Switching Your IMO

Move to a better partner without losing a step

If you are an independent life and annuity agent who has outgrown the IMO, FMO, or BGA you signed with years ago, the question is simple. How do you move to a better partner without putting your income or your clients at risk. Here are the honest mechanics, not a sales pitch dressed up as advice.

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01 · Why agents reach out

When it actually makes sense to switch

I am David Racich, the owner and CEO of Brokers Alliance. Switching for the sake of switching is a waste of your time. Switching because your current relationship is costing you money, deals, or clients is overdue. If two or three of these sound familiar, it is worth a serious look.

01 A thin carrier shelf

A shelf so narrow it forces you to push the wrong product, or a product on a competitor's grid that your current shop does not even carry.

02 Commissions below street

Commission levels that sit below street and never seem to come up for review.

03 Contracting that drags

Contracting that takes weeks when it should take days.

04 No real case management

No one in your corner when a file gets stuck in underwriting.

05 No technology to speak of

Nothing beyond a PDF rate sheet emailed once a quarter.

06 Support that went quiet

The support faded, or a fee showed up that was never explained. None of these are personal failings on your part. They are signs the organization you joined was built for a different era and never reinvested.

02 · The mechanics

Three moving parts, nothing more

Moving your distribution relationship is not complicated once you understand what actually has to move. There are three parts, and each one has an honest answer.

A Getting released

Securing a release where a carrier requires one before it will move your appointment to a new upline.

B Moving your in-force book

Moving your in-force book and the overrides that ride on it, so nothing you have already written is left behind.

C Choosing a new home

Choosing a partner that actually does the work for you, not one that hands you a rate sheet and disappears.

03 · How broker release works

The first worry is whether you are trapped

In most cases you are not. A broker release, sometimes called an agent release or a release letter, is the document a carrier may require before it will move your appointment from one upline to another. The short version: you request the release, the releasing IMO either grants it or the carrier applies its own standing policy, and once the carrier processes it your new appointment can be set up under your new partner. There are real sticking points worth knowing before you start.

Not every carrier requires a release Rules vary by carrier and by the products involved You request the release to start the process The carrier may apply its own standing policy How your in-force commissions are treated matters The length of the transfer window matters

Ready to move to a partner that does the work?

Brokers Alliance has been independently owned since 1982, out of Fountain Hills, Arizona. Tell us where you are today and we will walk you through release, your in-force book, and contracting, step by step. Call (866) 872-9394 or reach out below.

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