3 winning teams named in College Agency Management Competition

Winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to the Big “I” Legislative Conference this May in Washington D.C.

Three winning teams are headed to the nation’s capital this May, funded by participating Big “I” Diversity Council company sponsors. (Photo: iStock)

Winners of this year’s second annual College Agency Management Competition were announced this week, marking the end of the four-week competition.

Competition hosts InVEST and the Big “I” Diversity Council declared Indiana State University, Ohio State University and the University of North Texas as the 2019 winners based on their business results of owning and operating a virtual insurance agency.

Dave Semb of PriSim Business War Games helped oversee the competition, in addition to hosting the virtual platform that the students competed on. Commenting on the winning teams, Semb noted, ”In an extremely competitive marketplace, three teams maximized their company performance.”

“Some of the keys to their success was that they had very focused missions and strategies, and were very clear about the customer segments they were targeting,” Semb said. “In addition, they chose performance metrics that were tightly aligned to their strategies.”

Related: 2019′s best undergraduate insurance programs, ranked by U.S. News

How it works: Rules, strategy and real-world challenges

The competition was designed to teach college students the basics of entrepreneurship, insurance agency management, business operations and teamwork through a virtual online competition developed by PriSim War Games.

During the past month, students input their agency’s business decisions into PriSim’s agency management platform, accounting for strategy, carrier and customer management, source management, staffing, sales and financial statements.

Professors, insurance agents, a corporate partner and a PriSim staff member mentored each team throughout the competition, teaching students how to solve real industry problems, including how to read a profit and loss statement, the impacts of staffing, market segmentation and more.

Students on the winning teams received an all-expense paid trip to the Big “I” Legislative Conference on May 8-10, 2019 in Washington D.C., an event that competition representatives say will allow students to connect with executives from top insurance agencies and companies for possible internships and jobs.

Competing schools

The 8 participating schools and sponsors include:

For more, visit the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America website.

Related: In their own words: What the next-gen of P&C professionals really want (Video)