by darnardo1 » Tue May 12, 2009 12:27 am
I have read the definition of a career agent:
The most common form of agency-building intermediary for the L/H industry. These agents operate on a commission basis and are organized under either a branch system or a general agency system. They are provided extensive support from their affiliated insurer/s.
What is the difference between a career agent and an agency building-agent?
can a career agent be both independent and exclusive (tied to 1 company)?
I suspect "career agent" simply refers to the structure i.e. general agency or managerial agency.
Thanks for all the help...
The most common form of agency-building intermediary for the L/H industry. These agents operate on a commission basis and are organized under either a branch system or a general agency system. They are provided extensive support from their affiliated insurer/s.
What is the difference between a career agent and an agency building-agent?
can a career agent be both independent and exclusive (tied to 1 company)?
I suspect "career agent" simply refers to the structure i.e. general agency or managerial agency.
Thanks for all the help...
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 02:31 am Post Subject:
A career agent can be both independent and exclusive. If the agent is a captive agent, then they are restricted as to who they can work with...but if they are non-captive it's up to them. However, if you are tied to one company you may be limiting your sales. Although I have companies that I deal with more frequently, I do have a few for those harder to wrtie clients. For example, there is one company that I deal with that provides excellent coverage for paramedics, firefighters, and police officers. Other companies tend to steer clear of these professions (just an example).
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 04:06 am Post Subject:
Hi darnardo1,
From what Chris has to say I'm sure a career agent has to be somewhat experienced. He might need to yield his own production as well as help build a team of insurance agents. Now, we'd better comment once we know your purpose. Would you care to share more with us?
Steven
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 05:55 am Post Subject:
Thanks Steven and Chris
I am working for a large predominant insurance company. My position is in the strategy and planning team.
My situation is unique because I am in S. Korea. Even though our company is American I am the only foreigner working here. The company is trying to diversify its work force. I started here in April.
Since all the employees here are Korean they are only familiar with the Korean market and are willing to learn more about the American market. That's where I come in. I did my MBA here and started work immediately after graduation. The problem is I knew very little about the insurance market when I started 6 weeks ago. I have been reading articles from LIMRA, AM Best and my universities online database. I have learned a lot about the industry.
My title is market researcher. I receive tasks from my boss and must present papers and articles as well as anything else they think they might want to learn about. It’s kind of strange to be teaching them when they’ve been in the industry almost 10 years longer than I.
Some of the articles published in LIMRA are 50 pages long and as you can imagine is difficult enough for native English speakers to understand never mind Koreans. Recently I was asked to present the US Distribution channels, but this has been delayed and has turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought.
Anyway, hope that’s enough detail for you^^
Thanks for your help
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 06:07 am Post Subject:
Hi darnardo,
What is the difference between a career agent and an agency building-agent?
I would hazard a guess here, IMO an agency buiding agent is the one who would help the insurance company to grow by hiring and training new agents.
My title is market researcher. I receive tasks from my boss and must present papers and articles as well as anything else they think they might want to learn about. It’s kind of strange to be teaching them when they’ve been in the industry almost 10 years longer than I.
I'm sure that this feels weird but certainly nor unusual since their expertise is only in the Korean market. And, the market in the two countries behaves quite differently.
BTW, Darnardo, I was just wondering...how about getting some help from your seniors? They might be able to help you in understanding the basics with which you can help your foreign colleagues further.
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 06:52 am Post Subject:
how about getting some help from your seniors? They might be able to help you in understanding the basics with which you can help your foreign colleagues further.
Hi Kelvin
I am not in touch with anyone in our corporate headquarters in America. We are quite isolated here -I guess there are only a few people in the company who are (Our CEO perhaps?)
But I will keep trying to find someone. Also because of the time difference it will all have to be done by email.
The seniors here know a little about the industry but I believe I have learned just about all they have to teach.
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 07:06 am Post Subject:
darnardo1 says:
My position is in the strategy and planning team
What else do you do apart from market research?
I can assure you that in a dynamic industry like ours...learning would never come to an end. It's just like a technology making way for an old one.
Recently I was asked to present the US Distribution channels, but this has been delayed and has turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought.
Why was this delay caused? Was it due to a lack of communication?
Steven
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 08:11 am Post Subject:
I immediately ran into problems since I thought I could find charts that break down the entire insurance industry by distribution channel, either by premium or policies sold. That was a no go. I could find recent information on specific channels or specific products for example; I could break down the distribution channels by premium for Whole Life products or I could get the ratio of sales (by premium) through the agency-building channel, but as a whole I found it was impossible to collect the data. For starters the terms were all different and confusing (eg career agent, exclusive agent, life planner, financial planner, independent agent, exclusive agent, home service agent, MLEA etc etc etc). I believe I have got all the subtle differences ironed out. But then there was the problem of distributor vs distribution channel. For example a broker or an agent may sell group policies at the work site. Many would see this as a worksite channel sale and others a broker or agent sale. Also agents now commonly use the internet or telephone to assist them with sales is that the direct marketing channel or agent channel? It’s all blurry!
I finally came up with a chart (You can see it in my other post about distribution channels). As far as I know it’s the only one out there!
Please take a look at it and let me know your thoughts…I may have to present it
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 04:06 am Post Subject:
For starters the terms were all different and confusing (eg career agent, exclusive agent, life planner, financial planner, independent agent, exclusive agent, home service agent, MLEA etc etc etc).
I'm with you brother. It is bound sound entirely gooble-de-gook to a novice. It even take a long time for a seasoned industry insider to learn everything about the industry. And you are in a situation where you have to learn everything within a short span. :(
Anyway we would try to help you as much as we can.
I finally came up with a chart (You can see it in my other post about distribution channels). As far as I know it’s the only one out there!
We would love to take a look at it, buddy, but you probably have missed the link. Just post it once more or you can make it an attachment to your post as well.
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 06:00 am Post Subject:
Hi darnardo1,
Thanks for both of your replies to my queries.. :)
Steven
Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 04:42 am Post Subject: link again
I had to remove the home service agents channel as they don't actually sell policies
[h p://w w.savefile.com/files/2096119]
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