Steadily improving organic growth rates are rising equity returns for insurance agents and brokers, according to Reagan Consulting's "3rd Quarter Organic Growth and Profitability Survey." Economic growth and an improving rate environment in commercial P&C is helping agencies grow at the fastest rate since 2006, said Kevin Stipe, senior vice president of Reagan.

The survey factors the first 9 months of 2011, and includes reports from more than 130 agencies. Findings include:

• Organic growth is 3.8 percent, an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the previous year.
• Organic growth accelerated in all major product lines: Employee benefits is the fastest growing segment at 6.1 percent. Commercial lines and personal lines grew at 3.1 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
• Profit margins, measured using EBITDA and adjusted for non-recurring items, for brokers actually declined slightly from a year ago (19.5 percent this year versus 20.4 percent last year).
• Rule of 20 scores reached 13.1, the highest level since the OGP Survey was launched in 2008. The Rule of 20 is a Reagan Consulting benchmark that correlates with value creation and is calculated by adding an agency's organic growth rate to half of its EBITDA margin. A score of 20 is outstanding in today's marketplace, and is only currently being reached by about 15 percent of agencies nationwide.