What's the most important part of the insurance industry?

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Johnson said that his company’s interaction with independent agencies was a major driver in earning recognition as a 5-Star MGA.

“I think our relationships with our independent agencies is a big factor, in that we focus a ton on relationships with our agents and how we interact with them – and also with our partner companies,” Johnson said. “It’s very important to us how we interact and how we build relationships. That’s the most important part of the insurance industry – building strong relationships.”

That focus became even more important during the pandemic, Johnson said.

“Throughout our COVID period in the last two years, we’ve made a huge point of contacting our agents – making sure they’re okay, making sure that we’re providing the services that they need during that time,” he said.

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Johnson also spoke about the evolving distribution space.

“Obviously, the landscape is changing with mergers and acquisitions,” he said. “I’ve never seen the numbers that have been merged together, and obviously there’s some really big MGAs, and there are medium and then there are small MGAs. The smaller MGAs are becoming fewer and fewer, so I think that landscape is changing.

“Then, obviously, digitization and digital transformation in the insurance space is happening. … But I think, again, we wear two hats. We are relationship-oriented to our product and capital providers, and then we’re relationship-oriented to our independent agents. And people want to do business with people they can trust.”