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Intimate Relationships

It is impossible to imagine a more personal or intrinsic relationship than the historical and demographic reality of the Baby Boomer generation and the sale of insurance. Those born between 1946 and 1964 have dominated our sales thinking and defined our sales success. Stephen Moses vividly described the Boomer phenomena 20 years ago as a social and economic pig passing through a python. We have built our products and our careers on first the frequent cry of “the Boomers are coming!” to an almost complacent acceptance of their presence providing the natural and normal source of almost all sales conversations. Time marches on and we are beginning to experience a serious buying shift in insurance acquisition style and the utilization of available technology.

The question must now become what does that mean to those grappling with long term care/chronic illness risk abrogation? What can still be accomplished for those who wish to help apply the available financial planning finishing touches to those Boomers beginning to exit, stage right? What new and improved planning strategies can be utilized for those Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980) beginning to assume a firm position at center stage? How can we prepare for those Millennials (born between 1981 and 1997) beginning to enter the insurance acquisition market from stage left that are almost exclusively immersed in the evaluation and acquisition of insurance via non-personal technology?

The one immutable truth that we all agree upon that lies at the heart of successful sales is personal experience with caregiving. I have no interest in joining the argument of whether altruism or self interest makes more sales. I would be remiss however in not suggesting that buying decisions reviewed after the fact may reflect more classic cognitive dissonance about making wise financial decisions and less open admission about personal contact with the financial and emotional cost of caregiving.

We would all now acknowledge that the shortest distance between a conversation about the need for extended custodial care and completing an application is a direct and personal experience with the problem itself. In one of my first columns I declared that if you find the caregiving story you find the sale. Fifteen years ago I worked with the SOA and LIMRA to conduct a producer survey asking very experienced producers what they thought controlled sales success. Their number one choice was personal experience with caregiving. At that same time the AHIP Buyer—Non Buyer Survey was reporting that those who bought said their number one reason was to protect personal assets. You may have noticed over the course of that extremely valuable ongoing longitudinal study that the truth about caregiving has also begun the bleed through in the data. The point is that a buyer after the fact may say they did so because they, of course, make wise financial decisions, while the more accurate truth may be based on their involvement in the care of the Greatest/Silent generation (born between 1923 and 1945).

As has been frequently suggested in this column, the most universal and prevalent conundrum that faces all Americans is the certainty that most of us will require some level of remedial care assistance and that the great and vast majority are unprepared for that eventuality. What must concern us is where those caregiving responsibilities by generation will fall most heavily. The current situation finds the primary recipients of care among the Silent Generation with informal care being provided by Baby Boomers and formal care being provided by Gen X. The inevitable progression of time is however beginning to reveal a new and perhaps even more challenging future. Frankly, as that proverbial pig begins to exit the snake, we must be able to accommodate and hopefully more successfully address a dramatic shifting of roles. The primary care recipients will become those same Boomers we have tried so hard to protect for the last 20 years. (Me!) No one can argue that those who did acquire some form of insurance, even if flawed, imperfect or inadequate, are far better off than those we were unable to reach. The brave new world that is emerging shifts the Gen X to the role of informal caregiver (my children) and the millennials into the mushrooming formal care provider market (my grandchildren).

No one can deny that we are at a pivotal time in our market. If ever there was a time to reflect on what we have learned it is now—praying we do not repeat our past mistakes while attempting to accommodate and embrace a growing plethora of product choices. The fuel for future sales success is and always has been our understanding of caregiving and it’s direct impact on the progression of evolving caregiving roles and responsibilities. The burden of caregiving does not fall evenly or fairly across the generations. Empathy and compassion for that truth should continue to guide our future.
Other than that I have no opinion on the subject.

Allianz

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To better help investment advisors incorporate annuities into clients’ holistic financial plans, including managing retirement risk, Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life®) today announced a strategic partnership with SS&C’s Black Diamond® Wealth Platform, an award-winning portfolio management platform for financial professionals.

Contract values from Allianz Life’s entire portfolio of fixed and variable annuities will now be available to the Black Diamond client base. The direct data feed integration allows advisors at broker-dealers and registered investment advisors (RIAs) to access Allianz Life annuity contract values in real-time. This integration will help advisors incorporate annuities into clients’ overall financial plans and manage retirement risk.

“This partnership will help streamline what has traditionally been a cumbersome process for RIAs in determining how an annuity may fit into a client’s financial strategy,” said Eric Thomes, chief distribution officer, Allianz Life. “Our goal is to make it as easy and efficient as possible for investment advisors to make an informed decision as to whether an annuity is appropriate for their client.”

“Our integration with Allianz Life offers firms access to the annuity information they need to support their clients’ long-term goals,“ said Steve Leivent, senior vice president of Advisory, SS&C Advent. “Our mission is to leverage the best technology solutions to keep us on the leading edge of innovation and help our clients compete.”

SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, CT, and has offices around the world. Some 18,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world’s largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® in 2019, has been keeping its promises since 1896 by helping Americans achieve their retirement income and protection goals with a variety of annuity and life insurance products. In 2018, Allianz Life provided $2.8 billion in benefit payments that helped policyholders achieve their financial goals. As a leading provider of fixed index annuities, Allianz Life is part of Allianz SE, a global leader in the financial services industry with over 142,000 employees in more than 80 countries. Allianz Life is a proud sponsor of Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN, home of Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America

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Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life®) announced that it created a new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) position, and has hired Cecilia Stanton Adams for the role. As CDIO, Stanton Adams will focus on developing comprehensive diversity and inclusion initiatives at Allianz Life, and continue building a culture that values all employee contributions and diverse perspectives. She will also oversee community relations and corporate giving. Stanton Adams will report directly to President and CEO Walter White.

“Diversity and inclusion are an important part of how we make Allianz a best place to work for everyone,” said White. “With Cecilia’s leadership, we will build on our foundation of cultural strength, and bring more focus and structure to our diversity priority.”

Stanton Adams previously spent time at Allianz Life as assistant vice president for Culture and Leadership Development 14 years ago. Most recently, she was CEO of the Stanton Adams Diversity Institute, where she provided services to improve strategic workforce planning, recruiting and retention, training and development, supplier diversity, and cultural competence. Prior to that, she was the director of Talent Acquisition and Diversity for Buffalo Wild Wings, where she led the development and implementation of an enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion strategy.

She holds a BA in Psychology from Bloomfield College in NJ and an MA in Sociology/Psychology from Lehigh University in PA, where she also completed a Pre-doctoral Fellowship in Cognitive Psychology. She is a volunteer at several organizations, including the Black Women’s Wealth Alliance, Hispanic MBA, the Sexual Violence Center, Junior Achievement, and African-American Family Services, and is on the Board of Team Women.

Insurance Designers of America

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Insurance Designers of America, LLC, (IDA) announced that David R. Braun, CLU, has joined the firm as senior vice president-Institutional Markets. In his new role Braun will be responsible for working with all IDA partners in furthering life, disability, and long term care insurance sales inside banks, wirehouses, independent broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, and property casualty firms.

“We are excited to have David join us. He will be a great addition to our team,” said J. Craig Collins, president/executive director at IDA. “He is widely known and respected in our industry. His leadership will be invaluable. David’s boundless energy and passion for the insurance business, along with his vast knowledge and experience, will enhance our efforts to grow our business with institutional clients.”

With over 40 years of experience, Braun brings broad-based knowledge of the financial services industry and leadership in managing and developing distribution inside financial institutions. He comes to IDA from iPipeline where he was director of Sales – Financial Institutions.

“I am honored to join Insurance Designers,” Braun said. “They are viewed as an industry leader. Helping to grow their presence in the institutional markets represents a major opportunity. IDA partners are considered among the most respected and talented in supporting financial advisors and the insurance needs of their clients.”

Prior to iPipeline, Braun served as senior vice president at Highland Capital Brokerage where he was responsible for institutional sales. He began his insurance career with the Travelers-Life Division in 1977 in Milwaukee, proceeding to hold several positions with major U.S. financial institutions including Smith-Barney, ReliaStar (ING), Wells Fargo, and Investigo (now part of Broadridge).

Braun is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and holds FINRA Series 7, 63, and 24 licenses as well as his life and health licenses.

LifeMark + BRAMCO = LIBRA

LifeMark Partners and BRAMCO Financial Resources have joined forces to create LIBRA Insurance Partners (LIBRA), a life insurance marketing organization with more than 60 affiliated partner agencies. The new firm is dedicated to serving independent insurance producers, brokers and financial institutions with life, annuity and linked benefit insurance distribution, with projected cumulative production of $1.7 billion in 2019.

“This is an exciting time for our industry,” said William (Bill) Shelow, CLU®, ChFC®, CPCU®, LLIF, president and CEO of LIBRA and formerly the president and CEO of LifeMark Partners. “The scale and influence that this partnership represents and the benefits of combining resources and intellectual capital is beyond anything this industry has seen before. LIBRA will redefine the future of life insurance distribution.”

LIBRA agency partners will gain established relationships with an expanded line up of affiliated carriers and reinsurers, dedicated underwriting teams, case design resources and direct access to high-level contacts to facilitate the processing of complex cases, a dedicated advanced marketing attorney and a dedicated medical director, streamlined new business processing, invitations to exclusive training resources and events, and more. LIBRA’s experienced staff also offers hands-on, objective and knowledgeable insights on case design and underwriting.

“We have shared a mutual respect and passion for life insurance education and distribution with LifeMark Partners,” said Michael Hefferon, CFO and chief carrier strategy officer of LIBRA and formerly CEO of BRAMCO. “By joining forces and working together, the potential for our teams and partner agencies is endless. We look forward to bringing in a new era in life insurance distribution.”

The company’s headquarters will remain at the LifeMark offices in Linthicum Heights, MD.

LIBRA Insurance Partners is an insurance marketing organization dedicated to serving independent insurance producers, brokers and financial institutions. Formerly known as LifeMark Partners and BRAMCO Financial Resources, the united firm exists to leverage strategic relationships, expertise and innovation to expand life insurance distribution for the benefit of all stakeholders. LIBRA Insurance Partners is dedicated to the ongoing development and enhancement of resources to differentiate partner agencies from the competition. Its firms benefit from robust proprietary service offerings, unparalleled partnership, product expertise and access to industry-leading resources. To learn more about becoming a LIBRA partner firm, visit www.LIBRAInsurancePartners.com or call 410-837-3022.

Inter-Company Marketing Group

As experienced insurance recruiters and marketers well understand, there is no more powerful recruiting tool than personal referrals. For that reason, the marketing committee of the Inter-Company Marketing Group (ICMG) has announced its “Just Refer One” referral program.

According to ICMG marketing committee chair David Burke, “Referrals are crucial to success in our business. And this is true both in the world of insurance marketing and in the world of building membership in the ICMG. High-quality referrals identify high-quality ICMG membership prospects and ultimately increase conference attendance, attract engaged attendees, and improve partnership opportunities.”

Larry Sigle, executive director of the ICMG, says, “Our hope is that the attendees at our 2019 ICMG Conference were so impressed by the value of the event that they will be willing to share the news with other insurance industry decisions makers via our Just Refer One program.”

With the Just Refer One program, for every company an ICMG member refers to ICMG and subsequently attends the ICMG Annual Conference, the referring member will receive a $250 gift card when he or she picks up the registration packet at the annual conference.

ICMG members are asked to log in to the ICMG Web site and submit a referral under the “Why Join?” section, or email the referral’s name and contact information to Administration@icmg.org.

The ICMG 2020 conference is scheduled for January 29 – 31, 2020, in Orlando, Florida, and registration is now open and available on the web site (www.icmg.org).

The Inter-Company Marketing Group is the premier non-profit association that fosters strategic alliances among insurance and financial services companies, providing targeted networking opportunities, sharing of knowledge, experience, and resources for successful inter-company alliances. Among ICMG’s members are marketing and business development decision-makers with insurance carriers, reinsurers, distributors, third-party administrators, and other related companies in the insurance business. Find ICMG on LinkedIn or visit www.icmg.org to learn more. For more information, contact Larry Sigle, executive director, ICMG, 316-252-3368, administration@icmg.org, or Chuck Hirsch, president, Hirsch Communications Consulting, 314-630-1387, charles.k.hirsch@gmail.com.

Diversified Brokerage Services

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Diversified Brokerage Services (DBS) is pleased to welcome Leah Reckin-Mahoney, FLMI, PCS, to the team as its director of New Business, effective Monday, November 4, 2019.

An innovative and charismatic leader, Leah brings an extensive range of knowledge in life insurance new business, making her exceptionally well suited for the position. With more than 20 years of effective leadership experience she has proven skill at resolving complex business and process challenges and she has worked extensively building teams and fine-tuning the service experience her team members ultimately provide customers. Her drive and enthusiasm for improving processes and finding solutions will be a true asset to DBS.

“When I was presented with the opportunity to join the DBS family, I was instantly intrigued; it was almost like I was designed for the position,” Mahoney said. “I’m extremely excited to work for a BGA, with the variety of carriers and tasks involved with the position presenting a good challenge. I look forward to building on the success they’ve achieved over the years.”

Leah most recently served as director of New Business for the Individual Life and Annuity Division at Securian Financial. There, she provided strategic leadership to over 100 associates within new business processing, operation support, and training departments. She worked closely with numerous groups, setting divisional plans, accelerating key objectives, and maximizing resources to achieve sales and service goals.

“We’re extremely excited about the direction our company is going; we have been laser focused on new business and planning for the future,” explained Victoria Van Dusen-Roos, DBS chief operations officer. “Leah is a perfect fit for DBS, our team, and our vision.”

Prior to her director role, Leah served as manager of the Individual Life Insurance Customer Contact Center at Securian, a position that gave her an opportunity to study and truly understand the overall customer experience. She worked to ensure that her teams maintained prompt, accurate and cost effective service, and successfully achieved results that supported the organization’s goals. Early in her career Leah worked in a variety of roles within the Retirement division with clients, giving her first-hand knowledge into the advisor experience. This enabled her to become empathetic about the distribution experience, something that will also be an advantage as she moves to DBS.

“We are excited to have Leah join the DBS team. She brings us an incredible amount of experience and knowledge that will help us serve our distribution partners, their advisors, and their clients better in the future,” said Chip Van Dusen, DBS president and CEO. “Leah’s demonstrated commitment to increasing her knowledge base and implementing change will allow DBS to enhance its new business service offerings to our customers.”

Mutual of Omaha

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Mutual of Omaha has partnered with Ease, a leading HR and benefits software solution for small businesses, insurance brokers, and insurance carriers, to help brokers and HR administrators enroll and manage worksite and voluntary plans.

“We are excited about the partnership with Ease,” said Megan Holland, vice president, Sales Distribution and Marketing. “This partnership aligns with our strategic anchors of continuing to enhance and streamline the customer experience while adding value for our broker partners.”

Through EaseConnect+, Ease offers a technology solution for the benefits administration process by conveniently and securely submitting enrollment information and changes directly to Mutual of Omaha. In turn, ID cards are issued to employees more quickly, updates are processed seamlessly—and brokers have more time to focus on new business.

With this connection, Mutual of Omaha will become Ease’s newest EaseConnect+ partner, allowing brokers to safely and securely submit enrollment data directly to Mutual of Omaha. Additionally, Ease will fully setup and maintain this connection for brokers.

“Ease is proud to partner with such a well-respected organization as Mutual of Omaha and looks forward to offering this outstanding opportunity to our brokers,” said David Reid, CEO of Ease. “Mutual of Omaha now belongs to a growing roster of carriers that are committed to building a better experience for brokers, employers, and employees by embracing the latest technology.”

Founded in 1909, Mutual of Omaha is a Fortune 500 organization offering a variety of insurance and financial products for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States. In the individual market, Mutual is a leader in the senior health, life, long-term care, disability and annuity lines. The company also offers a portfolio of employee benefit and retirement solutions. For more information about Mutual of Omaha, visit www.mutualofomaha.com.

Ease is an online benefits enrollment system built for insurance brokers and employers. Ease makes it simple to set up and manage benefits, onboard new hires, stay compliant, and offer employees one destination for all their human resources information. Started in 2012 in San Francisco by employee benefits veteran David Reid and web and engineering architect Courtney Guertin, Ease works with insurance brokers and small businesses to create seamless HR and benefits processes on an easy-to-use system. Ease has offices in Las Vegas, New York, Omaha and San Diego. In 2015, Ease was launched on the West Coast and is among the most widely adopted, fastest growing solutions for brokers and employers in the area, with over 65,000 employers and over 2 million employees. For more information, head to www.ease.com.

Amalgamated Life

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Amalgamated Life Insurance Company, a leading provider of comprehensive insurance solutions, announced the appointment of Ray Moore as sales executive, Voluntary Worksite Products. Moore will be marketing Amalgamated Life’s voluntary worksite products across the U.S. Southern Region. He brings over two decades of senior level, specialized sales experienced in employee benefits and a proven track record in driving substantial revenue growth within the financial and insurance industry. His broad skills, which range from value-based selling, market trend analysis and contract negotiations to account management, team management and development, proposals and presentations, will be instrumental in his new role.

Prior to joining Amalgamated Life, Moore served as vice president, Field Operations and Sales at Employee Benefits Systems, Inc. (Houston, TX), where he managed the full scope of lead generation, client relations, and effectively driving new business development. As part of his sales leadership, he routinely made high-level presentations before large corporations and monitored all product training to assure a strong sales focus.

Moore’s career also included roles as regional vice president at Transamerica Worksite Marketing (Raleigh, NC), where he managed operations, served as the liaison between field and administrative staff, and established and maintained broker relationships. He also served as director, Employee Benefits with FinCor Solutions, Inc. (East Lansing, MI) and assistant vice president, Sales and Marketing with Bankers Security Life (Arlington, VA).

Moore’s advanced education includes Business Management and Marketing studies at Texas Christian University (TCU). He is ACA Certified from the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU).

Amalgamated also announced that Bruce Van Ryn has joined the company as a sales executive, Voluntary Worksite Products. Van Ryn will be marketing Amalgamated Life’s voluntary worksite products in MI, IN, WI, MN, SD and ND. A results-driven executive, Van Ryn brings over 25 years of senior level experience in insurance and benefit sales, as well as an entrepreneurial background having led his own marketing firm specializing in sales lead generation.

Van Ryn most recently served as a senior benefits consultant with Grand Companies (Grandville, MI), where he provided consultation, enrollment and employee benefits solutions to brokers and clients. While there, he leveraged technology, communications and on-site support to effectively address enrollment challenges. He also conducted various educational presentations to brokers, employers and employees to convey the financial security and peace of mind that cost-effective insurance products provide.

Van Ryn also served as district sales coordinator with AFLAC (Columbus, GA), where his accomplishments included achieving annual sales quotas and Leadership Conference sales goals and writing the most new policies in the Michigan District in 2015. Additionally, his career included his role as district general agent for Colonial Life & Accident Company (Columbia, SC). As President and CEO of Van Ryn Associates, Inc. (Grandville, MI), a marketing firm he founded, he helped manufacturers in the marketing and sales of their products through nationwide distribution networks.

Van Ryn holds a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration from Calvin College.

Further, Amalgamated announced the appointment of Howard Gertner as sales executive, Voluntary Worksite Products. Gertner, will be marketing Amalgamated Life’s voluntary worksite products in CO, NV, UT, MT, WY, NE, ID, MO and AZ. He brings a proven track record spanning almost three decades in voluntary worksite, insurance and related offerings. His achievements on behalf of former employers include successfully building market share in underperforming territories, and increasing sales of worksite and voluntary product through direct sales to employers and broker distribution channels.

Directly prior to joining Amalgamated Life, Gertner served as vice president of Sales at United Group Programs (Denver, CO), where he built powerful relationships with brokers, consultants and national strategic partners to sell the company’s medical benefits programs, coverage plans and worksite ancillary programs. Other recent positions held by Gertner include his roles as sales representative with Reliance Standard Life Insurance (Denver, CO), where he implemented open enrollment meetings that consistently achieved 90 percent enrollment numbers, and agency development manager with Colonial Life & Accident (Sunrise, FL), where his responsibilities included building and strengthening broker relationships, as well as overseeing 10-15 sales agents and driving their sales success. In addition to these positions, Gertner has held several other sales executive and management roles with various insurers and health plans

Gertner holds an Associates of Arts and Sciences in Zoology from Santa Fe College.

Founded in 1943, Amalgamated Life Insurance Company has since grown into a leading provider of comprehensive insurance solutions operating in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company provides competitive group products including term life, medical stop loss, disability and specialty drug cost management, as well as voluntary products such as accident, accidental death and dismemberment, critical illness, dental, disability, hearing, ID theft, legal, portable term life and whole life, among others. Since 1975, Amalgamated Life Insurance Company has consistently earned the “A” (Excellent) Rating from A.M. Best Company attesting to its strong fiscal position. The Company is a member of the Amalgamated Family of Companies which also includes: AliCare, a third-party administrator; AliCare Medical Management, a medical care management firm; AliGraphics, a full-service printing and graphics firm; and Amalgamated Agency, a property and casualty brokerage. For more information, visit: www.amalgamatedlife.com.

Inter-Company Marketing Group

The Inter-Company Marketing Group (ICMG), a non-profit association that fosters and promotes business networking among insurance and financial services firms, has announced that registration is open for its 2020 conference, scheduled for January 29 to 31, 2020, at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Orlando (www.icmg.org).

The ICMG Annual Conference is the insurance industry’s unmatched networking opportunity, where top-level executives and thought leaders gather knowing the entire event is designed to help them build their businesses by fostering relationships and developing strategic alliances.

Besides extensive, high-level networking, the 2020 Conference program includes industry leaders discussing the latest topics, such as:

  • A Washington update on the current direction of healthcare reform
  • Marketing ideas for LinkedIn and other social/digital media
  • Fostering strategic partnerships
  • Building distribution

According to ICMG president Chuck Ritzke, FSA, MAAA, “We don’t think anybody in the insurance world will want to miss this exciting meeting at Disney World. Given the response so far, our projection for ICMG 2020 is more people, more deals!”

For more information, contact Larry Sigle, executive director, ICMG, 316-252-3368, administration@icmg.org, or Chuck Hirsch, president, Hirsch Communications Consulting, 314-630-1387, charles.k.hirsch@gmail.com.

The Inter-Company Marketing Group (www.icmg.org) is the premier non-profit association that fosters strategic alliances among insurance and financial services companies, providing targeted networking opportunities, sharing of knowledge, experience, and resources for successful inter-company alliances. Among ICMG’s members are marketing and business development decision-makers with insurance carriers, reinsurers, distributors, third-party administrators, and other related companies in the insurance business.