The top three trends affecting distribution at BGAs and IMOs

The distribution of life insurance and annuities is forever evolving, but perhaps more than usual at the moment as various trends and disruptions shape broker general agencies and independent marketing organizations.

Bryan Hodgens, corporate vice president, head of life, annuity and distribution research for LIMRA and LOMA, will present the biggest trends during a session today at the LIMRA Life Insurance and Annuity Conference.

His session is titled, The Future of Distribution: BGA and IMO Insights. The distribution space is being shaped going forward by three trends, Hodgens said:

1. What are independent agents looking for when choosing a BGA or IMO?

The session will rely in part on data from a study LIMRA did in partnership with the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies. Released early this year, the survey research revealed how producers view the marketing and sales support received from BGAs and IMOs

Not surprisingly, lead generation is the prime concern producers have with their BGA and IMO partners.

2. Merger and acquisition trends.

A new model has taken hold in the world of distribution: use of financial might to build massive scale in order to consolidate and perfect back-office distribution. IMOs like Integrity Marketing Group and AmeriLife Group are gobbling up agencies coast-to-coast every month.

"The independent distribution channel has seen a tremendous amount of M&A activity over the last few years," Hodgens noted.

Projections are for M&A to continue strong among BGAs and IMOs. The quest for scale carries the promise of big sales. The survey found that 41% of producers said M&A activity will affect there they place business.

3. Growing product offerings and platforms

Independent agents are leading "first and foremost" with life insurance, Hodgens said. But the product shelf is growing and sales are including annuities, health and wealth management services.

"With all the merger-and-acquisition activity, we're seeing that these IMOs are building out a pretty vast ecosystem of product offering and platforms," Hodgens added.

The M&A activity is helping producers to expand product offerings and technology services are evolving faster. So the three trends are tied together in some ways and represent the future of independent distribution.

"What we're finding in our research is that the independent agents are looking at the consolidation to be able to have a platform where they can have this one-stop shop of being able to offer all these different services and get support in ways that they they haven't been able to in the past," Hodgens said.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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