A Pleasure and a Privilege

As my year as chairman of the Big “I” comes to an end in September, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what our association has accomplished over the past 12 months.

In an historic vote, the board of directors decided to modernize the Big “I” logo to the more dynamic flying eagle swoosh, which harmonizes with our consumer brand, Trusted Choice®, logo. Combined with the optional “Trusted Choice®” tagline, the new logo does a great job of identifying both who we are and what our value proposition is. We are the trusted insurance advisors to our clients, and we add value to the insurance transaction by offering a choice of companies and coverages. Independent agents are the Trusted Choice®, and that is why the board of directors also voted to include our entire nationwide agency membership in Trusted Choice®. This all-in position was adopted by the board to give Trusted Choice® the critical mass of agency participation that is needed to take our branding campaign to new heights and to drive business to our doorsteps. As soon as the Travelers Insurance Company saw our total commitment to the brand, they became a Trusted Choice® company partner, joining the many other companies that want to brand their agency distribution system.

Driving customers to agents is also what the Big “I” is attempting to do with the development of a bold new initiative called the Consumer Agent Portal, or CAP. CAP is geared toward aggregating our agency membership to give our members a premier online presence for the sale of personal lines insur­ance products. Consumers desire more information and interaction online, but also want the valuable assistance of our professional insurance agents. If successful, this effort will enable us to better compete with the other online distribution forces, and earn us the market share that we deserve.

It has been an extremely busy and productive year for government affairs. We began by exceeding the $1 million per year fundraising threshold for InsurPac at the end of calendar year 2009. This was the highest fundraising year ever for InsurPac, and it paved the way for continued success in 2010 and set a benchmark for years to come. Our agents have come to realize that because of the many government affairs issues and threats facing our country and our industry, we all must be involved by contributing to our state and national PACS and by participating in grassroots efforts. Now more than ever, if Big “I” agents do not defend and advocate for our industry and our livelihood, no one else is going to do it for us.

As the healthcare reform debate morphed into health insurance reform, the future role of the indepen­dent agent in the sales process was uncertain at best. Our government affairs team worked tirelessly to solidify our position in the distribution process, and in this changing world, our role is now more important than ever. Consumers need the advice of insurance professionals to guide them through the many changes as they are phased in, so this is a real opportunity for professional health insurance agents.

In the financial services reform debate, we were successful in affirming the importance of state regulation of insurance, and in fighting off attempts at federal regulation. Because of our prominent presence, we were also successful in preventing onerous new regulatory burdens from being put on our members.

We have also forcefully and publicly defended the remuneration system of the independent agency system. We have advocated for transpar­ency, and have demonstrated in our debates the merits of remuneration for sales excellence through contingency compensation.

This year’s difficult economy has presented challenges to our agency members, our state associations and our national association. The leadership of the Big “I” has taken the necessary steps to keep our association on solid, stable financial footing. We have undertaken a prioritization process, and have made internal cuts where necessary, while still maintaining the same excellent services to our members. We have worked to enhance the national and state partnership in providing those services, and have increased our success with InsurBanc, Big “I” Markets and other beneficial programs. Success in these programs not only provides valuable services to members, but also provides an income stream to the association which serves to keep membership dues at a minimum.
During my six years on the executive committee, I have had the opportunity to travel to more than 30 states for conventions, board meetings and conferences with members of our association. Each visit has reinforced my pride in being your chairman. You are truly good people. I have had the good fortune to get to know many of you personally, and to form friendships which I hope will last for years to come. It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to serve as your chairman.

—David Daniel Big “I” chairman