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Target Markets Program Administrators Association Program Administrator Smith Bell & Thompson, Inc. With more than 80 employees, Smith, Bell & Thompson, Inc., (SB&T) has been specializing in the development and administration of specialty programs marketed to independent insurance agents and brokers for more than 75 years. Operating in 50 states, SB&T currently has relationships with more than 3,500 brokers across the United States. SB&T Captive Management Company, a division of the firm, is an independent manager of captive insurance companies. It has amassed a captive client base with more than $1 billion in assets and $385 million in premiums. With clients ranging from manufacturers to professional organizations to nonprofits, SB&T Captive works closely with insurance brokers who seek alternative insurance arrangements for their larger clients. The National Programs division of SB&T underwrites and manages a variety of specialty programs, including all-lines programs for home health care agencies, medical staffing firms, medical equipment suppliers, social services providers (both for- and nonprofit), and medical facilities, among others. SB&T was recently awarded the 2006 Daniel P. McMahon Award for Underwriting Excellence by AIG Programs, a division of Lexington Insurance Company. The award honors Smith, Bell & Thompson for upholding the highest standards of underwriting excellence. This year marks the 3rd Annual Award, and SB&T was chosen from among 43 AIG Program Administrators. (The award is named for Daniel McMahon, a highly respected underwriter at AIG, who died in 2004.) Bill Thompson, senior vice president, comments, “Over the years we’ve developed excellent relationships with over 3,500 brokers and agents who find that SB&T consistently provides comprehensive and competitively priced insurance solutions for their clients who meet our eligible classes of business. Although we work a lot with the large national and regional brokerage houses, the real core of our distribution comes from the smaller independent agencies … many of whom don’t have access to as many markets. These independent agents find that they can count on SB&T’s specialty programs to offer their clients well-rounded, specialized insurance solutions. “We continue to expand our programs into new areas, such as workers compensation for small businesses, and new classes for our Medical Facilities program, including methadone clinics. We’re also constantly developing new opportunities. Our Distributors Program and our new program for Bed & Breakfasts are among them.” Thompson adds, “Since our programs tend to lean toward the more difficult classes of business, we are somewhat insulated from softening market conditions. Our business cycle tends to be a bit more compressed than what traditional insurance agencies might experience. As the market starts softening, generally the programs we specialize in tend to be the last ones targeted by the competition, and thus are the last to soften. Conversely, they are usually the first classes that carriers tend to shed as market conditions begin to tighten which, of course, works to our benefit as well.” Despite apparent signs that the general insurance market is continuing to soften, Thompson notes success in growing Smith, Bell & Thompson’s business. “Although we have seen a few more entrants in the market for some of our classes in the last year or so, for the most part, the markets still appear to be fairly restrictive and limited. We offer an all-lines approach for many of our programs, while very few of our newer competitors can do that.” * |
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