Getting a valuation of your insurance agency is an important decision and a tool to understanding the fair market value of what is likely your greatest financial asset. You can get a valuation from many sources. Each of those sources has a motive, experience, and credentials for providing the service. In this article, we will explore the top 5 reasons you should consider IA Valuations when making this important decision to value your agency.
1. Mission and Commitment to Relationships
IA Valuations’ mission is to maximize agency values while protecting the independent agency system. One of our core differentiators is that our mission drives what we do and why we do it for agency owners.
Our mission in the services we provide for insurance agency owners is clear and it warrants repeating- to maximize agency values while protecting the independent agency system. We care about each agency owner we work with and are invested in them using the valuation report to its fullest extent.
The valuation process provides the opportunity for us to get an intimate look into an agency. The result is deep relationships with the agency owners, so much so that it is rare not to have ongoing exchange, additional services, and annual valuation updates. If you are looking for an impersonal transaction, we are not your valuation provider.
In addition, we openly have a bias towards supporting the perpetuation of independent agency owners that own all or at least a meaningful portion of their business. We believe in the spirit of the independent and entrepreneurial minded business owner. The owner’s mindset is a growth mindset.
2. Pathway to Growth
Our valuation services do far more than provide an independent fair market value of an agency. Our valuation services provide insights to agency owners on how to grow, how to maximize your agency value, and how to best position their agency for long-term wealth building.
We customize our work to ensure every insight and solution we offer is tailored for that unique agency owner. Through our analysis and insights in the valuation report, agency owners are positioned to focus on the issues and opportunities that will have the greatest impact on improving agency value.
3. Experience
Our team members have completed over 400 insurance agency valuations in their careers. Our team has passionate and highly skilled valuation professionals who care about each and every client they work with.
The IA Valuations team is comprised of financial analysts who have the most practical experience and prestigious education in their field. We understand the industry benchmarks relevant to measuring your agency’s performance. We apply our knowledge and experience to your valuation and provide you with insights to help fuel your growth and agency value.
4. Agency Owner Leadership
Our company is owned and led by insurance agency owners. We are affiliated with your long-standing and trusted independent insurance agency associations. Our partnership in affiliation with state agents’ associations is the bedrock of our foundation for providing this service.
Being led by insurance agency owners who utilize these services for their own agency’s growth and development ensures we are focused on the issues most important to owners and those affecting their agency. It also ensures that we continue providing this as a services to agency owners. It is not a profit center for us, rather a service to support maximizing agency value and protecting the IA system.
5. Robust Data Platform
With 230+ agency valuations in our data platform, we are building a robust data warehouse on agency performance. As we continue to provide these services, our data will grow and our insights will become more and more rich and valuable to agency owners. We will be able to compare your agency to agencies of similar size, geographic location, CL/PL split, carrier complexion, profitability margin, valuation multiple, and more as we continue to gather insights.
In addition to these top 5 reasons, we are proud of the fact that we have made this service accessible and affordable for all agency owners. Many of our valuations are provided to an underserved and often over looked constituency in the IA system. According to the Agency Universe study, 80% of agencies in the US are $1.25 million and below in annual revenue. These agencies are often not the focus of consultative services and private equity acquisitions, and therefore are devoid of insights to help them grow and improve agency value.
However, we believe all agency owners are in need of these insights and services to help them grow. While many have been exclusively targeted at larger independent insurance agencies, IA Valuations has ensured the services are available to all.
Our goal is to get every insurance agency owner an annual valuation of their agency. We believe this is the equivalent of you receiving an annual statement on the performance of your 401k or other financial investments. Your agency is a significant financial asset in your portfolio and you should have a solid and accurate understanding of the value of that asset.
Conclusion
Many values affect the value of your agency; it is our job to assess those factors, analyze their risks, and communicate the impact each has on your valuation and how to improve it over time. We believe a valuation is a critical component in business planning and a central document in defining your growth strategy.
We are proud of the work we have done and continue to do for this noble and honorable profession. In each and every valuation opportunity, we are both honored and humbled to be a part of helping develop your growth and transition plan.
We hope you will consider trusting the IA Valuations team to support you and your agency in your journey to growth and prosperity. For more information on IA Valuations and the services we provide, please connect with Jeff Smith, JD, CIC at jeff@iavaluations.com or 614-552-3056.
About IA Valuations and Agency Link – Founded in 2017, the IA Valuations team has performed over 200 valuations to independent insurance agencies across the U.S. Our advisors have 25+ years of experience guiding agency owners on maximizing their agency value, planning, and legal needs for ownership transition. In addition, IA Valuations has provided perpetuation planning, financial modeling and business planning for independent insurance agencies. Finally, IA Valuations has advised dozens of agency owners on selling their agencies through our Agency Link process. Agency Link is a platform that connects buyers and sellers together to further the growth and strength of the IA system. To learn more about IA Valuations, please visit IAValuations.com or contact@iavaluations.com.
The information provided in these documents is general in nature and shall not be construed as personal legal, tax or financial advice for your situation. Please contact@iavaluations.com to discuss your personal situation.
Copyright ©2023 by IA Valuations and Ohio Insurance Agents Association (OIA). All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced in any manner without the prior written consent of IA Valuations or OIA. In addition, this document may not be posted as a link on any public or private website without the prior written consent of IA Valuations or OIA.
By: Jeff Smith, JD, CIC, CAE