The Marketing Alliance (TMA)

The IMO That Doesn't Compete With Your Agents

TMA gives independent agencies access to 36+ carriers, a US-based back office that handles interviews and case work, and an underwriting team that rescues declined business — without a retail arm bidding against you.

PUBLICLY TRADED (OTC: MAAL)  ·  ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI  ·  SERVING INDEPENDENT AGENCIES SINCE 1996

36+Life, Annuity & LTC Carrier Partners
30+Years in the Insurance Industry
20+Years Without Raising Outside Capital
0Retail Arms Competing With Your Agents

Why Agencies Move Their Business to TMA

Most distributors can list carriers. Fewer can tell you they have no incentive to take your case.

No retail arm. Ever.

TMA does not employ producers who sell to consumers. There is no in-house agency quietly writing the same business you are, no lead pool your cases feed, and no scenario where your best producer gets recruited by the organization contracting them. Independence is the product, not a marketing line.

Financials You Can Actually Verify

TMA is publicly traded under OTC: MAAL. You can read the numbers before you move your book — something most privately held IMOs cannot offer. The company has run more than 20 years without raising outside capital.

Capacity Without Headcount

The Insurance Fulfillment Center works cases 8am–8pm Monday through Friday and prices to your case volume. Agencies scale throughput without hiring, training, or carrying a case manager through a slow quarter.

Contracts You Could Not Get Alone

TMA negotiates compensation against aggregate production across its whole distribution base, then extends those terms to member agencies — including ones far too small to command them independently.

Built for Independent Distribution

TMA works with organizations that own their book and intend to keep owning it.

Independent Agencies & BGAs

Agencies that want a wider carrier shelf and better compensation without surrendering their producers, their brand, or their renewals to an upline.

Producer Groups Scaling Up

Growing teams that have outrun their back office and need interviews, requirements, and underwriter negotiation handled before service quality slips.

InsurTech & New Distribution

Digital and non-traditional distributors that need carrier access and licensed fulfillment behind a modern front end, without building an insurance operation from scratch.

What TMA Handles For You

The work that happens after the application is signed is where agencies quietly lose margin. TMA absorbs it.

Tele-Interviewing

Part 1 and Part 2 client interviews on drop-ticket business, conducted by our internal team and submitted electronically to the carrier. No cost to TMA distribution partners.

Case Management

Our Business Support Center chases and satisfies carrier requirements end to end, so files stop stalling between the application and the policy.

Underwriting Advocacy

Experienced case managers negotiate directly with underwriters, working difficult files toward the best available offer instead of accepting the first answer.

Case Rescues

Declined or “unplaceable” cases get repositioned and re-marketed for a placeable offer — revenue you had already written off, at no additional cost.

Annuity Programs

Top annuity contracts spanning 200+ deferred, indexed, and immediate product variations, delivered through Turn-key, Support, or Plus programs depending on your infrastructure.

Digital Contracting

Onboarding that connects your agency straight to the carrier network with no intermediary agency in the middle. You keep the relationship and the book.

See All Services in Detail

A Glimpse of Our Carrier Network

36+ carriers across life, annuity, long-term care, disability, and Medicare Supplement — reachable through a single contracting relationship.

Legal & General America carrier logo Corebridge Financial carrier logo John Hancock carrier logo Mutual of Omaha carrier logo Nationwide carrier logo Transamerica carrier logo Symetra Financial carrier logo Pacific Life carrier logo Lincoln Financial Group carrier logo Protective Life carrier logo SBLI carrier logo Prudential carrier logo MassMutual Strategic Distributors carrier logo Securian Financial carrier logo Gerber Life carrier logo

View All 36+ Carriers

What Partner Agencies Say About TMA

Hear firsthand from one of our partner agencies about how The Marketing Alliance has provided the tools, support, and resources to help them achieve significant business growth.

About The Marketing Alliance

A publicly traded IMO built around independent distribution — and structured so that staying independent actually pays.

Who We Are

The Marketing Alliance, Inc. has served independent life insurance distribution since 1996 from its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. TMA provides carrier access, underwriting support, and back-office fulfillment to agencies distributing life, annuity, and long-term care products nationwide. As a publicly traded company, its financial position is a matter of public record rather than a claim — and it has sustained that position for over 20 years without raising outside capital.

The Insurance Fulfillment Center

Launched in 2020 and built on more than 80 years of combined call center and insurance experience, the IFC is TMA's US-based service operation. It runs client tele-interviews, submits applications, satisfies carrier requirements, and advocates with underwriters — using VoIP, IVR, and on-demand call center technology to give partner agencies the operational depth of a much larger organization.

Read the Full Company Story

Questions Agencies Ask Before They Contract

Straight answers to what principals actually want to know.

What is an IMO, and how is it different from a BGA?
An Independent Marketing Organization sits between insurance carriers and independent distribution. It negotiates carrier contracts, aggregates production across many agencies, and supplies services an individual agency cannot justify building alone. A Brokerage General Agency typically works closer to the producer level; many BGAs contract through an IMO like TMA to reach better compensation and a wider carrier shelf than they could secure on their own. Read the full comparison →
Does TMA compete with my agents?
No. TMA has no retail arm. The company does not employ producers who sell to consumers, so it is never bidding against the agencies it serves. Every case TMA touches belongs to the partner agency that brought it — and your producers are not a recruiting target. Captive vs. independent, explained →
How many carriers can my agency access through TMA?
More than 36 carriers across five product lines — life insurance, annuities, long-term care and hybrid products, disability, and Medicare Supplement. One contracting relationship with TMA replaces negotiating and maintaining appointments carrier by carrier. See the full carrier lineup →
What does TMA actually do day to day?
The Insurance Fulfillment Center conducts Part 1 and Part 2 client tele-interviews, submits applications electronically to carriers, chases carrier requirements, and negotiates with underwriters on difficult files. The Underwriting Office runs quick quotes and reworks declined cases through its case rescue program. Case management operates 8am to 8pm, Monday through Friday. Full service breakdown →
What does it cost to work with TMA?
Tele-interviewing and case rescue are provided at no cost to TMA distribution partners. Case management is priced to scale with your case volume rather than as fixed headcount, so you can expand capacity without adding staff or carrying that staff through a slow quarter.
Is TMA financially stable?
TMA is a publicly traded company (OTC: MAAL) headquartered in St. Louis, with a fiscal year ending March 31. The financials are public and verifiable rather than asserted, and the company has sustained its model for more than 20 years without raising outside capital. Investor information →
How does an agency get contracted with TMA?
TMA uses digital onboarding that connects your agency directly to its carrier network without routing through an intermediary agency, so you keep ownership of your book and your independence. The fastest path is a conversation about what your agency writes today. Start that conversation →

Guidance for Agency Principals

187 articles on choosing an IMO, recruiting producers, underwriting, annuities, and growing the book.

Choosing the Right IMO for Your Agency BGA vs. IMO: What Actually Differs The Benefits of Partnering With a Life Insurance IMO Agent Recruitment Strategies for BGAs Demystifying Underwriting: A Guide for Professionals What Makes a Best-in-Class Life Insurance IMO

Browse All 187 Articles

Find Out What TMA Would Change About Your Economics

Tell us what your agency writes and where it is losing time. We will show you what the carrier shelf, the compensation, and the back office would look like on the other side.

Talk to TMA
Call

314-275-8713
Monday–Friday, business hours CT

Email

info@themarketingalliance.com
We reply to agency inquiries directly

Visit

111 Westport Plaza, Suite 200
St. Louis, MO 63146