2017 Best Practices Study

The annual Best Practices Study (BPS) originated in 1993 as a joint initiative between Reagan Consulting and the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”). For almost a quarter of a century, the goal of the BPS has been to provide member agents with meaningful performance benchmarks and business strategies that could be adopted or adapted for use in improving agency performance, thus enhancing agency value. The BPS provides important financial and operational benchmarks and is recognized as one of the most thoughtful, effective and valuable resources ever made available to the industry.

Every three years, the Big “I” asks insurance companies, state association affiliates, and other industry organizations to nominate for each of the study’s revenue categories those agencies they consider to be among the better, more professional agencies in the industry. Nominated agencies are then invited to participate. They must be willing to complete an in-depth survey detailing their financial and operational year-end results. Those results are then scored and ranked objectively to determine whether each agency qualifies as a Best Practices agency when compared to other nominated agencies. In 2016, the beginning of the current three-year Study cycle, over 1,500 independent agencies throughout the U.S. were nominated to take part in the Best Practices Study . Although participation took extensive time and effort, 262 of the participating agencies qualified and were designated as Best Practices agencies. The 2017 Study continues to examine the 2016 agencies, more specifically, the 242 agencies who maintained their designations as Best Practices agencies. To maintain Best Practices status, designated agencies must continue to participate by providing data annually until the next study cycle begins in 2019. Participation in the Best Practices Study is a prestigious recognition of superior accomplishments. Agencies that believe they have the qualities of a Best Practices agency can have their state association or an insurance carrier nominate them, or they can self-nominate. The 1993 Best Practices Study 1. The M&A Landscape and Agency Perpetuation. An analysis of the current merger and acquisition landscape in the insurance brokerage industry is provided along with perspectives on internal perpetuation viability in today’s M&A-crazed environment. 2. Executive Summaries. Key benchmarks and perspectives presented in summary for each of the six revenue categories. 3. Cross Category Comparisons. The entire spectrum of Best Practices benchmarks for all six revenue categories is presented in a side-by-side format that allows for a quick comparison of metrics across revenue categories. In addition, the 2017 Best Practices Study introduces new measures in technology utilization related to communications and marketing and has streamlined questions on specialization and ownership. The 2017 Best Practices Study is made up of three main sections: