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Council of Independent Agents & Brokers
Press Release - January 4, 2005
WASHINGTON – The latest issue of Leader's Edge magazine
takes an in-depth look at the ramifications of New York Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer's probe of the insurance brokerage industry.
The cover story for the January/February edition of the magazine, “Contingent
Clash,” is based on a round-table discussion with industry experts who talk
candidly about the Spitzer investigation and how brokers have responded to the
allegations. Among the topics covered are contingent commissions, how the
investigations may affect broker mergers and acquisitions, the possible use of
fees instead of commissions for compensation, and the impact on big brokers now
under investigation by Spitzer.
Participants in the no-holds-barred discussion were economist Keith Crocker, the
William Elliott Chaired Professor of Insurance and Risk Management at the
Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania
State University; Robert Lieblein,
founder and managing principal, and Steve Wevodau, managing principal, WFG
Capital Advisors; and Scott Sinder,
general counsel of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.
Wevodau also is the author of an article in the magazine about what the
brokerage business would be like without contingent commissions, which he
maintains would have a devastating effect on smaller commercial brokers.
The issue also examines how employers are slowly coming to accept
consumer-driven health care plans. In a feature titled, “Is it Soup Yet?” the
magazine notes that 90 percent of HMOs and PPOs
soon will be offering HSAs.
Leader's Edge also covers the annual European reinsurance confab at Baden Baden
and profiles Kevin Conboy, CEO of
Acordia and the point man for the
brokerage firm's owner, Wells Fargo, in its foray into the commercial insurance
brokerage business.
Launched in 2004, Leader's Edge now moves from bi-monthly to monthly publication
with combined January/February and July/August issues. In November, it won an
Eddie Award from Folio magazine for best association magazine in the United
States published at least six times a year and an Ozzie award for best designed
new magazine for a publication owned by a nonprofit organization. Leader's Edge
is published by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.
For copies of the magazine or subscription information, please contact Pat Wade
at The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, 202-783-4400. For information
about editorial features, contact the magazine's editor, Rick Pullen, at
202-783-4400. To inquire about advertising, contact Russell
Selover, the publisher, at 212-737-0891.
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The Council of Insurance
Agents & Brokers is the voice of the market leaders and the
premier association for commercial insurance and employee
benefits intermediaries in the United Statesand abroad. From its
headquarters in Washington, DC – with programs conducted
throughout the nation and world – The Council represents the
largest, most productive, and most profitable of all commercial
insurance agencies and brokerage firms. Only the top one percent
of all agents and brokers qualify. The Council's members in more
than 3,000 locations, place 80 percent — well over $90 billion —
of all U.S.insurance products and services protecting business,
industry, government and the public at-large, and they
administer billions of dollars in employee benefits. Since
1913, The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers has worked in
the best interests of its members, securing innovative solutions
and creating new market opportunities at home and abroad. Web
site: www.ciab.com |
