From the beginning, he continued, the value of independent ownership was key to these brokers, who met twice a year to discuss their business.

"These were people who were passionate about serving their clients and became recognized as best-in-breed brokers by their carriers," he noted.

The association took the next step in its evolution in 1962 when the brokers formalized their association by creating a corporate office and hiring David S. Butler, executive vice president, as its administrator. From Wheeling, W. Va., Mr. Butler's major function was to coordinate meetings for the brokers. The purpose of the relationship remained unchanged: to help one another and share ideas.

In 1977, Mr. Hackbarth said, the group moved to Columbus. Bob Ashlock was hired, replacing Mr. Butler, and became president and chief executive officer. The association took on a more business-like demeanor with the formalization of membership, payment of fees and issuance of stock ownership. Mr. Ashlock began to build the association's infrastructure, started the election of officers and the addition of meetings.

Upon the death of Mr. Ashlock, Tom Harvey took his place as president and CEO in 1992. Mr. Hackbarth was hired upon Mr. Harvey's retirement in 2003.

Today, Assurex Global will hold 12-to-14 meetings a year on various topics of interest to brokers. The total membership boasts 500 offices throughout the world, with brokerage revenues ranking it just behind Marsh and Aon at $2.3 billion in revenues.

In 2005, Assurex partners placed over $24 billion in premium.

Unlike many of the top brokers, all of Assurex's partners are privately held independent brokers. If a member goes public, the member leaves the association.

"Our guys are not publicly traded," explained Mr. Hackbarth. "Those brokers on Wall Street serve public investors. The Assurex members concentrate on the business of serving their clients."

"Assurex means different things to different people," observed Paul J. Hering, chairman of Assurex and managing principal for San Diego-based insurance broker Barney & Barney, LLC.

By coincidence, the firm also happens to be the winner of this year's National Underwriter Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year award. "It is a wonderful forum for exchanging best practices and bringing the best and brightest from each region together."

Becoming an Assurex Global partner is not an easy task.

There is a long vetting process that involves a thorough screening of a candidate. There is only one member per market, and members do not compete with one another for business.

"This is not about putting dots on the map," Mr. Hackbarth said. "It takes time to find new partners and it is a demanding and lengthy process."

Once in, members are expected to be active participants in the group, attending meetings and keeping their businesses on the path toward growth.

Initially, there is an equity investment of approximately $50,000. Annual fees for membership range from $16,000 to $30,000 based on the firm's size by revenue.

Every three years, there is a re-examination of the member. If members do not meet the Assurex Global standards, they are given guidance on what they need to do to improve their business and remain a member of this elite group. The examination, Mr. Hackbarth emphasized, is not aimed at dismissing members, but ensuring that high standards are maintained.

When a member leaves, primarily from acquisition, it can take up to six-to-eight months before that member is replaced. Assurex, he noted, is currently looking for someone in its Chicago region.

What an Assurex member gets in return for joining is a support system aimed at increasing independent broker development.

"We are a marketing organization that supplies the tools to support our partner's growth," Mr. Hackbarth observed.

Supporting that growth are a number of resources, primarily the exchange of information between brokers.

"The information that they share is amazing to me," he professed.

Members, he said, are committed, supportive and reactive when it comes to one another needing help.

In an effort to facilitate the demand for knowledge, Assurex recently launched Passport, an online communication network for members, clients and carriers. It is also designed to work with the back-office functions of brokers and carriers, explained Mr. Hackbarth.

There is also the Assurex Development Corporation, founded in 1981, aimed at providing loans to members to assist them in their perpetuation plans.

Mr. Hackbarth pointed out, "No loan has ever gone bad."

Other programs Assurex runs are: Professional Agencies Reinsurance, a captive facility for agents' and brokers' errors and omissions insurance; AGP, LLC, a captive group for member business; and Assurex University to help develop producers.

While it is an association, Assurex is a profit-making group that earns its keep through running its various programs. It puts the money back into the organization with the sole aim of benefiting its member brokers.

"We listen to what they need to grow their businesses," said Mr. Hackbarth.

For the past 25 years, Barney & Barney has been a part of that growth. The relationship with Assurex has meant a tremendous amount to the firm, explained Mr. Hering. In turn, the firm has felt a tremendous obligation over the years to give back to Assurex in its own involvement.

For his part, the chairmanship means a two-year commitment to provide leadership, design meeting agendas aimed at creating the group's strategy for the future and chair board meetings.

The payoff for this involvement cannot be put into dollars. But, as far as Barney & Barney is concerned, it has paid off, he said.

"I'm not sure if I can quantify how Assurex has helped us grow, but I personally feel that if we were not a part of it, we would not enjoy the success we are experiencing today," he said.

From investing in new technology to discussing options in making investment in critical infrastructure to perpetuation planning, doing it alone would have been a far more arduous task for Barney & Barney, he acknowledged.

"If it were not for Assurex, the opportunity to find other ways to achieve our goals would have been far more difficult," he said.

That is not to say that every idea will work for every broker, he cautioned. But the mingling of different approaches from brokers with proven track records does give greater credibility to performance.

Another advantage to the relationships formed through Assurex is that when a broker looks for another broker's help outside the region, there is no need to go through a vetting process. To keep the customer's account outside of the immediate region, a broker would either have to travel, set up a satellite office where the customer's new business is, or create a new relationship.

"It would be hard to develop our own process and bring in new best-in-class partnership firms," he observed. "We would have to do our due diligence on our own or examine other vehicles out there. With Assurex Global, we know that we get that through the network."

With Assurex, these issues are resolved through its national and international network of brokers.

"The breadth and scope of our capabilities are [with Assurex] second to none," he said.

Barney & Barney has had clients expand into Mexico, the United Kingdom and Germany. As those clients have grown, the broker has grown with them, aided by the relationships Assurex has developed.

It has meant the same for other brokers internationally who have watched their clients grow, and they have grown with them, able to tap into the network in the United States.

"We have not had to reinvent the wheel," noted Mr. Hering. "We become experts in anything because if there is something we need to know, there is someone we can call or e-mail. There is a huge reservoir of knowledge we can tap into, and that is a huge advantage for us."

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