Earlier this month, Nationwide announced it would be consolidating all of its brands under the Nationwide umbrella.

IA talked with Jeff Rommel, president of P&C independent distribution for Nationwide, about the transition and what it will mean for independent agents now and in the future.

IA: Can you provide some background on why the decision was made to align under the Nationwide brand? Were independent agents part of that decision-making process?

Rommel: We have engaged in dialogue about branding with our agency force for years.  I’m sure there might be an exception out there, but categorically every agent that I have interacted with to this point has been very supportive and excited about the opportunity to be aligned with the Nationwide brand.

The reality is that Nationwide is ranked on the Fortune 100 list of companies, but I don’t think many people realize the scope and scale Nationwide has. And part of that is we have historically been going to market under a variety of different brands. Coming together under one brand will strengthen us, provide more visibility to Nationwide and in the long term benefit our agents and members.

Will there be any way that your independent agent force will be distinct or distinguishable from the exclusive agency force, other than by contract? 

To the consumer side, we don’t intend to differentiate. But internally, our independent agents will still have a dedicated and focused sales force. The exclusive side will have its own dedicated sales force. We still encourage our agents to go to market under their own brand and when appropriate we’ll be in a position to co-brand with our independent agents.

Will the product be the same for exclusive and independent agents?

From a product standpoint, we ultimately intend to go to market with a single product that all of our agents, regardless of contractual obligations, will be able to sell. And what we’re hoping to do is take the best of all of our products and create something in the marketplace that best serves our consumers’ needs.

What happens when a piece of business is quoted in both channels?

The rules of the road of the future will be the same that we have today. We find there is very little internal competition. What we always remind everybody is that there is plenty market share to still obtain; we don’t need to compete against each other.  We try to apply the customer lens to any situation where there might be a business dispute, and we let the customer choose who they want to do business with. If we’re letting the customer choose, there’s not a wrong answer.

What can independent agents expect in the field operations transition?

Today between Allied, Harleysville and Nationwide, we have 16 regional offices across the country. Over the next few years, we’re going to consolidate to six regional offices (Columbus; Des Moines; Harleysville, Pa.; Raleigh, N.C.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Sacramento, Calif.) and each office will house our independent agency leadership team and our exclusive agency leadership team for that region. We will have our underwriting teams located there as well. Our sales teams will stay very dedicated to the channel. Our underwriting teams, long term, will become channel agnostic. They will underwrite regardless of who submits it.

What role do you see the independent agent channel playing in Nationwide’s overall growth going forward?

The independent agency channel is going to be a big part of our growth plans for the future. In round numbers we’ve added nearly 3,000 independent agents since 2005 across our organization. I would say that going forward we intend to continue to bring independent agencies into our organization, and they absolutely are a significant part of our growth strategy as we look to the future.

Will there be an opportunity for independent agents to cross-sell Nationwide Financial related products as a part of this change?

Our hope is absolutely that long-term they would be positioned to sell all of the products that Nationwide has to offer. Today many of our independent agents already sell several products from the financial side of the organization. We just see that continuing on a larger scale.

Where do you see the company’s target market once you are selling the same product across channels?

I think you’ll see we are aligned—Harleysville, Allied and Nationwide. We already are a strong player in the small commercial arena and we’re going to strengthen our approach within the middle market world. And then when it comes to the personal lines products, those are our staples. We’re really good at the personal lines side, whether it’s auto/home, the private client type of product or others. We have them all and we will be a solution provider for independent agents.

Do you see middle market as an opportunity?

As we are going through restructuring, we’re putting additional emphasis and resources into the middle market world.

Anything you’d like to add?

We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the Harleysville transaction. We entered into that with the idea of developing a larger footprint on the independent agency side, for them to bring their expertise to us. And that is exactly what has happened. Because of the Harleysville transaction, as an organization we have become stronger and are extremely well positioned within the independent agency channel world to succeed well into the future.

Katie Butler is IA editor in chief.