IBAC AGM: A “Level Playing-field”

At the recently held Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) AGM, newly elected president Brian Gilbert used a humorous analogy between the geography of his home province, Manitoba, in outlining the association’s long-term political cause to protect the legislative rights of the independent brokerage community: “As brokers, we have made it clear to politicians for years now that we are not afraid of competition from financial institutions, as long as everyone plays the game on a level playing-field. For those of you who have not been to our fair province of Manitoba, it’s a concept that’s not lost on us as we invented the term ‘level playing-field’.”

Gilbert says IBAC’s political lobby initiatives in Ottawa will be maintained in the year ahead, even though the immediate pressures in the battle against the banks retailing insurance eased with the passing of federal Bill C-8 last year. “As has been said before, our efforts should not diminish with the passage of favorable legislation last year. Politicians need to continue to hear from brokers to remind them who we are, what we do, and the positive effects of our operations that touch virtually every community in Canada.”

THE LONG RUN

As president of IBAC for the 2002/3 term, Gilbert chose “the long run tour” as the theme to his period in office. Having recently taken up long distance running, he feels there is a similarity in mental focus between this endurance sport and the management commitment placed on IBAC’s executive board and committee volunteers. “At the start of the run, or commencement of a [IBAC] project, there is much excitement. The first steps are made with determination. Part way through the run, the pain begins, and the goal begins to appear unreachable. At the quarter way mark, various body members complain about the pain and cost of reaching the goal – ditto association work. At the half-way point, the body realizes that there is no turning back and begins to buckle down and gain a rhythm to see the job through. With the finish line in sight, a tremendous satisfaction washes over you when you realize that goals are attainable with preparation and the right attitude.”

And, Gilbert notes, the association’s plate is full for the next 12 months. The three priorities IBAC faces in the year ahead are final development of the education courses to be offered under the profession’s new “Canadian Professional Insurance Broker” (CPIB) program, an awareness-building initiative around the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations’ (CSIO) soon-to-be launched Internet portal, and a new national television advertising campaign set for airing by the beginning of 2003. “This coming year will prove to be an ambitious one at IBAC.”

Commenting on the pending launch of the association’s new advertising campaign, Gilbert says, “I’m very excited about the path we have chosen and am looking forward to seeing the finished product on TV.” Promoting the CSIO portal will mostly preoccupy IBAC over the next few months, he adds.

STRATEGIC PLAN

Ginny Bannerman, outgoing president and current chair of IBAC, observes, “a year ago, who could have predicted that we’d be in the hardest market in my 26 years as an insurance broker”. Bannerman believes that the current hard market cycle – which has introduced both capacity and pricing difficulties for brokers countrywide – has been more challenging than even the hard market brought on by the liability crisis of the mid-1980s. “Perhaps because an entire generation of insurance brokers and underwriters are experiencing a hard market for the first time.”

Bannerman says the biggest achievement of her term in office was completion of IBAC’s three-year “strategic plan”, which will serve as the foundation of the association’s objectives through to 2005. “Without a doubt, this plan is a work in progress – and with input, updates and amendments, it will be a guide for IBAC until 2005.” Another tough challenge overcome by the association in the year past included a “serious shortfall in funding for the [CSIO] portal” in October of last year, which could have threatened the future of the real-time Internet initiative. “The portal’s cash crisis was resolved and the portal is alive and doing very well a year later,” she points out. “Serving as president of IBAC has been a most amazing experience. I want to thank you all for this extraordinary opportunity.”