The Long Game: Defining Investing in the Next Generation
For many independent agencies, growth and hiring can feel reactive; a producer retires, a key employee leaves, or an opportunity emerges that requires additional staff. Recruiting often becomes a response to a need rather than a deliberate strategy. The O’Neill Insurance Agency has taken a different approach. As a recipient of IA Valuations’ Excellent Agency […]
Valuation Views 2026 Q: Quarterly Marketplace Report
Agency Staffing Compensation and the Decisions Leaders Must Make This edition of Valuation Views examines agency staffing and compensation. An agency’s team is an important consideration in its valuation, and owners planning for growth can benefit from tracking key performance indicators related to staffing and employee costs. Across every agency revenue band, IA Valuations observed […]
Seven Reasons to Complete a Valuation of Your Agency Annually
For many agency owners, the business is their largest financial asset, yet they often go years without understanding how their decisions are impacting its value. Revenue, profitability, retention, and growth are closely monitored, but agency value is often overlooked. A valuation provides more than a snapshot of what your agency is worth today; it offers […]
Technology, AI, and Agency Value
What Agency Leaders Should Really Be Paying Attention To The Insurance Industry has never had more technology options than it does today. Agency management systems, CRMs, automation platforms, AI tools, comparative raters, marketing technology, document processing tools, carrier integrations, and countless point solutions all promise to help agencies become more efficient and more profitable. For […]
How Are the Best Agencies Approaching Growth, Hiring, and Technology?
August is an exciting time of year for many. For families, school is back in session, bringing relief, excitement, and opportunity. For fanatics, football season is nearly here, ushering in championship daydreams and inevitable heartbreak. For independent agent nerds, Reagan Consulting and the Big “I” proffer the 2026 Best Practices Study Update, presenting excellent information […]
What Independent Agencies Can Learn From The Market’s Next Chapter
For the past several years, independent agencies have navigated a hard market defined by rising premiums, limited carrier appetite, and difficult client conversations. Now, signs are emerging that conditions are beginning to shift. But what does that transition really look like at the agency level? Recently, Jeff Smith, CEO of IA Valuations and OIA, sat down with […]
From Revenue Folklore to Real Value: Understanding EBITDA
One of the most common questions we receive from agency owners is, “Why does everyone keep talking about EBITDA?” Whether they are preparing for a valuation, considering a perpetuation plan, or simply trying to understand what drives agency value, many agency owners encounter EBITDA without fully understanding why it has become the industry’s preferred measuring […]
Investing in Producers: The Best Investment an Agency Can Make
When agency leaders talk about growth, the conversation often turns to acquisitions, carrier relationships, technology investments, or market opportunities. While those areas certainly matter, there is another investment that can have the best impact on an agency’s future value creation: developing a strong producer pipeline. A conversation between Mike Wagar and Melissa Hama-Wardle from Peoples Bank, Jarod Steed from IA Valuations, and Brian Lawrence from the […]
From Scratch to Success
How Frank Chan Created an Excellent Agency IA Valuations has been valuing independent insurance agencies for nearly a decade. From Palmer, Alaska to Quincy, Massachusetts, we’ve had the opportunity to evaluate the operations and financials of over 400 agencies across the country. Through this work, we have been identifying and qualifying the metrics that make […]
Valuation Views 2026 Q2: Quarterly Marketplace Report
2025 Profit Sharing Improves by 50% over 2024 for the Independent Agent Industry As an agency professional, does it feel like you are starting to emerge from the chaos that was the hard market? The numbers would say that’s the case. In 2025, every revenue group experienced a decreased loss ratio from 2024, and every […]