Boffo Quarter For Bank Insurance

Insurance brokerage income attributed to bank holding companies (BHC) tallied a record $3.98 billion in Q1 of 2011, according to an analysis performed by Michael White Associates (MWA) and sponsored by Prudential Individual Life Insurance.

The results are 19.8 percent higher than the $3.32 billion earned in first quarter 2010 and 10.6 percent greater than fourth quarter 2010. Nonetheless, Michael White, President of MWA, says the growth was not evenly distributed. For example, of the 156 BHCs with at least $1 million in annualized insurance brokerage income included in the survey, 74 showed positive growth in their insurance brokerage income, while 80 experienced declines, and two were flat.

“Across the country, insurance agencies and brokerages continue to be hampered by a difficult economy, seven years of soft commercial insurance markets, and capital restraint on the part of many potential buyers, thereby inhibiting acquisition," White said.

Citigroup Inc. was the bank with the most insurance brokerage earnings, gather $552 million in the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company ranked second with $455.0 million in insurance brokerage fee income, while BB&T Corporation, which owns more agencies than any other financial holding company, came in third with $222.4 million in insurance-related revenue.

Among BHCs with between $1 billion and $10 billion in assets, leaders in insurance brokerage income in first quarter 2011 included Eastern Bank Corporation, Stifel Financial Corp., Old National Bancorp, Johnson Financial Group, Inc., and Trustmark Corporation. BHCs of this size registered a 3.7 percent increase in insurance brokerage income to $163.5 million in first quarter 2011, up from $157.7 million in first quarter 2010.