An insurance aggregator (also known as a cluster or network) is a collection of independent agents that work together for the sake of having larger group bonuses, meeting enormous production requirements by being part of the same group, and leveraging group familiarity to gain more appointments. Aggregators differ in what other network benefits or fees they have.

An independent agent is an insurance agent who is not part of any one specific company (for example, State Farm or Geico). An independent agent can contract with many different carriers so that they can offer their clients a wide range of products and coverages, and often guarantee that they are offering the market-best rates.

Being an independent agent has many benefits, the chief of which is being able to offer coverage and good rates for virtually anything your clients need. By having many different carriers, an independent agent is no longer stuck with what their parent carrier has to offer. This results in close rates with clients being drastically higher, retention rates being significantly higher, and a much bigger chance for bonuses with different carriers.

Being an independent agent has some great upsides with carrier appointments and offering great rates and coverage, but it comes at the downside of having virtually no brand recognition. Everyone knows Jake from State Farm, or the Geico Gecko, but independent agents have to work much harder to prospect and get their clients. As opposed to “captive” agents at State Farm, who have clients calling them all day, independent agents usually are the ones who have to do the cold-calling.

Though there isn’t one set-in-stone answer, the average agent probably has between 10-20 depending on how large your agency is and how many producers are at your agency. If you also write commercial lines, life insurance, Medicare or offer financial assistance, it’s probably 30 or more. The real answer is that you need as many carriers as fit your business plan and offer a variety of coverages and rates for the specific insurance you want to write.

The terms aggregator, network, and cluster all refer to the same setup for independent agents. The actual networks like ASNOA, SIAA, and Goosehead all differ in the benefits and fees that they have. If you’re considering joining an aggregator, we recommend our article which goes into all the questions that you should ask before you join a network.