Baron Garcia
As he prepares to take over the presidency of the American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) in May 2001, Baron Garcia looks forward to implementing his agenda by building on the association's foundation of success over the past 75 years. One of the AAMGA's marquee events is its annual meeting, taking place this year on May 20-24, 2001, at the Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, California.
"I believe this year's meeting comes at a time of tremendous change and opportunity within the insurance market," Garcia states. "We have designed educational and other programs to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience among all segments of our membership.
"Our members are looking to integrate new and innovative business strategies to distinguish themselves from the competition and how they can embrace advancements in technology to improve service efficiencies and expectations to their customers," he says. "The AAMGA annual meeting can help them on their way to business success in 2001."
Garcia, who is also president of the Oklahoma General Agency in Oklahoma City, says this year's 75th anniversary celebration should be an enormous success. Coincidentally, Garcia's own firm is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, as well.
Garcia is very pleased with the increased industry and association involvement by younger employees of MGAs. He intends to continue the efforts of the outgoing president, Leonard T. LoVullo, CIW, of LoVullo Associates, Inc., Buffalo, New York, whom he congratulates for getting younger people more involved in the AAMGA committees and in the board election process.
"I also plan to get them more involved in AAMGA University," Garcia says. "These people are the future of our business, and I have personally seen the benefits of their work within the AAMGA and the insurance market. At my own agency, my daughter, Jenny, pretty much runs the company now. She began working at the agency as a receptionist, secretary, underwriter, virtually every job we have. Now she is treasurer."
Garcia says his daughter also has been actively involved with AAMGA and served as zone chair for the AAMGA Under Forty Organization.
"The day I retire, she will continue using her leadership skills because of her intimate knowledge of every aspect of the agency and her direct involve-ment in the AAMGA," Garcia says.
Reflecting on some of the additional benefits of membership in the AAMGA, he notes that networking opportunities have been a tremendous help, even to his own agency.
"Our membership roster is filled with tremendous resources and knowledge. Just recently we spent a substantial amount of money on a document imaging system," he says. "Before making this investment, we met with other MGAs to look at what they had done. When we made the final decision and purchase, we were confident it would be responsive to the needs of our agency and our customers based on the experiences and advice from others."
Regarding his plans as incoming president of the AAMGA, Garcia says he would like to find ways to utilize some of the overlooked talents available to the association.
"Our committees are comprised of many dedicated and energetic volunteers assembled from the member agencies, and they do a terrific job. At the committee day meetings in Kansas City last year, everyone was present and we designed a fiscally responsible budget and charted the course for the activities we wished to pursue. That was a tremendous achievement, but I think we might be missing an opportunity by not having others involved at the committee level. Our insurance company and vendor partners can be a big help by complementing those volunteers already in place. I would like to test the waters by adding some of their energies, experiences and resources to the committees this year. That can only help make us stronger, more diverse and able to offer more to our members."
Returning to the current dynamic market conditions, Garcia says the association is directing its focus toward assisting many people in the business who have never experienced a hard market.
"From a wholesaler's perspective, they need to know how this changes the business," he says. "In addition to ensuring that we respond to the changing needs of our customers, a major objective will be the achievement of an underwriting profit. This may not have received as much priority in past years because of good returns on investments. However, as the market has now changed, it will be incumbent on us to provide our companies with profitable volume and a commitment to delivering improved loss ratios. It is also a time for us to strengthen our business partnerships with those who share our goals and objectives. The bar has been raised for all of us, and we must remain ahead of the curve by advancing the talents of our employees while, at the same time, improving efficiencies and economies of scale. These performance measures can only further cement relationships between our member companies and the markets they serve."
Garcia says many members of the AAMGA have experienced underwriters on staff. At Oklahoma General Agency, "we do the entire process as if we were a company," he says. "We underwrite our brokers in the field first of all, looking at their respective levels of professional expertise, what creative resources they can bring to the table, whether they have E&O coverage, and so on.
"We really are in an excellent position to help the companies obtain profitable business," Garcia says. "And we offer a local presence that they may not have. We know Oklahoma better than a company that operates outside the state and can protect their interests in the state in which we have achieved a half-century of experience."
Regarding AAMGA University and new strategic plans for the future, Garcia adds that one of the association's primary objectives will be to educate the industry--insurance companies, retail agents and regulators--about the wholesale distribution system.
"I see this as one of my most important jobs--to keep the AAMGA name out there in front of regulators and agents. One of the ways we'll be doing this is through our Web site (www.aamga.org). We're retooling that right now and want to use it more as a destination to let all our constituents know who we are, how MGAs operate, and to share knowledge and information on matters that will have an impact on our business. We also see it as a valuable tool for letting retail agents know about the products we offer. There are so many new and established products we can provide that many may not know about."
Garcia adds that another important objective this year will be to strengthen relationships with the companies to show that "we really take care of their business as though it were our own because, quite frankly, it is. As an association, we're not just about relationships, but integrity and honest dealing, as reflected in our Code of Ethics. We also intend to continue recognizing those insurance professionals who make important and valuable contributions to our industry, so as to improve the value of MGAs in the market."
Garcia says that the association will have plenty on its plate in the coming fiscal year. The federal government's moves into the regulation of insurance and financial services "will need to be closely watched. This could be beneficial to MGAs if it is done correctly, and we will ensure our voice is heard in the federal and state legislatures as these efforts are debated. In this respect, we will also advocate simplification of multistate licensing and E&S taxation issues."
Despite the many issues facing MGAs and the enormous amount of work that needs to be done, "we also need to balance our professional and personal activities by having some fun along the way," Garcia says. "We'll work hard, but we're going to play hard, as well. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming year and am ever so grateful to the members for electing me president."
"I want to leave with a lot of good memories, strengthened relationships and some real accomplishments," he says. "I can't do that alone and, fortunately, won't have to. You need a proactive board and executive management staff, and we have that. You need an active membership, and we have that. This will be a year of many challenges and opportunities, and we are consummately prepared to further improve on the AAMGA's past accomplishments to benefit the members and the services they are uniquely positioned to provide to their customers." *