FocalPoint Webinars

MarshBerry webinars are unique virtual sessions created to deep dive into specific areas of interest within the insurance brokerage and wealth advisory industries.  Choose from a range of topics on things you need to know such as perspectives on the current state of the industry, trends in M&A, proprietary research briefings full of comparable data, business strategy and planning guidance, and even tools and techniques to accelerate organic growth.

Something for everyone.  As the leader in insurance brokerage and wealth advisory, MarshBerry is your single source for all your business consulting needs.

Upcoming FocalPoint Webinars

Recent FocalPoint Webinars

Chart Your Path

Choosing What the Future of Your Firm Looks Like

Presented by Kim Kovalski, Managing Director, Financial Advisory & John Orsini, Director, Financial Advisory.

Establishing long-term business goals can oftentimes be the difference between mediocre performance and realizing your firm’s full potential. Do you have a clear view of where you want to be in the next 5-years? There are a variety of ways in which leaders of RIAs, wealth management firms, and retirement planning businesses can chart their own paths when it comes to building for the future.

Join Kim Kovalski, MarshBerry Managing Director and John Orsini, MarshBerry Director, as they explore the ways that top tier firms are achieving their goals and optimizing the future value of their firms.

Building a Blueprint for Top Performance

Is Your Firm on the Path for Growth in 2024?

Presented by Brooke Lugonjic Liu, Senior Vice President, Growth Advisory, & Shelley Turk, Program Manager, Growth Advisory

How does your firm stack up against the best of the best in today’s market? What can you do to become a top performer heading into the new year? Does your firm have what it takes to become a MAX Performer? Hear from the 2023 MarshBerry MAX Performer national winner and learn about the latest trends and metrics the top performing firms focused on in 2023 to be in the running for MarshBerry’s prestigious MAX Performer award.

Join Brooke Lugonjic Liu, MarshBerry Senior Vice President; and Shelley Turk, MarshBerry Program Manager; as they tackle the latest trends encompassing growth, profitability, culture, productivity, and perpetuation. Discover what it takes to outperform the competition and build a foundation to becoming a MAX Performer heading into 2024 during this interactive webinar.

What is My Agency Worth? Top Reasons for Implementing a Valuation

Presented by Graham Gould, Vice President, Financial Advisory, MarshBerry and Jack Pratt, Vice President, Financial Advisory, MarshBerry

It’s easy to get tied up with the daily operations of your business, but it’s important to take a step back and think about what your firm is worth today and what you hope it will be worth in the future.

Join Graham Gould, MarshBerry Vice President – Financial Advisory and Jack Pratt, MarshBerry Vice President – Financial Advisory, as they discuss the benefits of performing regular valuations by an objective third party. In addition, they’ll highlight factors that are driving value and where you should focus to improve value over time.

Due Diligence Considerations

Presented by Jen Martin, Vice President, Financial Advisory, MarshBerry and Brandy Carbone, Vice President, Financial Advisory, MarshBerry

Most buyers recognize that due diligence is an important step in the M&A process. But for many sellers, it’s a new experience and due diligence may feel more like an unnecessary scrutinization of their business. In any partnership it is not a matter of “if” issues will arise but rather “when” they will arise. Don’t be left in the dark. Whether you are looking to sell or acquire, this is the webinar to attend to learn the importance of due diligence from both the buyer and seller’s perspective.

Join Jen Martin, Vice President, Financial Advisory at MarshBerry; Brandy Carbone, Vice President, Financial Advisory at MarshBerry as they discuss the reasons firms may forego due diligence, why it is valuable to both buyer and seller, and other risk assessment considerations.

Leveraging Premium Financing in a Hard Market

Presented by Andrew Katz, Senior Vice President – FirstChoice, Brian Fugere, Chief Growth Officer – IPFS, & Chase Courtney, Director of Technology Sales – IPFS

With the hard market in full swing many firms are turning to premium financing solutions to help their customers. But with so many options in the market today, how do you know which solution is right for your agency?

Join Andrew Katz, Senior Vice President, FirstChoice, a MarshBerry Company; Brian Fugere, Chief Growth Officer, IPFS; and Chase Courtney, Director of Technology Sales, IPFS; as they discuss the latest trends and technology in premium financing, how successful agencies are using premium financing and payments, and partnering with the right platform to better serve your customers.

Maximizing Data to Make Better, Informed Business Decisions

Presented by Keith Captain, President – FirstChoice & Gabriella Iacona, Data Science Manager

In today’s competitive market, it’s important for agencies to take advantage of data and insights that can help improve performance – and their bottom line. But what data should your agency be measuring and how do you use it to drive best practices and innovation?

Join Keith Captain, President, FirstChoice, and Gabby Iacona, Data Science Manager, MarshBerry, as they discuss the importance of using data and analytics to make informed business decisions. In addition, they will highlight how to make holistic, data driven decisions, the benefits of collecting and analyzing data for your agency, and how to use powerful tools like MarshBerry’s Financial Snapshot to gain valuable insights on areas for improvement, and success, for your business.

Adapting to a Changing Market

Presented by Brooke Lugonjic, Senior Vice President, Growth Advisory, & Shelley Turk, Program Manager, Growth Advisory

The world is changing – and so must you. The hardening market is in full swing with rates increasing rapidly and capacity shrinking as carriers have limited ability to spread and retain risk. Firms must adapt to control their growth through things like increased sales velocity and retention, and not rely solely on outside forces to amplify organic growth targets.

In order for your firm to thrive – how will you adapt to the changing environment? Join Brooke Lugonjic, Senior Vice President – Growth Advisory, and Shelley Turk, Program Manager – Growth Advisory, as they show how firms can utilize five key benchmarking pillars to embrace change and how these, combined with an executive peer exchange, can help you gain a competitive advantage.

Navigating Carrier Partnerships: Rough Seas of a Hard Market

Presented by Keith Captain, FirstChoice President, & Jason Juarez, FirstChoice Regional Vice President

A dramatic spike in weather and disaster events, coupled with inflation, reinsurance constraints and supply chain issues, have created a storm of uncertainty. Carriers and agents alike are looking for the best path to best address market fluctuations while developing lasting partnerships.

Join Keith Captain and Jason Juarez as they provide key insights on how agencies can grow and retain customers through today’s market and best practices on how to develop carrier partnerships that can weather any storm.

Determining the Right Path for Perpetuation

Presented by Kyle Hoeft, Vice President Financial Advisory

For firms who are looking to carve their own path — there are more options than just buying or selling your firm. During this session, MarshBerry leads an exploration of the paths available to firms in today’s marketplace and provides guidance on how you can stay competitive. 

Key Takeaways:  

  • Understand the six paths currently available to firm owners looking at the future of their firm.  
  • Learn about key market dynamics that are driving firm value. 
  • Discuss keys to strategic planning for 2023 to see if your firm is set to grow organically. 

State of the Specialty Industry – A Market in Transition

Presented by George Bucur, Managing Director & Specialty Practice Co-head

headshot of george bucur

The fight for specialty distributors to stay on top of trends and remain relevant in an ever changing, dynamic marketplace is a constant struggle – especially for independently owned firms that lack robust infrastructure/systems, market clout and capital. The market experienced a massive roll-up of wholesale brokers over the last decade – to the point where few independent sizable brokers remain. Independents tend to find it challenging to attract and retain talent while growing operations at a rate that keeps pace with larger competitors. Is the historical consolidation of wholesale brokers reflective of the current consolidation environment being experienced by independent delegated authority firms?

During this session, George Bucur, Managing Director & Specialty Practice Co-head explores the dynamic changes impacting specialty firms and explains how these changes are impacting merger & acquisition transaction activity and resulting valuations.

Four Things to Consider When Creating a Talent Plan

Presented by Brooke Lugonjic, Senior Vice President Growth Advisory, and Bryan Lake, Vice President Growth Advisory

photos of brooke and bryan

Has your company made a commitment to focusing on talent in 2023? Join MarshBerry’s Growth Advisory team as they take a deep dive into the insurance industry’s top- and bottom-ranked cultural characteristics important in attracting and retaining talent. The team also showcases best practices and modern ideas around recruitment, interview strategy, onboarding, and talent management that you can use to enhance your talent plan.

Changing Market Conditions for Insurtech

Presented by Tobias Milchereit, MarshBerry Vice President

Where will the current class of insurtechs land in the race for funding, growth and relevance given the strength and resilience of the independent insurance brokerage market? This session will discuss how insurtech firms will position themselves for success in today’s dynamic insurance brokerage market.

Where will the M&A Market Finish in 2022 and 2023 Outlook

Presented by Phil Trem, President, Financial Advisory

Relatively speaking, 2022 has been a year of challenging headwinds for merger & acquisition (M&A) activity. It didn’t help that 2021 broke records in many categories. But despite the hurdles, 2022 has the opportunity to end strong. Join Phil Trem, President – Financial Advisory, where he’ll showcase 2022 M&A year-end results, trends in valuations, an update from the capital markets, and the outlook for insurance agencies and brokerages in 2023.

The Economy – Buckle Your Seatbelts

Presented by Gerard Vecchio, MarshBerry Managing Director

As an insurance agency or brokerage owner – you’re inundated with how the insurance landscape is constantly changing. However, what are you supposed to do with all of this information? During this 30-minute FocalPoint webinar, Gerard Vecchio, Managing Director, will highlight key economic indicators you should watch, upcoming insurance renewals and potential rate changes, Carrier Surplus Allocations, and adjustments in the debt and equity market you should follow as you start your strategic planning for 2023.

Death of the Traditional Independent MGA

Presented by George Bucur, MarshBerry Director & Specialty Practice Co-Head

The wholesale broker segment has undergone massive consolidation to the point where very few independent pure play Property & Casualty brokers remain. In addition, it’s likely that the market is at the front end of a consolidation wave that is hitting delegated authority firms with nearly 8% of specialty entities consolidating in 2021. As history demonstrates, massive value is unlocked when insurance distributors and markets are aggregated. Delegated authority is not an exception to this premise.

Improving Your Compensation Strategy to Boost Growth

Presented by Tommy McDonald, MarshBerry Directory Financial Advisory

With firms spending just under 70% of their revenue on compensation costs, the key is to have reliable and current data to make decisions in a rapidly evolving landscape. With unprecedented competition for talent, employers must take measures to ensure their firms stand out from competitors if they want to attract and retain the best talent. Today, this goes beyond just the paycheck — employees are increasingly looking at the company culture, benefits, flexibility, upskilling, and work–life balance when deciding whether to accept or stay in a position.

Join MarshBerry Director Tommy McDonald as he provides key insights from our 2022 Agency & Brokerage Compensation Study and action items to consider as you look to make impactful changes to your firm’s compensation strategy.