Great discussion guys. I've owned a brokerage where we concentrated our P/L with 1 carrier for a few years - did it for 2 reasons - it was financially beneficial and allowed us to make important investments in the brokerage, and we were much better able to service our customers. I still considered us to be independent as we made our own decisions and were able to service the customer well with advice that had nothing to do with only having 1 carrier. If the customer didn't fit the product we had available, we'd tell them they'd be better served by another brokerage who had what they needed. I've also had a carrier as a partner for a period of time. Again I considered my brokerage to be independent as the carrier was only interested in financial performance - they had nothing to say about placement of business. But , as an owner, it's not fun trying to negotiate annual compensation as the carrier's wants are very much different than an individuals needs.
Great discussion guys. I've owned a brokerage where we concentrated our P/L with 1 carrier for a few years - did it for 2 reasons - it was financially beneficial and allowed us to make important investments in the brokerage, and we were much better able to service our customers. I still considered us to be independent as we made our own decisions and were able to service the customer well with advice that had nothing to do with only having 1 carrier. If the customer didn't fit the product we had available, we'd tell them they'd be better served by another brokerage who had what they needed. I've also had a carrier as a partner for a period of time. Again I considered my brokerage to be independent as the carrier was only interested in financial performance - they had nothing to say about placement of business. But , as an owner, it's not fun trying to negotiate annual compensation as the carrier's wants are very much different than an individuals needs.
I am interested in seeing which of the 3 of you sells first.