the PRIVATE BANK of CALIFORNIA

Study Points to Banks-in-Insurance Resurgence

American Bankers Association article republished:

10.30.12

In related news, several factors -- including the insurance brokerage industry’s highest growth rate since 2006 and rising profit margins -- suggest that there could be a resurgence of banks in insurance, Jim Campbell, partner and SVP at Atlanta-based Reagan Consulting, said in an article in the ABA Banking Journal’s September issue.

The article was based on the American Bankers Insurance Association’s 2012 Study of Banks in Insurance, and Campbell presented the study’s findings at ABIA’s annual conference last week in Phoenix. He noted in the article that insurance brokerage is a good fit for many community banks and now may be the time to engage. “Current performance trends for insurance brokers are compelling and likely to be sustained,” Campbell said. “If so, they will capture the attention of community banks starved for attractive sources of noninterest income.”

He explained that most banks that successfully sell insurance establish goals, offer retail products and sell those products through an acquired agency. The study’s results “strongly suggest that few banks have achieved a relevant scale in insurance brokerage without selling retail products through an acquired platform,” Campbell said. Read the article. For more information on the study or ABIA resources, contact ABIA's Kevin McKechnie.

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