“In thinking about the insurance industry and what’s occurred over the past 100 years, the biggest change in my opinion has been in the attitude shift towards the intermediary. In the 1980s and 1990s, conventional wisdom was that the insurance agent and broker was going to be a disintermediated, that with technology innovation, carriers were going to go direct to insureds bypassing the agent and broker. There was a lack of investment in the brokerages during this time. All of this flipped with the .com bust in 2000. Technology was not the answer, but the value add that an agent and broker brings to a client with their advice and advocacy was really important. With this shift and realization, the advent of the global broker came to be. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were really only two large brokers and no real global broker. Since 2000, there are now numerous global brokers, and investment money is flowing into this sector. This attitude shift is what I believe has been the major change in the industry over the past 100 years. In my opinion, the US agent and broker is the most valuable asset in the insurance industry.” ~ Patrick G. Ryan, Ryan Specialty Founder, Chairman & CEO and my former boss.
