• Unaffiliated or informal joint practice “partnership with no strings;”
• Formal partnerships;
• Corporate practice with other producers;
• In-agency “joint work specialist.”
Affiliations
• With property casualty firms;
• With stock brokerage or securities firms;
• With financial planning firms;
• With other financial institutions;
• National “agent networks"
Reasons for Joint-Work — Joint Practice and Affiliations
• Image. Perception of operating as a group — as a firm or as a network
(note, giving up “identity” can be an acceptable tradeoff in certain situations);
• Expanded product availability. Producers who have formal entities with
other producers can often negotiate more contracts, and better contracts (based on
multiple production) with more carriers than a solo producer might;
• Ability to function as a “specialist” rather than a
generalist;
• Synergism — utilization of multi talents;
• Sharing of staff work and case work;
• Learning expansion (from each other);
• Broader scope of services and marketing arenas;
• Camaraderie — personal interaction;
• Availability of specialized expertise;
• Presentation “teamwork” — while one talks, the other observes — can
interface and add effectiveness;
• Different viewpoints and strategies — for case preparation and answering
objections;
• Spread responsibility of knowledge.
Note: Many of the “reasons” also apply to many successful traditional agency
situations.
In-Agency “Joint-Work” Specialist
The joint-work specialist is typically one in personal production (or management
and personal production) who has specialized and has significant expertise in one or
more areas. As opposed to a staff technician who might be more behind the scene, this
producer is directly involved with the prospects and clients.
Commissions are split on a set or negotiated basis between the “specialist” and
the agent who brings in the client or prospect.
Affiliations With Stockbrokerage Firms
Some of the major brokerage firms have learned the hard way — and the
expensive way — that, while stockbrokers can be licensed for life insurance, very few
can sell it effectively. Therefore, many such firms are hiring life insurance agents as the
“life insurance specialist” or the “estate planning specialist” of the brokerage firm.
Financial arrangements can be structured in various ways, depending on the firm.
In general, if an insurance producer is “in-house”, it is similar to an agency relationship
in that the firm pays your overhead in exchange for overrides on your business. You
would be a true employee of the firm, in these situations.
Most brokerage houses look for people who write a lot of cases, a lot of lives, as
quantity is the measuring standard of a stock brokerage firm.
Generally, the brokerage houses have master contracts with several different life
insurance carriers. Production requirements can be expected to be an important factor in
structuring a deal with a brokerage firm.
One important aspect to address is the question of who owns the client?
Normally, non-compete clauses are structured into negotiated contracts with brokerage
firms. Besides the issues of who owns the client (normally, the brokerage house would
claim to do so) and non-compete clauses, vesting and renewals must be negotiated and
spelled out in any contract with a
brokerage firm.
