NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2014 - (Page 36)

member profiles AimcoR Group, LLC John C. Ziambras Based outside Austin, Texas, AimcoR Group, LLC has been a NAILBA member since 2009. John C. Ziambras, President and CEO, provided this profile. About AimcoR Group, LLC AimcoR Group is a national insurance marketing organization with 40 members. We are different because of the unique strengths, tools, and depth of knowledge each of our members bring to the table, and how willing we are to share them in pursuit of partnership-driven success, greater efficiencies, and sustainable growth. The equity membership model we employ ensures that we all have a strong voice in shaping the future of our company as well as our industry. We regard our members as business partners and feel a similar connection with our core carriers. We have strong communicative relationships at the most senior levels of our insurance partners, and are pleased to have high-level access to quality training, operations support, technology, in-person meetings and incentives, and marketing initiatives. The best tools available are used to reach a broad audience of producers via traditional and alternative avenues of distribution, and across various channels. In essence, AimcoR Group works in harmony with both our members and the top carriers in the industry to effectively bring insurance products and services to a growing population of people who need them. What are the biggest challenges we face today? Personally, challenge is what gets me out of bed every morning and what I live for and thrive on. Our insurance carrier partners are challenged because interest rates have been sustained at historical lows, industry sales have been practically flat, and overall compensation has gone up in the independent distribution space due to some of the non-strategic distributor aggregation that has taken place in recent years. At the same time, life insurance ownership is the lowest it has been in fifty years, and according to a recent Swiss Re study, there is an estimated aggregate protection gap of twenty trillion dollars in our country today. Over time, insurance carriers will have to find the optimal way to deliver their products to 2012 Grand Cayman Aim High Producer Conference 36 perspectives MAY/JUNE 2014 consumers in the manner they want to receive it, with or without us. Brokerage General Agencies are challenged because they see their independent producer population gradually disappear or get "traded." A lot of the focus in recent years has been on price, which greatly devalues and commoditizes what you bring to the table as an intermediary. I feel very strongly that a BGA's value proposition would be greatly enhanced by focusing on new producer enablement and consumer engagement, particularly if any of us are to ever achieve a meaningful presence in the proverbial middle market. How does being a NAILBA member benefit your business? At a corporate level of AimcoR Group, NAILBA benefits us because of the relationships we are able to solidify, and the tools we have available to us. The majority of our members are NAILBA members, and they find that their agencies are given opportunities as contributors and collaborators on a number of industry-enhancing initiatives. Aligning ourselves with NAILBA gives us credence and respect with our industry peers, and the resources, tools, and training avenues available to us make NAILBA membership a nobrainer. The NAILBA Annual Meeting is where history meets the present and the future takes shape. About John C. Ziambras My wife and I have been happily married for 20 years and we have two beautiful daughters. My eldest

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2014

NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2014
Contents
Chairman’s Corner
CEO Insights
How to Train New Marketing Reps
Reading Ahead
Life Happens
The 3M Formula for BGA Marketing Success
NAILBA Charitable Foundation
Member Profiles
Agency Successor Networking Group
Agency Resources
member Profiles
MDRT Annual Meeting
Legislative Update
Calendar of Events
Index of Advertisers

NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2014