B&R Viewpoint - How We're Managing a Wholesale Transformation

At Brown & Riding we are transforming the wholesale brokerage business. Why?

There’s a lot that’s right about our industry, but there are historic and systemic challenges that we need to overcome in order to remain relevant and competitive.

  • How does a wholesale broker add value?
  • Where are the opportunities to innovate and better serve the client?
  • How do we raise the bar for professional standards?
These are difficult questions to answer and even harder to address without a clear mission and deep understanding of the clients’ needs. Brown & Riding knows who the client is – the retail insurance broker. Over the last 30 years we have rethought, redesigned and reinvented our business to better meet their needs and the needs of their policyholder clients.

At the most basic level, a wholesale brokerage firm should always be greater than the sum of its individual parts and always add value to a process.

  • Individual relationships should be managed and developed across the firm, not left in a silo. The collective strength of a firm’s market relationships should be brought to each client situation.
  • As professional services firms, wholesaler brokers should deliver consistent high quality service. Standards should not vary between accounts or personnel. You should always expect and be given the best deal – new business or renewals.
  • Individual brokers have tremendous knowledge in specialty areas. This knowledge should be shared, not guarded as a secret piece of intellectual capital. A wholesaler’s coverage and market knowledge helps retailers win accounts.
Advances in technology are changing many industries. In the wholesale insurance brokerage industry, we need to adapt by creating a strong services infrastructure which will allow our traditional relationship driven business to thrive in a professional and efficient manner. At Brown & Riding we are managing the wholesale transformation through:
  1. Strategies that give you the power of the whole team, not just one player
  2. New ways to get you the best deals
  3. Technologies and systems that reduce headaches and cut costs
We encourage you to join us in this transformation.

Chris A. Brown

CEO, Brown & Riding Insurance Services, Inc.