US bank brokerage sets new high

US bank holding company (BHC)
insurance brokerage income set a cracking pace in first quarter of
2010, rising 9.6% compared with the same period in 2009 to $3.32bn,
reports research firm Michael White Associates (MWA). Brokerage
income in the first quarter of 2010 set a new record for the second
consecutive quarter, noted MWA.

MWA’s study was based on data from
all 7,177 commercial banks and savings banks and 951 large top-tier
BHCs operating on 31 March 2010.

Of the BHCs, MWA reported that
60.2% were engaged in insurance broking activities though not all
of them performed well in the first quarter of 2010.

“It seemed for every BHC whose
revenue production was up, another was down,” said MWA president
Michael White.

He added that among the top 100
BHCs in insurance brokerage income, 38 showed positive growth, six
were steady, and seven registered small declines of under 2%.

Wells Fargo topped the leader board
with insurance brokerage earnings of $531m in the first quarter of
2010. Wells Fargo was followed by Citigroup with insurance
brokerage earnings of $247m and BB&T Corporation at
$225.1m.

MWA noted that 90.8% of BHCs with
over $10bn in assets participated in insurance brokerage activities
and produced a total of $3.13bn in insurance fee income in first
quarter 2010, 10.7% more than the $2.82bn they produced in first
quarter 2009.

BHC’s with between $1bn and $10bn in assets recorded a 6.7%
decrease in insurance brokerage income to $156.5m in the first
quarter 2010, from $167.7m in the first quarter of 2009.

Sign up for our daily news round-up!

Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.

Sign up