A publication of the: Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Louisiana
A publication of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Louisiana
Louisiana Agent
January 2020 In this issue:
IIABL STAFF Hughes Fires Back on Tort Reform .................................................. 4-5
Jeff Albright Chief Executive Officer jalbright@iiabl.com
Gearing Up For Tort Reform ............................................................... 6
Top Ten Tech Tips of 2019 ............................................................ 8-11 Consolidation to the Distribution System ................................... 12-13
Francine Berendson Director of Communications & Events fberendson@iiabl.com Karen Kuylen Director of Accounting kkuylen@iiabl.com Rhonda Martinez, CIC Director of Insurance rmartinez@iiabl.com Jamie Newchurch Insurance Services jnewchurch@iiabl.com Lisa Young-Crooks Executive Assistant lyoung@iiabl.com
How Do I Hire New Employees? .................................................. 15-18 Future Insight Prize 2020 ............................................................ 18-23 Agencies Need to Promote Opportunities for Young People...... 24-26 Calendar ........................................................................................... 25 3 Ways Agents Can Build Connections on Nextdoor ................... 28-30
IIABL Spring Education Conference .................................................. 31 Big I Lobbying Victory Most Read List on Insurance Journal ............ 32 New Trusted Choice Website Design ............................................... 32 Rate & Rule....................................................................................... 33 IIABL Partners ................................................................................... 35 IIABL Board ....................................................................................... 36
Hughes Fires Back on Tort Reform IIABL Board member, Bret Hughes, Hughes Insurance Agency in Gonzales, Louisiana recently returned fire on the Mark Ballard’s opinion piece about tort reform in the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper. The auto/tort reform effort is heating up leading into the start of the 2020 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature on March 9, 2020. There is a lot of misinformation about the reasons for Louisiana’s high automobile insurance rates.
The Advocate (Baton Rouge) January 12 2020 Letters: Column on tort reform ignored key facts Mark Ballard’s opinion piece on proposed tort changes was wrong on the facts and wrong in his conclusion. (Click HERE to view Ballard’s opinion.)
As agents, we live the truth of our broken legal system every day and must continue to educate the public and legislators on the underlying causes.
Ballard failed to present the most important facts: Louisiana policyholders file twice as many bodily injury claims as the national average and claim 67% higher damages than the national average. This is the reason our auto insurance premiums are some of the highest in the nation.
Hughes does a good job of laying out the case. His letter to the editor is reprinted here.
But why? Are we more fragile than other Americans? No. Does the Louisiana legal sys-
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tem encourage more insurance claims than other states? Yes. The “tort reforms” in question are all changes to bring Louisiana laws, which are significantly different from other states, into line with the rest of the country. If we want to pay lower premiums like other states, we need laws like other states. Ballard claims the actuarial report conducted on the proposed tort reforms “reviewed each of the points in the omnibus bill and found no cost savings at all.” The report analyzed 10 possible reforms. Savings on various reforms ranged from none to 0.5% to 5%, but many of the reforms could not be priced because “there is no reliable historical experience to quantify the size of the savings.” The report did not say that there would be no cost savings at all. Ballard also blames the high cost of auto insurance on uninsured and underinsured motorists. The primary cause of high insurance premiums
in Louisiana is bodily injury liability premiums, which are not affected by uninsured/ underinsured motorists. Ballard points to one statement out of context by an insurance lobbyist that medical, vehicle and wage costs continue to go up and put upward pressure on automobile insurance premiums as a “confession” that premiums cannot be reduced. Wrong again. Insurance premiums will continue to go up, along with all other costs, over time. But we can bring Louisiana automobile premiums in line with other states and save Louisiana policyholders significant premium dollars by bringing our legal system into line with other states. As an insurance agent, I can tell you that Louisiana is in an automobile insurance crisis. Many insurance companies refuse to do business in our state. Businesses with highrisk automobile fleets cannot get insurance, and all businesses are paying significantly higher premiums than their competitors in other states. Some businesses have been forced to cut back, shut down or move to other states. Many families can’t afford to pay for the outrageous cost of automobile insurance in Louisiana and still buy groceries. That is one reason for uninsured/ underinsured motorists. If we want to reduce auto premiums, we must have “tort reform” to bring our laws into line with other states and attract more insurance companies to Louisiana to compete for our business. Thankfully, many Louisiana legislators understand the need for reform.
Bret Hughes
insurance agent Gonzales
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Louisiana Legislature Gearing Up for Auto-Tort Reform The 2020 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature does not start until March 9th, but there is already a great deal of activity around the auto-tort reform issue that is expected to be one of the highest profile issues this year. IIABL is actively working with various business coalitions, legislators, and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon to develop various auto-tort reform bills. Now Senator Kirk Talbot plans to reintroduce an enhanced version of his Omnibus Premium Reduction bill from last year, which is expected to be the centerpiece of the auto-tort reform effort. Representative Ray Garofalo has already filed HB 9, a companion Omnibus Premium Reduction Act, and has pledged to work with Talbot to pass a comprehensive bill.
this issue because we deliver the outrageous insurance premiums to people, caused by our broken tort system. Last year IIABL distributed PUSHCARDS to agents to help explain to customers why their auto insurance is so expensive and how the Louisiana Legislature can reduce their premiums. We need you to continue to generate grassroots support for auto-tort reform by educating your customers and friends. The digital PUSHCARD can be found HERE. If you would like more of the hard-copy printed pushcards, please email Lisa Young-Crooks in our office at LYoung@iiabl.com.
We expect that there will be a significant number of tort reform bills filed this year as new legislators work to fulfill their campaign promises to improve the Louisiana legal environment and bring down automobile insurance premiums.
Senator Sharon Hewitt has reintroduced her seatbelt disclosure bill (SB 12) which would allow a defendant to disclose to the judge or jury that the plaintiff was not wearing their seatbelt (as required by Louisiana law) which on average increases injuries by 50%. Current Louisiana law does not allow such transparency. The trial lawyers know that a big fight is coming in the legislature this year, so they are preparing their defense. Their narrative will be that there is nothing wrong with our tort system…the problem is that greedy insurance companies are using unfair business practices to overcharge Louisiana consumers. They will allege that insurance companies use credit scores, gender, and the “widow tax” to gouge policyholders. Senator Jay Luneau (one of the trial lawyers on the infamous Senate Judiciary A Committee that killed tort reform last year) has filed several bills attacking the insurance industry. SB 13 prohibits the use of gender over the age of 25. SB 14 prohibits the use of credit scores in insurance. SB 15 prohibits the increase in premium when the death of a spouse leaves a widow or widower. Grassroots support for auto-tort reform will be critical to our efforts to pass meaningful legislation this year. Insurance agents are the “tip of the spear” on Louisiana Agent 6
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Top Ten Tech Tips of 2019 I published about 50 TechTips in 2019. I realize that with the continued flood of email, some of these TechTips may have gotten sent to a “read later” folder and were forgotten. Others may have scanned the issue but didn’t have time to research to see if the tip would help. I have never promised that every TechTips will be earthshattering and life-changing. I do hope that there will be a few gems over the course of the year that significantly impact productivity and effectiveness for you individually and for the organization. In this issue, I am highlighting my top 10 TechTips for 2019, listed in no particular order. 1. Otter.ai When I first wrote about this service, I had only been using it for a short time. Otter.ai has now become an indispensable tool that allows me to transcribe various kinds of voice to text seamlessly. The Otter service is available on the website as well as apps for both iOS and Android. You can use the phone app to record a meeting and have the transcription converted automatically. You can also use the website interface to upload a previously recorded au-
dio file and have it transcribed. The transcription is not perfect, but the website interface provides an easy interface to allow you to listen to the audio and edit the converted text. A free version of Otter is available that provides up to 600 minutes (10 hours) of recording transcriptions per month. The Premium Version is $99 per year and provides 6,000 minutes of transcription per month (100 hours). You can sign up here. Click here for the original article. 2. QuickJump
QuickJump is a simple utility program that allows you to do one primary thing — navigate to folders quickly using search parameters. It did take a while to break old habits and remember to use it, but now it is the primary way I navigate to a folder location. You can see in the article’s screenshot that I’ve included my folder structure for organizing each document for this weekly TechTips. Using Windows Explorer to navigate to the “2019 TechTips” folder takes five mouse clicks. QuickJump is one of those little tools that saves a lot of time and frustration and quickly fades into the background. QuickJump is a fast and easy way to find any
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folder quickly and easily, especially when you don’t remember where you put it. Click here for the original article.
3. Using Amazon Polly Web Services I wrote a series of issues during 2019 describing how any agency can utilize several of the Amazon Web Services to add voice and translation capability to enhance your website. Here is a list with links to the issue where you can find the details on how to set it up. Create an Alexa Skill for Your Organization with Alexa for Business Blueprints
app to record and upload videos of each room and the exterior spaces of their property. Pictures and videos are a standard way to capture some of the inventory. The videos are processed through a video recognition AI to detect the inventory items and present the results automatically. The homeowner makes the final confirmation of the inventory items and updates their list of items for that space. The new functionality can detect both personal property objects such as furniture, electronics, collectibles, and decorative items in the home as well as fixed asset items such as appliances, fixtures, equipment, and building materials. They do have an agent/broker white label solution you should check out. Click here for the original article.
Automatically Add Audio to Your Website with Amazon Polly Automatically Translate a Website Page with Amazon Polly 4. HomeZada HomeZada is an excellent example of how machine learning will impact your customers. It launched a home inventory video recognition process using the pattern matching capabilities of machine learning to a set of features within its digital home management platform that enables homeowners to use the mobile
5. Handwrytten Handwrytten is a platform that utilizes custom-designed built robots that use a pen to “hand write” the exact text you want on your note. They have a wide variety of pre-designed cards, including birthday, graduation, thank you, thanks for doing business with us, etc. You can also send them your custom-designed notecards. Handwrytten allows you to send handwritten cards in pen at scale. Click here for the original article.
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6. Deluxe eChecks
Deluxe Checks has created a secure process (called Deluxe eChecksPro) that allows you to send a check to anyone with an email address to pay your bills. You may know Deluxe Check as the company that sends the little box of paper checks when you open a bank account. And, yes, you read that correctly. I now send a check as payment to anyone with an email address virtually instantaneously using the Deluxe eCheck platform. Why are you still mailing paper checks? Click here for the original article. 7. FBI IC3 Cyber Incident Reporting The mission of the Internet Crime Complaint Center is to provide the public with a reliable and convenient reporting mechanism to submit information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning suspected Internet-facilitated criminal activity and to develop effective alliances with law enforcement and industry partners. Information is analyzed and disseminated for investigative and intelligence purposes to law enforcement and public awareness. The IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the actual victim or from a third party to the complainant. They can best process your complaint if they receive accurate and complete information from you. Click here for the original article.
8. Two New PowerPoint Tools
8a. PowerPoint Design Ideas The PowerPoint Designer improves slides for Office 365 subscribers by automatically generating design ideas to choose from. While you’re adding content on a slide, the Designer works in the background to match that content to professionally designed layouts. PowerPoint Design Ideas is a subscriber-only, Office 365 feature. If you don’t see the Design Ideas, the PowerPoint Designer toolbar button, or certain features described here, then you might not have access. Click here for the original article.
8b. PowerPoint Presenter Coach Microsoft is adding an artificial intelligence-powered assistant to PowerPoint called Presenter Coach. This tool is designed to help improve people’s presentations. The new feature appears during a rehearsal mode for PowerPoint slides and offers feedback on your presentation skills by listening to audio from your computer’s microphone. Presenter Coach’s pop-up tips provide feedback about pacing and filler words, so you’re not muttering or stuttering through a presentation. It also helps present-
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ers be more inclusive with their language, with suggestions like police officer instead of policeman. Click here for the original article.
cy access to the forms in the platform. The vendor paid the license fee for their clients. This agreement expired on December 31, 2019.
9. Google Alerts
As of January 1, 2020, the vendor providing access to ACORD forms will no longer be able to provide access through sublicensing. Each organization will be required to obtain their license directly from ACORD. It would be best if you read the original article to make sure you understand your options and the process for purchasing your new ACORD license.
I continue to be surprised by how little agency staff — especially producers — use Google Alerts. Using Google Alerts is like having a personal virtual research assistant spending 100% of their time searching the web to find news, comments, and articles based on keywords and phrases you select. The advantage of this personal assistant is that it doesn’t get tired, nor does it forget to do a search. And, this service will not cost you anything because it is provided for free by the world’s most popular search engine — Google. Click here for the original article.
Steve Anderson Steve Anderson provides information to insurance agents about how they can use technology to increase revenue and/ or reduce expenses. He speaks professionally to hundreds of agents each year on the future of technology, the social web, and how insurance agencies can establish their Internet presence.
10. ACORD is Changing How You Access Forms As a reminder, every entity (agency, insurance company, and vendor) that uses ACORD® forms or ACORD data standards is required to have a license to access and use ACORD forms. There are currently about 850 forms in the library. The current ACORD license agreement for vendors that provide ACORD forms in their platforms include a sublicense for agen-
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The Implications of Consolidation to the Distribution System Authored By: Bobby Reagan The number of firms that have sold since 1/1/10 (just under 10 years) is truly staggering. SNL reports that there have been 4,453 firms sold. If we conservatively estimate the number of other smaller transactions that were not reported at about 50% of the reported number, we would estimate that at least 6,800 firms have sold in the past 10 years. At this point the demand continues to be strong, coming from an ever-increasing number of buyers. There is no immediate reason to suggest that the rate of consolidation will decline any time soon, although political uncertainty, the “calls on the left” for single payer health insurance and the possibility of some flattening or decline in the economy could have an impact on pricing and the level of deal activity. Even if the rate of consolidation were to decline, considering the pure number of closed transactions over the past 10 years as a percent of the total distribution system (likely over 20%) and considering the
size of many of the firms being acquired and the total premium volumes changing hands, this consolidation is having a material impact on every aspect of the distribution system. Here are some of the most significant impacts on the various players involved: Carriers Stable personal relationships between carriers and agency principals are being tested as agents sell and are influenced by their acquirer’s relationship (or lack thereof) with the carriers. The relationships are also impacted by the acquirer’s frequent efforts to leverage those carriers for higher compensation on the same business already written with the carriers. Those Carriers who historically focused on the “privately-held, smaller side” of the agency distribution system are having to shift their focus as they get more production from the larger firms doing the acquiring and the larger accounts those acquirers are likely writing. This forces them to change the way they market and service their business. Wholesalers Wholesalers tend to be more negatively impacted by their agents selling as the larger acquiring agents and brokers have generally narrowed their use of wholesalers in order to leverage their volumes with their own wholesaler or with the several that they focus their attention on. This has impacted the smaller wholesalers more as they have more consistently been selected against in favor of the larger firms. It is proving to be a motivator for many of the smaller wholesalers to sell to the larger wholesalers that are better positioned to “make the cut”. Producers The experience of producers working for firms that are acquired is mixed. Some are material owners and participate nicely in the transaction. Some as well benefit from the enhanced capabilities offered by their new parent and the greater Louisiana Agent 12
clout and more prominent name. At the same time, there are some younger, very talented producers who got little out of the transaction and find themselves working for a buyer offering no ownership and a culture that may not be appealing. We are starting to see a fair amount of movement of these “unhappy” producers individually, or as teams, as they join other firms offering what they are looking for or they start their own firms. Agent and Brokers that Don’t Sell Some would suggest that the best thing that can happen to an agent is to have one of their key competitors sell. The selling firm can get distracted and can no longer use ownership to attract or keep talent. As noted above, it may result in quality young producers wanting to make a move. Obviously, this is not always the case but when it is, it is only so to the extent that the remaining privates provide a platform on which producers can thrive and to the extent they leverage their opportunity to use equity as a way to set themselves apart.
Big 'I' Reviews The Hartford Producer Agreement The Big “I" has reviewed The Hartford Producer Agreement, which became effective for most agencies on Jan. 1. As with past Big “I" reviews, this review focuses on insurance-related provisions and issues and is intended to assist members with understanding the terms of the agreement. The Big “I" is pleased to make this and other company contract reviews available as a free benefit to all Big “I" members. To access a copy, go to the Big “I" website and select Legal Advocacy in the Services drop-down menu, and then click on Contract Reviews. The review is titled: “The Hartford Producer Agreement (PRDCRAGR'20) – Reviewed December 2019." Contact Scott Kneeland or Eric Lipton with any questions.
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How Do I Hire New Employees? One of the most frequent requests we receive from IIABL members is, “How do I hire good employees?” We hear you loud and clear and are pleased to offer the following exclusive member benefits to you.
Big I Hires Looking for an employee? Have you checked out Big I Hires, www.bigihires.com yet? Big I Hires is a one-stop resource for independent insurance agencies to identify, hire and access top-performing Producers and CSRs. If you want to hire the right person for your team, the Big I can help. Big I Hires has partnered with IdealTraits to help insurance agencies hire the great talent. IdealTraits has a DIY option where you can post jobs, recruit candidates, send assessments and identify the right recruit. Big I Hires has an assortment of assessment tools to help you qualify your candidates before you hire. IdealTraits also has a full service recruiting service that will identify the right candidate for you. Find your next top employee at www.BigIHires.com!
New Employee Training IIABL and New Level Partners offering the following curriculum to train your new employee.
1) Introduction to the Insurance Industry These 5 topics are covered in this online course: a) Intro to the Insurance b) Intro to Property & Casualty c) Intro to Insurance Distribution Channels d) Intro to Risk Transfer and Policy Design e) Intro to Errors & Omissions 2) Commercial Lines Coverage Basics curriculum addresses key insurance topics, core coverages and risk management. This curriculum is an ideal learning experience for new staff (sales, service, underwriting or administrative) and includes 'knowledge checkpoints' to support concept acquisition and retention. The Commercial Coverage Challenge is also included in this series. 3) Personal Lines Coverage Basics curriculum addresses key insurance topics and core coverages. The curriculum includes 'knowledge checkpoints' to ensure the acquisition and retention of key concepts. 4) Commercial and Personal Lines Coverage Basics curriculum offers both coverage curriculums and the Commercial Coverage Challenge™ at a significant pricing discount. It includes all Introduction to Insurance, Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance professionally-designed courses. Commercial and Personal Coverage Challenges are also included! 5)Advanced Communication and Negotiation Skills. The client management team is often challenged with delivering difficult messages or negotiating the terms of an account.
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Client facing employees need the sharpest communication and negotiating abilities. This bundle includes modules on elevating negotiation skills, building credibility with clients, delivering powerful messaging on professional relationships and developing and strengthening an elevator pitch. 6) Business Communication Fundamentals. Effective business communication is imperative for all employees. This bundle is a great foundational series including essential elements of business writing, verbal communication and time management. 7) Client Management Essentials. Today’s demanding clients require the account management team to anticipate client needs, adapt communication style, balance priorities and manage conflict. This course bundle includes modules to introduce communication styles and how to create a positive impression. It also includes courses on Agency Errors and Omissions
best practices. 8)Emerging Leader’s Series is the ideal training series for new team leaders, supervisors or managers. It contains online modules on how to attract and recruit new talent, HR Essentials™ such as Human Resources Risk Management for your Firm, Employee Retention, Performance Management and Effective Coaching Techniques for Leaders. 9) Leading Successful Projects and Meetings. A series for individuals who are seeking to develop skills to successfully lead projects. Ideal for agency team members such as team leaders/supervisors, senior account managers, agency management team members, etc.
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The IIABA Virtual University offers the following courses in their new agent training series:
Intentional Training to Prepare for Tomorrow
BASICS Risk, Risk Management and Insurance: Why Agents Are NOT Risk Managers (3 hours) Understanding the Insurance Industry: From Regulations to Operations (3 hours) The Law of Insurance Contracts and the 'Rules' of Policy Interpretation. (3 hours) Torts, Negligence and Legal Liability (3 hours)
WAHVE - CSR Leasing Program Your staffing solution might come in the form of wahve® , Work At Home Vintage Experts. If you have an employee who will be out on extended medical leave, wahve® can help. WAHVE is an innovative contract staffing talent solution. WAHVE matches pretiring, experienced, trained and knowledgeable insurance professionals with retail agents, E&S wholesale broker and MGA clients based on specific job needs. WAHVE delivers "pretiring" talent to fill most any insurance position and at a costsavings. WAHVE has qualified thousands of insurance industry "pretirees" who are eager to extend their careers working from home. Wahves are there for you for the long-term and on a dedicated basis.
BEYOND The Basics of Contractual Risk Transfer, Additional Insureds and Certificates of Insurance (4 hours) Premium Auditing – What Every Agent Must Know (2 hours) The Basics of Commercial Property Underwriting and Rating: COPE (3 hours) The Basics of The Basics of Property Values and Coinsurance Conditions (3 hours.)
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The benefits • Fill a staffing need when you can't find the talent, whether part-time or full-time • Save on hiring, training, managing, overhead and turnover costs • Free up highly-paid staff for more time with clients and prospects • Improve productivity and lower staff costs WAHVE takes the stress out of finding talent because WAHVE does the work for you. WAHVE offers a complete and effective solution to talent qualifying, matching, tech support, HR administration and management.
Future Insight Prize 2020 By Daniel Burrus, CEO of Burrus Research
I’ve stated this several times and will continue to explain it to everyone I advise: Change is the only constant in the world today. While my platform has been predominantly digital disruption and technological change, the reality we face as the human race on this planet is that negative change caused either by damage to the planet or damage to one another is ever growing as well. Bacteria and illness transform and outsmart our immune systems; nonsustainable energy sources and volumes of food are consumed at an alarmingly fast rate; and the population continues to increase. Yet, despite the doom and gloom of the aforementioned realities, the increasing population also means there is a surplus of young, anticipatory minds paying attention to the Hard Trends that will shape the future and change things as we know them. These anticipatory minds understand that the change happening in
and to humanity every year will inevitably change them as well, causing them to evolve into entrepreneurial anticipatory minds. And now, there is a massive incentive for them to use their anticipatory minds in shaping and changing the future in incredible ways never before seen. In celebration of its 350th anniversary in 2018, Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, pioneered the Future Insight Prize to stimulate groundbreaking science and innovative technologies for the benefit of humanity. With a targeted 1,000,000 Euro grant over the next 35 years, the inaugural Future Insight Prize winner of 2018 will be announced in July 2019, marking the first of many prize winners and, more importantly, providing critical grant support for development of the winning groundbreaking innovation. The Future Insight Prize will be awarded annually for the next 35 years, honoring achievements in science and technology that stimulate progress in key areas of importance for humanity— namely, health, nutrition and energy. The 2019 prize will be allocated in the field of pandemic preparedness, for work in anticipating a later realization of the visionary dream product coined as the “Pandemic Protector.” Working from a clinical sample of a person infected with an unknown pathogen, this product produces an agent for cure or prevention of further infection within a clinically relevant timeframe. Emergence of a new, potentially lethal infection that is easily transmittable from person to person is among the greatest threats to humanity. Risk of this eventuality has already increased due to global urbanization, ease and speed of travel, climate change and the constant concern of bioterrorism, with current developments of medical coun-
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termeasures functioning far too slowly to prevent widespread illness or death. Therefore, participants observe that we must anticipate, adapt and change in new, innovative ways in order to stay ahead of this risk curve, much as an organization using my Hard Trend Methodology stays ahead of the curve by anticipating and solving problems before they exist. The Future Insight Prize was first announced at Curious 2018, the Future Insight conference. The event was home to more than 60 top speakers, including six Nobel laureates, and was attended by more than 1,300 delegates from academic and corporate environments all around the world. Given the turnout, it's no surprise that the announcement of the first Future Insight Prize inspired more than 70 top scientists to join the Future Insight Prize jury that collaborat-
ed to select the first year’s prize winner. This is only the beginning. For the coming years, three more product topics have already been announced. The 2020 dream product is likely to build upon the 2019 “Pandemic Protector,� as participants work to develop a multi -drug resistance breaker. This dream product is a series of novel, narrow-spectrum antibacterial agents that are capable of curing any bacterial infection without induction of drug resistance, that is accompanied by a one-hour diagnostic test. With antimicrobial resistance threatening the effective prevention and treatment of an always transforming range of infections, the rationale for focusing on this imperative research in 2020 is very clear. The CDC estimates that in the United States alone, over two million
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people are sickened every year with antibiotic-resistant infections, with at least 23,000 deaths as a result. Worldwide, there is evidence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that cause common and treatable infections, such as pneumonia. This is a frightening statistic when you think about it. In yet another cumulative way, 2021’s prize focuses on the topic of our dramatic population increase and on ways to sustain such an increase with innovative ways to produce food without further compromising the integrity of our planet. The rationale behind 2021’s prize stems from projections that feeding the global population of 9.1 billion people predicted by 2050 will require raising overall food production by approximately 70% between 2005 and 2050. The only way researchers believe this will be feasible is to develop truly unconventional methods for producing food — methods that will require highly innova-
tive new technology. The topics for the Future Insight Prize currently extend as far as 2022. That year’s topic pertains to something we’re already on track to develop: renewable sources of energy that will first slow and ultimately eliminate our constant consumption of natural resources for fuel. In conjunction with this concept, researchers hope avidly to prevent further increases in our atmosphere’s CO2 levels. Since electric vehicles are already slowly increasing in presence in the marketplace and on the roads, the focus of 2022’s prize is on the exploration of innovative ways to reduce CO2. The challenge in this relates to CO2’s remarkable thermodynamic stability, which will require a significant transfer of energy to modify. Achievements in the fields of photocatalysis during the last decade have increased interest in the production of solar fuels. While I view the Future Insight Prize as a
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mainstream example of paying attention to and differentiating between Hard and Soft Trends, and of maintaining an anticipatory mindset and applying it to the greater good of the human race, I am not alone in seeing its value. Professors and scholars of Harvard University, Princeton, and many more Ivy League institutions sing the prize’s praises for providing renewed hope in ensuring the future sustainability of our planet. And several of these scholars are on the panel that will determine the winner. Some of the criteria involved in deciding who walks away with the grant money include the following: Has the recipient’s work provided important breakthroughs to enable a realization of the dream product? Is the recipient’s work of utmost scientific quality, as recognized by top peer review journals? And will the recipient be able to make good use of the prize money to advance research in this area?
Looking ahead beyond 2022, the future plan for the prize is to continue to support research laying important foundations for the realization of the four published dream products as discussed here. In addition, new visionary dream products may be announced in years to come. The Future Insight Prize is a perfect example of a company using its available resources to anticipate and positively shape the future, not only for itself, but for humankind. I believe it is imperative that attention be brought to this incredible opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators alike, as Hard Trends are not limited to the business world. We all face change in our personal lives every day, but with the ability to pay attention to the Hard Trends and anticipate what’s to come, we should be able to shape our future in a more positive, sustainable way than we’ve so far been on course to do.
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Why Agencies Need to Promote Opportunities for Young People BY ROBERT PETTINICCHI All of the economic data suggests that the economy is going great and we are nearly at full employment. At the same time, there is anecdotal evidence that the current generation of young workers will not end up as wealthy as the previous generation. Why is this the case? While job opportunities are plenty, the quality of employment in the white-collar sector—other than for graduates of the best business schools—appears to be weak. The opportunities for young employees to work toward earning a six-figure income are very limited, except in the insurance agency and brokerage space—and few people are aware of this. Clearly, there is a perception problem that the insurance distribution industry has yet to overcome. In my view, it’s because the insurance brokerage industry doesn’t do a
good job of promoting itself to young workers. I think back to my experience as a college senior seeking employment where all the oncampus interviews in the insurance industry were for jobs selling life insurance. For many young adults, it is still the case, and there is the perception that the readily available positions are only in this unappealing segment. Two other thoughts come to mind from my youth. The first is the memory of a “debit man” coming to our door to collect money from my grandmother for her life insurance policy. The second is a scene from a Woody Allen movie where a prisoner, who did not behave while incarcerated, had to spend time in solitary confinement with a life insurance salesperson, truly a grave punishment.
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Webcasts E&O Risk Management Click above for schedule Available on Demand
2-4-2020 9:30am-11:30am Why Certificates of Insurance… Just Why?
Ethics Click above for schedule Available on Demand
Flood Click above for schedule Available on Demand
Commercial & Personal Lines Courses Click above for courses & dates for 2019
2-26-2020 1pm-4pm
Who Owns What? 2-27-2020 9am—11am
2-12-2020 12pm-3pm Torts, Negligence & Legal Liability
Active Shooter / Workplace Violence Risk & Insurance Programs
2-20-2020 12pm-3pm Culture, Ethics and E&O
Seminars Spring Ed Conference March 31st Renaissance—BR
Events
IIABR Luncheon February 13, 2020 Juban’s Restaurant
Young Agents Crawfish Boil March 20, 2020 Lakeside
On-Demand Webcasts
Pre-Licensing
Click here for the course catalog of all of the on-demand webcasts. Reminder– all of the IIABL online courses do not require a test for CE Credit
Online prelicensing 3 optional study packages Click here for additional information
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Many years later, I discovered that the property-casualty brokerage space is markedly different than the life insurance space, and the property-casualty field is full of young people who are engaged in the industry, often because of a family connection. In p-c, I’ve met more “juniors” and “thirds” carrying their family name than I can count. All of them affirmed that while an insurance career is usually off the radar screen for most college students, they were grateful to be in a career that provided a good lifestyle with the flexibility and autonomy provided by a healthy income. Oh, and by the way, there are ownership opportunities, the income is recurring and the product being distributed is a necessity and practically recession-proof—not too shabby! The positive attributes of the insurance brokerage field are almost too numerous to mention, but it appears that they are not being mentioned, even a little.
reer-seeking adults. Agency principals can’t just rely on family to both populate and perpetuate their agencies. Owners need to reach out to the local college or business school, start internship programs, connect with leadership in insurance-specific college fraternities and simply let younger folks know that their dreams and aspirations may be more attainable with a career in insurance.
Robert Pettinicchi is the executive vice president and chief lending officer for InsurBanc. A division of Connecticut Community Bank, N.A., InsurBanc is a community-focused commercial bank specializing in products and services for independent insurance agencies.
The industry needs to do a better job of communicating these opportunities to young, ca-
Continued page 34 Louisiana Agent 26
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Three Ways Insurance Agents Can Build Connections on Nextdoor For the last seven years, independent insurance agent Adam Mirkes has been helping his fellow Texans with their personal and commercial insurance needs. Two years ago, he branched out on his own and started his own insurance agency, Mirkes Insurance Solutions. Believing that hard work pays off, Adam spent a good portion of his first year as a business owner pounding the pavement – going door-to-door to introduce himself to neighbors and those closest to him to get his name out there. As a regular contributor to his Nextdoor community, Adam noticed other local experts advertising as Neighborhood Sponsors. While he has been able to grow his business on referrals and through his rounds of knocking on doors, he decided to try Neighborhood Sponsorship because, compared to doorknocking, he thought it would be a better, non-intrusive way to reach the same audience.
nd that’s exactly what it has been. In the 6 weeks since becoming a Neighborhood Sponsor, Adam has seen a return on his investment of at least 3-4 times in profits. According to Adam, about being a Neighborhood Sponsor: “It has been absolutely worthwhile. I’ve received a lot of leads that have turned into a good amount of business. Really, it's been great.” So, how has Adam generated business through his Neighborhood Sponsorship? He shared some tips: 1. Gather recommendations to gain more visibility. “I'm all about getting people to leave me reviews. That way, if anyone on Nextdoor in our ZIP code searches for ‘insurance,’ I show up at the top of the list. I can guarantee that's why people call me. They see
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me and they know other people have been happy with me, so they give me a call.” 2. Make sure to use your monthly posts to build name recognition among local customers. “I use the two posts per month, and I've been using both of them each month since I became a sponsor. The whole idea is to get people to engage and see my name. Then at some point, when they think about insurance, they’ll think, ‘Oh yea, that Adam guy that I’ve seen on Nextdoor. Let's give him a try.’ I've posted polls for
the last 3-4 times and have had pretty good engagement. It's led to far more business than what I'm spending on the sponsorship.” 3. Post something fun and engaging, even if it’s not related to your business. “Especially early on, I didn’t want to post about insurance because that's boring and people fly right by it. My mentality is to post – whether it has anything to do with insurance or not – something fun and engaging. For example, ‘Which college football team will you be rooting for this year?’ We're all passionate about our college teams! Even though it has NOTHING to do with insurance, it has my name up there. The idea is that with repetition, and by being a
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little different than other agents, I can show my personality and stand out. That may lead neighbors to give me a shot at their business.� In summary from Adam, make sure to maintain an active presence as a Neighborhood Sponsor through new recommendations and regular, engaging content. When neighbors contact you, make sure to respond promptly to earn their trust and to showcase your expertise in your services. For insurance agents, it’s critical to position yourself as a helpful resource and nurture these connections because they may turn into valuable business leads when the time is right. About Author
Nextdoor Editorial Team At Nextdoor, we love local. The Nextdoor Editorial Team is dedicated to telling stories of local businesses, providing product education, and sharing marketing best practices to help businesses grow.
Adam found something that he knew would resonate in his community: college football.
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IIABL Spring Education Conference March 31st, 2020 Renaissance Hotel—7000 Bluebonnet Blvd. Instructor: Allen Messer, CIC, CPCU
AGENDA 8am - 9am
Breakfast with Exhibitors
9am - 12pm
Commercial Property Checklist Exposure, Coverages & Endorsements Your takeaways are the ability to identify exposures for your insureds and know which endorsements need to be added to their policies for more enhanced insurance protection. We will exam and analyze the Building and Personal Property Coverage Form, the Causes of Loss - Special Form and the Business Income (And Extra Expense) Coverage form. This course has been filed for 3 CE hours.
12pm - 1pm
Lunch with Exhibitors
1pm - 4pm
Commercial Casualty Endorsements: Do's and Don'ts This course will give you a better understanding of how to identify exposures and for insureds to know which endorsements should be added to the policies. We will exam and analyze the Commercial General Liability Policy, the Business Auto Policy and the Workers Comp and Employers Liability Policy. This course has been filed for 3 CE hours.
4pm - 5pm
Cocktail Reception
Click Here to Register
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Company
Coverage Type
Overall % Impact:
Overall $ Impact:
Number of Policyholders:
Changes
LA Farm Bureau Casualty LA Farm Bureau Mutual Southern Farm Bureau Casualty
1—Property
4.56%
$403,202
11,679
New: 4/15/2020 Renewal: 4/15/2020
Church Mutual Insurance
16-Workers Comp
-7.05%
-$154,851
500
New: 5/1/2020 Renewal: 5/1/2020
USAA General Indemnity Garrison P&C Ins Co
4—Homeowners Revised Rate & Rule
0.9%
$1,066,577
11,421
New: 5/3/2020 Renewal: 5/3/2020
Imperial Fire & Casualty
4—Homeowners
1.6%
$298,590
11,421
New: 2/17/2020 Renewal: 4/2/2020
Ohio Casualty Ins Co Ohio Security Ins Co West American Ins Co
16—Workers Comp Loss Cost Adoption
-5.90%
-$281,219
1,131
New: 5/1/2020 Renew: 5/1/2020
Liberty Mutual Ins Co Liberty Mutual Fire Ins LM Insurance Corp First Liberty Insurance
16—Workers Comp Loss Cost Adoption
-8.40%
-$1,922,935
840
New: 5/1/2020 Renewal: 5/1/2020
United Fire & Casualty United Fire & Indemnity
17—Other Liability Commercial General Liability
-2.0%
-$163,337
1,591
New: 4/1/2020 Renewal: 4/1/2020
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IIABL 2019—2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS & OFFICERS
Joseph A. O’Connor, III, President The O’Connor Insurance Group—Metairie Donelson P. Stiel, Secretary-Treasurer David H. Stiel, Jr. Agency—Franklin
Brenda Case, President-Elect Lowry-Dunham, Case & Vivien—Slidell H. Lee Schilling—National Director Schilling & Reid Insurance—Amite
John L. Beckmann, III, Past-President Assured Partners—New Orleans
Janette Campbell, Young Agent Representative Blumberg & Associates—Baton Rouge
Ann Bodkin-Smith Thomson Smith & Leach Ins—Lafayette
Joseph Cunningham, Jr. Cunningham Agency—Natchitoches
Matthew deBlanc Continental Insurance Services—Marrero
Rob Eppers Risk Services of Louisiana—Shreveport
Christopher S. Haik Hail Insurance Holdings—Lafayette
Stuart Harris McClure, Bomar & Harris—Shreveport
Ross Henry Henry Insurance Service—Baton Rouge
Bret Hughes Hughes Insurance Services—Gonzales
Harry B. Kelleher, III Harry Kelleher & Co—Harahan
Philip “Phe” McMahon Paul’s Agency—Morgan City
Lydia McMorris Alliant Insurance Services—Baton Rouge
Eugene Montgomery Community Financial Ins Services—Monroe
Joe King Montgomery Thomas & Farr Agency—Monroe
Paul Owen John Hendry Insurance—Zachary
Martin Perret Quality Plus—Lafayette
Robert Riviere Riviere Insurance Agency—Thibodaux
Armond Schwing Schwing Insurance Agency—New Iberia
Michael D. Scriber Scriber Insurance Services—Ruston
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