Classes are offered regionally as well as online
The university's aim is to ... deal with the demands of today and the future by providing continuing business and management education specifically designed to meet the MGA's needs.
The AAMGA University, begun in 1989 during insurance industry soft market conditions, is demonstrating its flexibility to meet its members' changing needs during the present hard insurance market. Preston H. Gough, Jr., CIW, president of the Southern Cross Underwriters, Inc., in Jackson, Mississippi, and chancellor of the university, says that MGAs today are being inundated with telephone calls, faxes, e-mails and other types of communication from retail agents, anxious to find markets for their exposures as insurers continue retrenching in many lines of business.
"In this type of market, which we have not seen since the mid-'80s, many MGAs can't have their people taking time off to travel and attend classes," says Gough. "So, our people are taking the show on the road, so to speak. The university is offering special sessions in various parts of the country, where our instructors work through an MGA to hold classes for retail agents, with continuing education credits. I call it a win-win-win situation. The MGA wins because a group of retail agents is on the premises so that the MGA's representatives can tell their story. The retail agents win because they get to learn more about the wholesale business and obtain continuing education credits as well. The university wins because we're keeping our name out there."
In short, if an MGA cannot come to the university, the university will come to the MGA to fulfill its mission--to increase the business knowledge and management skills of managing general agents, insurance company personnel and retail agents. In addition, the university's aim is to strengthen the insurance industry's ability to deal with the demands of today and the future by providing continuing business and management education specifically designed to meet the MGA's needs.
"This past December, we had three educational sessions in North Carolina--in Columbus, Charlotte, and Raleigh," says Matt Letson, vice president of Hanover Excess & Surplus, Inc., in Wilmington, North Carolina. "Retailers loved them and we received phone calls asking us when we were going to do it again. At our MGA, we believe we have to add value to the products we offer to retailers. We don't want our product to be nothing more than a commodity. There was tremendous interaction between our people and the retail agents who were invited. And, of course, the continuing education credits they received are very valuable."
Gough says that the continuing education credits that the university offers are of paramount importance. "At last count, 49 states demand that licensed insurance agents meet continuing education requirements," says Gough. "The university has become one of a limited number of organizations qualified to provide continuing education for licensed agents in all states with such requirements."
The university currently offers three designations. The Certified Managing General Agency (CMGA) is an agency designation reflecting an agency's total commitment to educating its employees. The Certified Insurance Wholesaler (CIW) is an individual designation designed for the principals of a wholesale agency. The Certified Wholesale Insurance Specialist (CWIS) is an individual designation for the supervisors and underwriters of a wholesale insurance agency and/or insurance company personnel using wholesalers.
In addition to the designations, the university offers "stand-alone" programs intended to benefit those employees who have limited insurance backgrounds as well as the more experienced professionals who would like an update on the latest developments. The focus of the technical sessions is to review coverages and exclusions of common forms as well as to discuss underwriting and pricing techniques. In addition, two stand-alone courses are geared to improving the overall marketing and management operations of the agency or company. All stand-alone courses qualify for 12 hours of university credit.
"University weekends" are a particularly popular offering of the AAMGA University, according to Gough. Initially offered only once a year, the "weekends" now are in such demand that they are being offered three times a year, he says. These weekends give parti-cipants the opportunity to attend up to five different courses and obtain up to 20 hours of continuing education and university credits. Gough says that the courses are offered in easy-to-use four-hour blocks, so attendees can sample a number of different areas. The curricu-lum for each session is customized and provides the most current technical and management information available, Gough says. In addition, special "tracks" of instruction are offered, to appeal to those employees in a specialty area within the agency or company.
In addition to all this, the university provides special educational programs in London with the help of Lloyd's of London and the International Underwriting Association (IUA). During the annual seminar, London participants are provided with an overview of how the U.S. market operates; and attendees from the United States are given an opportunity to see the London market in action.
Finally, the university offers self-study courses to help educate agency and company employees. Court material is provided by The Rough Notes Company, Inc., of Indianapolis, IGS Insurance Education of Waco, Texas, and Development Associates of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
One thing that is new for the university this year is that leaders are putting together a strategic planning committee to examine different strategies regarding products and services, financial planning and communications and marketing. "We've had two meetings, one last October and another in February," says Gough. "Within those overall areas, we have identified a number of sub-topics and we intend to have our people address them in courses.
"We believe that the university is all the more important now because of recent events such as the tragic attack on the World Trade Center. Many of our members have never seen a hard market. We were seeing the beginnings of a hard market before September 11, and now the market is reminiscent of 1984-85. Agents have got to learn how to deal with this new market, and education is of primary importance," says Gough. *