The health insurance industry is saddened by the loss of Dick Field, who began his career in 1970 with New York Life selling whole life policies in record numbers. He left the company as a Chairman’s Council member, their top designation, moving to California and concentrating on the health insurance business. In 1982 he and partner Rusty Brown started Innovative Cost Concepts, the first general agency in the country to provide multiple group health insurance quotes and comparisons to their agent force. They put together their first “private label” small group product with Great Republic Life in 1983.
Shortly after they added partner John Word, Field decided to concentrate on the individual marketplace, and his partners formed their own company, Word and Brown, specializing in the group market and becoming one of the largest group insurance wholesalers in the nation. Field went on to put together many private label individual health insurance products, including The Innovator, with United Olympic Life; The Competitive Edge, with Trustmark; The Solution Series, with The Provident; Total Choice and Shared Choice, with United Chambers; e-Solution and the Assur-Care series with Guarantee Trust Life; Unified One, with Unified Life; and GetMED 360, with Fairmont Specialty Group.
His current venture had been Innovative Insurance Specialists, LLC, founded by Field and his soul mate and partner of 18 years, Yvonne Fidure. On a personal note, it was always a delight to run into them while making the rounds of industry events. They never failed to greet me with beaming smiles and earnest welcome and enthusiasm. Dick was a good and loyal friend to many, myself included, and the industry is truly lessened by his loss. [SPH]
The life insurance industry lost a great one recently with the passing of Fred Tseu, CPS Insurance Services, Inc./Guardian of Hawaii.
Born in 1923 in Chansha, Hunan Provence, Tseu moved to Hawaii in 1935. After serving in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, Fred graduated the SMU School of Insurance Marketing and started selling insurance in 1947. Tseu also served in the Navy during the Korean War, then returned to the insurance industry, and founded Guardian of Hawaii as a National Fidelity career general agency in 1955. He transitioned the agency from a career shop to a brokerage general agency in 1969.
Very active in his industry associations, Tseu served on the membership and legislative committees of the Honolulu Association of Life Underwriters, on the board of the Hawaii State Association of Life Underwriters, serving as its president in 1982-1983. He was a board member of the Life Underwriters Political Action Committee (LUPAC), and was elected twice to be the state chairman, from 1979-1983 and again from 1984-1988. In addition to his work in the National Association of Life Underwriters (now NAIFA), Tseu was an active member of the General Agents and Managers Association (GAMA), the Hawaii Chapter of CLU, and the American Society of CLU. Guardian of Hawaii was a charter member of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), and the agency still belongs to the group, under the capable leadership of Fred’s children Steven Tseu and Lori (Tseu) Rodriguez.
Tseu was active in his community, participating in various fundraising campaigns for cancer, heart disease and other causes; a member and past president of the Honolulu Optimist Club; a neighborhood commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America; and a youth counselor for the YMCA.
In addition to Lori and Steven, Tseu leaves behind his wife, Edna, and daughters Jeannie and Debbie.
Fred Tseu served our industry and his clients with boundless compassion and integrity during an insurance career spanning more than six decades. He will be missed. [SPH]
Another loss to our industry must be noted with the passing of Robert “Bob” Miller, CLU, ChFC, MSFS. Bob possessed the rare combination of a MENSA’s intelligence with an engaging “everyman” personality. Most recently Bob served as product manager at AAA Life Insurance Company. Prior to joining AAA, Miller was a principal and chief marketing consultant with RAM Marketing Innovation, LLC, and the vice president, marketing innovation, with Ash Brokerage.
Miller graduated from Bradley University in 1972 with a BS in business. He studied the insurance industry extensively through the American College, earning his CLU designation as well as his ChFC and MSFS. However, it was during his tenure with a number of key insurance carriers in the brokerage market that Miller really counted his contributions to the industry, serving first as AVP, marketing coordinator at National Fidelity Life in the early 1980s, next moving to Federal Kemper Life Insurance Company as a director or marketing, product development and systems design. In the early 1990s Bob moved to CNA as vice president, marketing, before landing at American General as director of marketing from 2004 through 2009.
Miller’s contributions in product development, marketing support, training and motivation of the field force left a lasting impression on the many home office colleagues, brokerage general agency principals and brokers who were fortunate enough to work with him. Bob played a key role in such industry product innovations as deposit term, re-entry term, level term and ROP term, ISWL and UL. His design support of product illustration software and the industry’s first tele-underwriting process demonstrates the great breadth of his creativity. He was a passionate brokerage industry advocate, a product innovator, a master platform speaker, motivator and trainer, and a successful team leader. I enjoyed many conversations with Bob over the years, chiefly at NAILBA and marketing organization meetings, and I am truly sorry our industry has lost his voice. [SPH]
