![\"Agency](\"https:\/\/www.insurance-canada.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/reagan-independent-channel-record-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBenefits Sector Rebounds<\/strong><\/p>\n Late 2018 optimism was tempered after Q1 2019 by the sluggish employee benefits sector. At only 3.8%, employee benefits posted its lowest first-quarter results since 2013. The sector has rebounded, however, allaying concern. It posted a 5.5% growth rate in Q2 2019 that trails only slightly below its nine-year historical average. That bounce back \u201cbodes well for the rest of the year,\u201d observes Crites.<\/p>\n Personal Lines Standing Strong<\/strong><\/p>\n At 4.1%, Q2 organic growth rate for personal lines was the second highest since the start of the OGP study in 2008. Although the sector \u201chistorically has been a low-growth\/high-margin line of business for most brokers,\u201d says Crites, it had a banner year in 2018 and \u201cshows no signs of slowing down.\u201d He observes that insurtech competitors are not affecting the ability of agents and brokers to compete in personal lines but adds that rate increases are driving growth.<\/p>\n Commercial Lines Still Booming<\/strong><\/p>\n Nearly four in 10 firms (37%) that experienced growth in commercial lines for Q2 reported double-digit organic growth. The entire sector posted its third consecutive Q2 increase with a growth rate of 6.4%. This represents a small drop from Q1 growth, which was at a historic high of 6.9%.<\/p>\n Increased Premium Pricing<\/strong><\/p>\n The strong economy is helping commercial lines growth, but, as with personal lines, Crites points to rate increases as the primary driver. While numbers are not yet in, it\u2019s expected that Q2 premium pricing will have increased again, making it the eighth consecutive quarter of rate increases across almost all property-casualty lines. But particularly for commercial lines, the \u201chardening rate environment and a growing economy is a recipe for success,\u201d says Crites.<\/p>\n One Cloud on Q2 Horizon<\/strong><\/p>\n Sales Velocity is a Reagan Consulting metric used as a leading indicator of future organic growth via new business production. Expressed as a percentage, Sales Velocity is calculated by dividing current-year new business by prior-year commissions and fee revenue. If a firm consistently posts sales velocity figures in the top 25% of the industry (15.4% or higher in Q2 2019), it\u2019s likely the firm will show above-average growth.<\/p>\n In a \u201csurprising decline amidst heightened growth levels,\u201d says Crites, Q2 sales velocity was \u201cdown slightly, year-over-year, to 12.1%.\u201d<\/p>\n M&A Activity<\/strong><\/p>\n 2017 and 2018 were record years for mergers and acquisitions, and, with 328 deals announced during the first half of 2019, activity is up by 6.5% over last year. \u201cEven at record-high valuations, buyers can still complete accretive deals,\u201d explains Crites, adding that the \u201cfrenzy\u201d continues. \u201cWe see no slowdown in M&A activity for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n About the Survey<\/strong><\/p>\n Reagan Consulting has conducted its quarterly survey of agency growth and profitability since 2008, using confidential submissions from nearly 200 mid-size and large agencies and brokerage firms. Approximately half of the industry\u2019s 100 largest firms participated in this quarter\u2019s survey. The OGP survey is the industry\u2019s preeminent survey of mid-size and large privately held brokers.<\/p>\n For further information and commentary, contact Mark Crites at Reagan Consulting, 404.869.2625 or [email protected]<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n About Reagan Consulting<\/b><\/p>\n Reagan Consulting is a management consulting firm providing strategic consulting, valuation, capital raising and merger-and-acquisition (M&A) services to the independent insurance distribution system. The firm\u2019s services for insurance agents and brokers, bank-owned agencies and other participants in the insurance distribution marketplace include: appraisals of fair market value, capital raise advisory, mergers and acquisitions advisory, ownership perpetuation planning, strategic planning facilitation, key employee compensation and equity plan design, and agency performance benchmarking. Reagan Consulting co-developed the well-known Best Practices Study and produces the quarterly Organic Growth & Profitability benchmark survey. For more information, visit ReaganConsulting.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Source: Reagan Consulting<\/i><\/p>\n Tags: growth<\/a>, independent agents<\/a>, Mergers & Acquisitions<\/a>, Rate Change<\/a>, Reagan Consulting<\/a>, United States (USA)<\/a> Read the original article at Insurance-Canada.ca <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rate increases driving growth: Reagan Consulting Atlanta, GA (Aug. 19, 2019) \u2013 Agents and brokers in the independent insurance channel just posted their best second quarter (Q2) results since 2013. The 6.4% organic growth...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16443"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n