Special Section sponsored by TMPAA

The State of the Association

As the Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) readies plans and programs for its eighth annual national summit meeting in Arizona next month, we take this opportunity to review activities and accomplishments to date—and to present a forecast of expected progress and growth for 2009 and beyond.

Observations about TMPAA’s “state of the association” are expressed here by three of its long-time leaders: Target Markets Founder and first President Glenn Clark, owner/president of Rockwood Programs, Wilmington, Delaware; TMPAA outgoing President Greg Thompson, president of THOMCO Insurance, Atlanta, Georgia; and William Kronenberg III, who takes over as the association’s incoming president during the forthcoming October summit sessions. Kronenberg is CEO at Professional Underwriters in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Greg Thompson points to the implementation of TMPAA’s Best Practice Certification as a major development during his presidency. “I really enjoyed these past two years as president of the association and am proud of our accomplishments that include overhauling our Best Practice Certification process, establishing a formal process for the election and tenure of board members, and raising standards for carrier membership to ensure that new associate members have a long-term commitment to the programs industry.

“Regarding Best Practice Certification, we went to great lengths to survey our carrier members for their thoughts on what a ‘Best Practice’ program administrator should look like. We felt that if carriers saw value in the certification, then our program administrators would also. Based on the carriers’ feedback, we revised the content of our Best Practice audit. Subsequently the changes were enthusiastically endorsed by our carrier partners at April’s mid-year conference in Atlanta.”

Thompson cites the association’s membership growth to 182 agencies, 48 insurance carriers, and 55 vendor partners during the past two years, and says, “We fully expect the association to continue its momentum gains as members and associate members network and build relationships in the face of a softening market and a weak economy.”

Glenn Clark attributes the association’s remarkable seven-year growth to three key factors. “One, we’re an association of decision makers. We limit membership to program managers, carrier personnel, and vendor partners who make key decisions for their companies. The dynamics of a marketplace populated by only decision makers makes for fruitful, exciting meetings.

“Second, we’re all about improving each others’ businesses. Period. We avoid fluff and remain true to our five core themes: meeting decision makers in the markets; learning new skills; networking with peers; examining and evaluating new technology; and potential cross-selling of each others’ products. If a matter falls outside of those themes, it isn’t TMPAA.

“The third key factor,” Clark continued, “is this: seeking members who want to participate. Our goal is to engage every member to be on a committee, in a workshop, a sponsor, an expert panelist or in any other activity. We make that clear in all of our initial contacts.”

Clark lauds outgoing President Thompson as a champion in growing the group’s professionalism. “Greg greatly expanded our Best Practice program, and we’ve begun to evaluate the establishment of a 10-part series that might help create some kind of program administration designation. Target Markets Charities, a recent addition, invested in helping to re-establish viable business in New Orleans neighborhoods damaged by Hurricane Katrina. We’re considering partnering with Kiva International to perhaps give micro loans to fledgling businesses in third world countries.”

Saluting others for TMPAA’s continuing growth, Clark says, “...committed carriers such as AIG, Clarendon (now QBE), and Zurich signed on early. Leaders like Art Seifert, Greg Thompson, and now Bill Kronenberg are tremendous advocates. And, of course, Executive Director Ray Scotto and his dedicated team have been relentless in promoting the association. It’s my pleasure to be around these folks who exercise a spirit of ‘iron sharpening iron’ as we all prosper.”

Bill Kronenberg, a member since the association’s founding, recalls attending the group’s initial meeting in 2001. He happened to be the meeting’s first speaker. “I’d been an MGA for many years, then switched back to the carrier side. But by 2004, I was enticed back to MGA business. I’m reminded of how I was intrigued by all the brains and talent at that first meeting. Clearly there was no shortage of members who freely shared their thoughts and insights. That climate of cooperation and support was more evident with each succeeding year, to the point where it has become a hallmark of our association.

“As for the future, I see that spirit of understanding and cooperation between agents and carriers becoming even more pronounced. I am very pleased to be following Greg Thompson to the presidency, for Greg’s hard work has made our Best Practice program a major highlight at Target Markets.”

Kronenberg continues, “One area in which I plan to concentrate is growth within our carrier membership. Carrier growth is desirable...that’s a clear part of my mandate. We want carriers to recognize they’re connecting with a top quality organization as soon as they walk through the door. The sharing of information between MGAs and carriers is vitally important, and we’ll try to develop ways to improve on that—perhaps electronically and via the internet. Networking capability improvement is indeed a major goal for us during this coming term.

“Another prime goal is learning from MGAs, from carriers, and from our vendor members what they want. We plan to poll them to learn about improvements they might suggest, what elements to eliminate, how to entice and recruit new members, get their thoughts and expertise about technology, and so forth.”

To incoming President Bill Kronenberg, quality is never ending. “As we have continued to push forward as a quality association within the nation’s insurance industry, our members have recognized that we achieve quality largely by effectively communicating with each other. An important step in that direction is networking at our two annual meetings. That’s where rapport begins, but we’ve found it’s just the beginning of a solid relationship.” *