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Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael Burry who wrote (6936)	4/24/1999 9:23:00 PM
From: Shane M	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78594

Mike, At Allstate, I don't think the discussion is about direct channel replacing the captive channel (agency force). The numbers indicate that 70% or so of the customers still prefer an agent - captive or independent. About 20% of customers now prefer a direct company, and this percentage has grown substantially over the years. (The other 10% don't know what they want <g>). The direct channel is the fastest growing segment of the business and Allstate has no presense. The other channels are being squeezed as growth accelerates in direct. To me it's also a discussion of ROI. Allstate is spending alot of money on technology to make the agency force more efficient and to generate growth. The question is "could this money be spent more effectively if we invest in the direct channel?" To some degree I think the company's answer is "Yes." Shane