Bank Insurance Brokerage Fee Income Jumps 22% to Record $3.6 Billion

Banks increased their 2004 insurance brokerage fee income by 22.2 percent from $2.97 billion in 2003 to a record $3.63 billion earned in 2004, according to Michael White’s 2004 Year-End Bank Insurance & Investment Fee Income Reports.

The 2004 report, co-sponsored by Financial Keyosk, MetLife Investors, and Symetra Financial Institutions Distribution, is based on data reported by all 8,089 U.S. commercial and federally insured savings banks. The report measures and benchmarks the banking industry’s performance in generating insurance, mutual fund and annuity, and investment fee income. Other significant findings are:

– Nearly half the banks (48.0%) in the United States engaged in activities that produced insurance revenue.

– The three leading banks in insurance brokerage fee income in 2004 were Citibank (NY), Branch Banking and Trust Company (NC), and Chase Manhattan Bank USA, N.A. (DE).

– Citibank reported year-end insurance brokerage earnings of $657 million as of Dec. 31, 2004, putting it in first place.

– Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T), which has acquired more insurance agencies than any other banking organization, ranks second nationally with $592.9 million in insurance brokerage fee income. Chase Manhattan Bank USA, N.A. ranked third with $212.9 million in insurance brokerage fee income, with high growth of 126 percent since 2003.

– Banks over $10 billion in assets had the highest participation (73.6%) in insurance brokerage activities and produced $2.71 billion in insurance fee income. These large banks accounted for 74.6 percent of all bank insurance brokerage fee income earned in 2004, a 378 basis-point increase from their 2003 bank-market share.

– The smallest asset-class of banks, those under $100 million in assets, achieved relative performances that frequently surpassed those of most other bank asset-classes. The smallest banks were first in mean and median insurance as a percent of both noninterest income and noninterest fee income. They also ranked second in median insurance brokerage fee income per bank employee ($547) to the median of the largest banks with assets over $10 billion ($1,396).

Topics Profit Loss Agencies