Bank insurance brokerage earnings rose to $1 billion in the first quarter, up 8.6% from the total for the first quarter of 2007, according to Michael White Associates L.L.C..
Researchers at MWA, Radnor, Pa., say 36% of the U.S. banks supplying financial data reported income from insurance brokerage operations during the first quarter.
About 68% of banks with more than $10 billion in assets participated in brokerage activities. Those banks collected a total of $871 million in non-annuity commission and fee revenue from insurance product sales.