Industry News

Ben Nelson, CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), said the U.S.’s state-based system will not become subservient to Solvency II regulations. Nelson made the remark in an interview with A.M. Best during the NAIC’s fall national meeting. The U.S. Trade Representative and Treasury Department are going to negotiate a covered agreement with the European Union E.U. and Nelson said that in achieving some measure of equivalence, “the state-based system is not going to become subservient to Solvency II. It’s not.”

During a wide-ranging interview for an article in an upcoming PIA Connection, Sen. Nelson told PIA National senior vice president of industry affairs Patricia A. Borowski that the bigger threat to state-based insurance regulation these days comes from the E.U. in the form of Solvency II.

“They [the E.U.] are now in a position that they feel they can dictate that you have to be equivalent,” Nelson said. “But there’s a difference between equivalent results and equivalent structure. Each group is comfortable with their own system because they know how it works. That I understand, but to try to export Solvency II to the United States is a failed effort because the different scope of what the protection is, is monumental. They protect the entity, we protect the public. So, if you can’t recognize and accept that difference, then you could be easily misled thinking that it wouldn’t hurt us to adopt their system. Well, yes it would. Yes it would.”

In the week since the release of research results compiled by The PIA Partnership, the findings are getting noticed in the industry. The National Underwriter/PC360 did an article on how small business owners strongly prefer independent insurance agents, but that agents must take steps to continue to demonstrate their value and also be more engaged online.

Carrier Management, a publication targeted to P/C insurance executives, also reported on the PIA Partnership research results. "Research findings determined that agents offered great value to small business clients, who sought relationships with those who understood their business, offered quick service responses, personal attention and could reassure them that they were making the right insurance decisions," the publication said. Insurance Business America also covered the news.

For more detailed research results, see the project website at www.voiceoftheclcustomer.com/.

Agents Win: Groundbreaking Research by The PIA Partnership (PIA 08/13/15)

Born roughly between 1980-2000, Millennials are often portrayed as preferring texting to talking and online to real life. The truth is that they prize face-to-face meetings as much as previous generations. That's one of the conclusions of a report by the Meetings Mean Business Coalition (MMBC) and Skift, an industry intelligence and marketing platform in travel.

The report says there is a significant body of research supporting the importance that Millennials place on face-to-face meetings and goes on to cite examples. The report asserts that the top motivating factors to attend meetings and conventions revolve around considerations regarding destination, people, content and the overall meeting experience. One primary takeaway shows that Millennials desire to attend live meetings and events even more than older generations. Download the report here.

This is the time of the year when forecasters issue predictions of how many tropical storms will be formed and how many will make landfall in the United States. The problem with this is people may only read a headline and conclude that there's not much to worry about.

PIA National President Richard "Richie" A. Clements points out that, "When it comes to hurricanes, it only takes one to cause massive death and destruction. The fact that it may be one of only a few storms during a season does not matter a whit." Read Richie's full President's message about the start of the hurricane season here.

The date May 4, 1989 will be etched in Gene Galligan's memory forever. On that day his home town Monroe, Louisiana was hit by a catastrophic hail storm. Soon after, Gene's agency was hit by carriers pulling out. But his agency survived, thanks to his PIA colleagues lining him up with a new carrier, when he needed it most.

"Because of our PIA affiliations, we were able to continue in business; from there we were able to plant with other companies," said Galligan "Twenty-six years later, we are still in business and still a member of PIA! From those acts, I realized that PIA agents are not just competitors but part of a family, and I needed to be an active member in that family." Read Gene Galligan's compelling story here.

My PIA Family Helped Me Save My Agency (PIA Connection April 2015)

The picture of millennials as wanting to do everything online continues to be challenged by what they say in surveys. Nearly 40% of the 2,122 people ages 21 to 48 surveyed by a retirement investment firm, Topeka, Kansas-based Security Benefit, say an adviser is a major source for financial information—more than twice the amount who listed the internet as their go-to resource. And people born between the mid-1960s to the early 1990s want in-person education.

Recently, another myth was exploded. It turns out that millennials don't all prefer to do their reading online. A University of Washington study of digital textbooks found that a quarter of students still bought print versions of e-textbooks that they were given for free. Pew studies show the highest print readership rates are among those ages 18 to 29, and the same age group is still using public libraries in large numbers.

Younger Workers Want In-person Education (Employee Benefit News 4/22/15)
Digital Natives Prefer Reading in Print (Washington Post 2/22/15)

PIA National has released testimony for three congressional hearings on insurance matters held over three days this week on Capitol Hill.

On Tuesday, April 28, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing entitled, "The State of the Insurance Industry and Insurance Regulation." Then, on Wednesday, April 29, the House Financial Services Committee Housing and Insurance subcommittee scheduled a hearing entitled "The Impact of International Regulatory Standards on the Competitiveness of U.S. Insurers." Finally, a hearing was set for Thursday, April 30, in the Senate Banking Committee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment subcommittee on "Examining Insurance Capital Rules and FSOC Process."

PIA's testimony states our support of a modernized state-based insurance system and opposition to any federal regulation or international standards that would destabilize or supplant state-based regulations. In addition, PIA comments in support of transparency, especially by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), which recently voted to close many of its meetings to stakeholders.

PIA expresses concern with the level of transparency in the decision-making process of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), as it has the power to designate "systemically important financial institutions" (SIFIs). PIA also cautioned against applying bank-centric standards to insurance companies.

"While banks and other financial institutions profit by actively seeking out risk, insurance companies profit by insuring against risk. Therefore, it is not prudent to attempt to apply bank centric standards to insurance entities, as they are completely different," the PIA testimony states.

Full text of PIA testimony to:
Senate Banking Committee (Apr. 28, 2015)
House Financial Services Committee (Apr. 29, 2015)
Senate Banking Committee (Apr. 30, 2015)

WASHINGTON — Sarah Sun of Klinger & Associates in Germantown, Maryland, was named the 2015 PIA National Customer Service Representative (CSR) of the Year. The award was presented March 27, 2015, by the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) and was sponsored by The Hartford.

“Sarah Sun exemplifies what a professional CSR should be,” said PIA National President-elect Rob Hansen. “She goes above and beyond the call of duty to take care of her clients. She is responsible for one-quarter of Klinger & Associates’ commercial line book of business—over 1,350 renewals, plus new clients. Her retention on her book of business over the past nine years is 94%. Sarah has also helped the agency serve a growing number of customers in the Asian community.

Hansen added that when agency principal Bob Klinger was deployed to Iraq for 18 months, Sarah and Bob’s wife ran the office while he was gone. Sarah worked tirelessly to help make sure that the agency continued to operate as normal.

The PIA National CSR of the Year award is given annually to an outstanding agency customer service representative who works for a PIA member insurance agency. Nominations for this award are made by PIA members. The award recognizes a CSR who has improved operations of the agency, served their clients in a unique or extraordinary way and engaged in community involvement and activities to advance the betterment of the insurance industry.

“We congratulate Sarah Sun on being the recipient of this year’s PIA National CSR of the Year award, which recognizes a CSR’s critically important role in an agency,” said Marie Alvarado, assistant vice president of agent and broker engagement at The Hartford and head of The Hartford School of Insurance. “The Hartford is proud to sponsor this award for the eighth consecutive year as part of our commitment to the independent agency channel and the talented staff that serve our customers.”

Founded in 1931, PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance, but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes and businesses. PIA members are Local Agents Serving Main Street America ^SM. PIA’s web address is www.pianet.com.

PIA National has released its 2015 policy issues of focus. PIA's top five issues of focus for 2015 are agent licensing uniformity, fighting for agent compensation in healthcare, promoting small business & tax reform, protecting state insurance regulation and safeguarding important P&C programs. In addition, PIA will continue to focus on a multitude of other business and policy issues that impact independent agents, as well as monitor and address emerging policy issues as they arise. PIA's 2015 Policy Plan is available here.

PIA National has released its 2015 policy issues of focus. PIA's top five issues of focus for 2015 are agent licensing uniformity, healthcare reform, promoting small business & tax reform, protecting state insurance regulation and safeguarding important P&C programs. In addition, PIA will continue to focus on a multitude of other business and policy issues that impact independent agents, as well as monitor and address emerging and emergency policy issues as they arise.

PIA's 2015 Policy Plan is available here: /docs/2015/2015piapolicyplan/.

"In 2014, PIA had great success in advocating for independent insurance agents at the federal and state level," said PIA National Executive Vice President & CEO Mike Becker. "In the first weeks of 2015, we have already seen early success with the renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act and passage of the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers. Throughout 2015, PIA will continue to tirelessly fight for independent agents."