A veteran in Florida's insurance community, Arturo Hoyo takes over as chair of the Florida Association of Independent Agents (FAIA) in September. His more than three decades of experience — most of it in the densely populated Miami area — have toughened his skin, tilted his outlook toward positive, and made him very aware of how dramatically things can change in our industry. We spoke with him about his new role at FAIA and his perspective on the Florida insurance market.

Q. As you have risen through the ranks of FAIA leadership, you have had the opportunity to experience firsthand its challenges and successes. Talk about FAIA's mission and goals, and how the association evolves to serve its members.

A. The mission — to serve the needs of Florida insurance agents and consumers by promoting a healthy and competitive insurance environment — never changes, but I believe how we deliver service to accomplish it does. Our board and professional staff make frequent assessments of the “how” to remain relevant to our members. Recently, FAIA hired Mason-Dixon to conduct a poll within the membership to retrieve the most accurate feedback possible. The results were both surprising and reinforcing. Surprising, because some of what I value most about FAIA — advocacy — did not poll as well as in the past. Instead, this function ranked third behind access to products/services and educational resources (numbers one and two, respectively). By the way, I believe the value assigned to this second virtue ripens with age!