By Mark E. Ruquet

One evening while attending a cocktail party with his wife for a local school function, Scott Addis was engaged in a conversation when someone interrupted, praising him for his community involvement. Feeling humble, Addis explained that what he did for the community was nothing more than any successful professional would do. But the stranger insisted on praising him for his good work, saying he had heard so much about what he done for the community.

"What do you do for a living--are you a lawyer or CPA?" the individual asked.

"No, I'm an insurance agent."

The stranger's demeanor changed immediately--as Addis described it, the individual took a step back and crossed his arms. "What do you sell?" he asked.

"I don't sell anything--we design and mitigate risk," Addis said.

To Addis' disappointment, the skeptic's demeanor was unchanged. "In two minutes I had gone from being a lawyer or CPA to just a salesman," said Addis, the president of The Addis Group and Addis Intellectual Capital, LLC, based in King of Prussia, Pa.

Perception is powerful thing, noted Addis, whose organization is a past champion of the National Underwriter "Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year" award. And no matter how good your intent or the product you sell, it is your brand that matters most, he added, citing one of the main points he emphasizes to his fellow independent agents in his training programs.

While trying to dismiss his disappointment with the stranger's reaction to his vocation, it soon crystallized in a revelation that what was needed was a re-branding of what an insurance agent does beyond selling a policy.

He created the term "risk architect" to better capture what an independent agent or broker ought to represent to their clients, and to focus the objective of what agents and brokers should aspire to become as a result of his training.

The terminology felt right, he said, because it describes someone who designs and builds an effective risk management plan for clients, rather than just peddle insurance policies based on price.

But coining that term was not enough. The next step, under Addis Intellectual Capital and with the help of others, was the creation of a new professional designation--Certified Risk Architect (CRA), the Trusted Advisor.

In literature on the program (available at , a CRA is described as "the new breed of insurance agent--consultative, diagnostic, results-oriented."

Addis said the program is not designed to replace other worthy risk designations, such as Associate in Risk Management (ARM) or Certified Risk Manager (CRM), but serves to complement that training and expertise. It is also an exclusive club of agencies that are part of the Organic Growth Network, a handpicked group of agencies that work with Addis Intellectual Capital.

In the literature, the CRA is said to differ significantly from the other designations by being "practical and hands-on, not theoretical."

It is also not exclusive to producers, but can be aimed at any insurance professional--including customer service representatives, claims and risk control specialists, account managers or employee benefit consultants--who has an interest in enterprise risk management and "wishes to broaden their understanding of related professional disciplines."

While the program may cast a wide net of appeal, the designation is reserved for a small group of individuals who are taught by a credible faculty of risk management professionals.

The first of 42 students assembled last year in Arizona, and Addis described the entire process as a "lot of fun and work."

The risk manager from PetSmart discussed the life of a risk manager, and students were challenged to utilize the tools of risk management--such as going into an account and diagnosing risk, or how to do a stewardship review. "This is going beyond hawking an insurance policy," Addis said.

The 12-month program combines web-based training, classroom instruction and application in real work conditions, the literature says. There is six-to-eight hours of classroom work to prepare the CRA candidate for classroom work. Last year, the class was held in Tempe, Ariz.

The cost for the class is less than $3,000 for the year, and students are urged to work with their carriers to obtain tuitions to help defray the expense.

In the final leg of the year-long program, to finally obtain the designation, each student must submit work for CRA Certification demonstrating how they incorporated what they have learned into their day-to-day work with clients.

To keep the designation, individuals must take continuing education courses, but the benefit of that is it will also provide CE credits for producer licensing.

Addis said the program should obtain accreditation from a few remaining states in the next few months.
Last year, the inaugural class, served to work out the kinks. The plan is that graduates will serve as mentors for this year's class, Addis said.

One graduate said that the program has truly changed the direction of his agency. Jonathan Theders, president of Clark-Theders Insurance Agency in Cincinnati, heads up a 50-year-old insurance agency that he felt was doing a pretty effective job. However, after going through the program, he said students soon realize what the typical insurance agent forgets to do. He said the program gives producers the tools they need to diagnose risk "and put it in a more strategic sense."

Today, his agency is performing its business "far better" by broadening its service offerings and identifying the risk challenges clients face. Once identified, the agency then offers real solutions that go beyond insurance.

One example of this was assisting a client with the challenge of immigration documentation. Theders Insurance developed a full documentation training program for the client. While not tied to any particular policy, the program provided a solution to a risk the client faced, and let the client know that this was an agency willing to provide more than just insurance coverage for damage after the fact.

Beyond risk management tools, being a part of the CRA fraternity also opened the door to a network of like-thinking producers from all over the country, noted Mr. Theders. Instead of being at a disadvantage developing a risk solution from scratch, fellow designees can turn to one another and share the experiences and solutions they come up with. "It is a dynamic network that is constantly evolving," Theders said.

The first class, he noted, has laid the foundation not only for producers becoming professional risk advisors, but also the building of an ever-expanding network of national consultants.
"For something that is so commoditized, this is truly where we are adding value," Theders said.

Originally appeared in the Sept. 27 issue of National Undewriter.