generation of agency leaders that will protect and strengthen their client relationships.
BroadStreet’s℠ approach is to build a long-term business and to help our partners grow. Our partners maintain operational autonomy, they retain their people, they continue to serve their client’s risk management needs at a very high level, and they maintain the reputations that they’ve built in their communities with their customers.
If you’d like to learn more about BroadStreet Partners℠ and our approach, please contact me.