The Partnership (formerly the PIA Company Council of Executive Officers)

The Partnership attracts insurance company executives in charge of independent agency initiatives. Established in 1996 with start-up funding from the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, The Partnership seeks to assist agents and carriers in finding ways to expand their businesses and support success in the insurance marketplace.

One of the guiding principles of The Partnership is an abiding belief in the agency system as the distribution system of choice for insurance products.

Through its activities The Partnership identifies areas of opportunity in the agency-company partnership, conducts solution-oriented research to meet the challenges inherent in developing strategies to enable both companies and agencies to profit from these opportunities.

The Partnership seeks to identify and develop an understanding of consumer and consumer-segment buying practices to identify and respond to consumer needs, in order to develop products which will benefit companies and agents.

The Partnership also seeks to facilitate dialogue and problem-solving among agency principals and their company partners.

One thing The Partnership does not engage in is the kind of academic study which, while valid and educational, is not easily and quickly useable in real-life situations. Findings by The Partnership are designed to be applied in nature. This allows the recommendations to be placed into practice quickly as part of a dynamic, evolving business process--not simply discussed and put on a shelf.

Research projects are conducted on an ongoing basis. The issues of interest develop through suggestions from The Partnership's representatives and agency principals who are members of PIA. The research agenda is then tasked to our working groups to be refined, focused and detailed. Interim results from the focus groups are reviewed and commented on by The Partnership's representatives, PIA members and leadership, PIA staff analysts, and references to other group's works whether completed or in progress. The final reports and programs are then formally presented and published.

To learn more about The Partnership, please contact Bill Jenkins, PIA National Vice President of Business Development & Marketing, at billje@pianet.org or (703) 518-1363.