Tony Cornell.

All sides of the industry should work together to educate banks and accountants that goodwill is a real asset in insurance broking.

One of the bigger problems facing insurance brokers is how various
other professions treat goodwill.


Accountants will always recommend that goodwill is written off as quickly
as possible. Banks tend to discount goodwill totally in their valuation of
a company. They regard it as an intangible. Credit rating companies also
discount goodwill and the IBRC does not take it into account in
calculating solvency margins. All of this means that brokers can be seen
as asset-lacking and poor credit risks.


The