After a couple of years of minimal (or even negative) organic growth and declining profit margins, insurance agents and brokers have put some halfway decent numbers on the board so far in 2011: Organic growth stands at 3.3 percent for the industry through the second quarter, and agents and brokers are projecting organic growth of 4.5 percent for the full year.
And as growth has rebounded, so has broker profitability, as measured by EBITDA margin. Once consistently above 20 percent, EBITDA margins dropped to 16.8 percent in 2009. However, agents and brokers are projecting a return to 20-percent margins for 2011.