u/smc925

It’s wild watching the talent drain right now. A bunch of people have already left, way more are on the way out, and others are just waiting on the right exit. The funniest (and saddest) part is scrolling through here and seeing people asking how to get hired, while so many on the inside are actively trying to escape.
Honestly, it feels like the only people staying are those content with 40k–70k. I genuinely wonder what the veteran agents are thinking and why they’re choosing to stick it out.
There are so many things people used to love about NatGen, and at its heart, it has always been about the people. But now that the people are leaving, what is even left to stay for? Is leadership just completely checked out on retaining top talent?
And on top of all that, management just keeps pushing more useless add-on products nobody actually needs. Total cash grab. But sure, "yes master," gotta keep slinging the bs packages just to keep food on the table.
The morale hit has been brutal. Seeing colleagues lose homes and cars—all while watching their mental health tank—is heartbreaking.

I’ll be putting in my 2 weeks very soon I found another opportunity with much better pay similar to how it was with Nat Gen before AS completely took over. A few others from my team are leaving as well for the same company. Anyone else heard of better opportunities elsewhere?

Seems like they wanna lose all good talent. I’ve about had it.

I'm a seasoned P&C sales agent planning to make the leap and start my own scratch independent agency. I had an initial chat with an SIAA rep today. On paper, I really love their carrier access, but the rep was incredibly vague about the actual numbers and startup costs. They essentially just told me I'd need 6 months to a year of expenses saved up and didn't deep dive into the fees.

For those who have used SIAA or looked into them recently:

1. What do the startup fees, monthly tech/maintenance fees, and exit/buyout clauses actually look like in your experience?

2. How do they handle commission splits and profit-sharing/overrides on standard personal lines?

Also, if you didn’t go the SIAA route, what other aggregators, clusters, or networks would you recommend checking out for a brand-new scratch agency? I’ve seen names like Smart Choice, Agentero, Horizon, and First Connect thrown around, but I'd love to know who actually treats scratch agents well without locking you into a predatory contract or holding your book hostage if you eventually want to pivot to direct appointments.

Appreciate any insight or lessons learned from those who have been down this road!

I started at Nat Gen right before pay cuts started. The most I’ve made has been 135k. New comp plan sucks. I’m a top performer and this feels like robbery. I started looking elsewhere bc this isn’t sustainable. Where did all the veteran agents go?