Stephen Howard

In Memoriam

This one is a real punch in the gut. It is my sad duty to report the passing of a wonderful friend and one of our industry’s most diligent and beloved heroes, Ed Murray, Murray & Zuckerman, Inc., Schenectady, NY.

After graduating with a degree in finance, Ed served as a combat veteran in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment known as “The Blackhorse” as an Artillery Forward Observer in Vietnam. An Artillery FO patrolled with infantry units and called in grid coordinates and artillery fire when under attack. An Artillery FO had to be extremely accurate in determining their own location and the location of the enemy or else terrible things could happen.

Ed and dear friends Gary Glassford and Art Jetter, who also served in Air Cavalry units, would frequently share stories of their time in the military. On one of these occasions Art unfortunately mentioned his Cobra helicopter gunship’s Environmental Control Unit. Ed stopped him and asked incredulously, “Environmental Control Unit? Jetter, are you telling me that you had an air conditioner in that helicopter while I was on the ground crawling around rice paddies in 110-degree temperatures and 110 percent humidity?” Ever witty, Ed continued, “Jetter, if I had known you had an air conditioner in that helicopter, I would have shot your ass down.”

The start of Ed’s insurance career came after a brief stint in real estate, when he began working at Chubb Insurance. It didn’t take long to realize carrier life may not be a good fit, so his inner entrepreneur kicked in and he set out on his own, then ultimately teamed with Gordon Zuckerman to form Murray & Zuckerman, Inc., and set up shop in Schenectady. Their vision was to have a general agency that serviced all four corners…of New York State.

Ed had been deeply involved in the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), serving as its chair and receiving the association’s highest honor, the Douglas Mooers Award for Excellence, in 2005. Another former chair, and Mooers Award recipient, Art remembers, “Ed likes to give credit to others for NAILBA recovering from the financial issues in the late 90s, early 2000s. He doesn’t take any personal credit. However, when I was chair in 2000 and gave my swan song speech, I specifically recognized his incredible service as treasurer. I called him our ‘financial boy wonder.’ Without Ed understanding that the board had to stick to its guns on fiscal recovery, and rubbing our noses in it, there might not have been a recovery.”

Ed was also fundamental in the forming of one of our industry’s premier marketing organizations, The Marketing Alliance (TMA). He was the recipient of the group’s Billy Vogel Award, given annually to an individual working in the brokerage industry who possesses impressive business acumen, a sense of innovation and, above all, integrity. In recognizing Ed as the recipient, TMA President Tim Klusas said, “This year’s recipient is recognized for their business acumen, practical application, and ability to simplify complex issues. While I can’t possibly list all of Ed’s contributions, it was his resourcefulness, vision, innovative thinking, and above all integrity that got TMA off the ground in 1996.”

On Ed’s passing Tim related, “Many people remember Ed for his quick wit and sense of humor because he made them laugh. Most people wouldn’t know how truly generous Ed was with not just his possessions but his time. Many people have shared stories of the time he spent with them, what he said, or how he inspired them when they needed confidence. Some will say they just lost their biggest fan. I think that’s how he impacted people.”

I met Ed longer ago than I can remember, probably at a Sub Centers or NAILBA meeting, before he helped lay the groundwork for TMA. I found him to be welcoming, friendly, intensely loyal and a great fountain of knowledge about the brokerage business. Like many of us, Ed found it hard to deal with ignorance. At least in my case in the early years, the difference between Ed and many others was his unfailing willingness to work to chip away at my lack of knowledge and increase my understanding and appreciation of just how vital and honorable the brokerage business is.

Ever the gruff humorist, I remember his first exclamation while accepting the Billy Vogel Award: “If I’d known I was going to receive this recognition I would have worn socks.” The brokerage industry is extremely fortunate to have had Ed Murray as a champion, as am I to have had him as a friend.[SPH]

Special thanks to long time friend Chuck Hirsch, Hirsch Communications Consulting, for letting me know that the Inter-Company Marketing Group (ICMG), named Allen Bress, president of AIM Marketing & Insurance Services, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, as the recipient of the 2024 Don Kampe Lifetime Achievement Award.

ICMG is a non-profit association that fosters business networking among insurance and financial services companies, and the Don Kampe Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor awarded by the group. Allen joined ICMG in 1993 and has enthusiastically worked to expand membership and member involvement. The Kampe award was established in 2001 to recognize ICMG members who have made significant, ongoing contributions of time and resources for the benefit of the organization. The award was named in honor of Don Kampe, who served on ICMG’s first board of directors, was president for two terms, and continued to be active in board and committee work for 24 years.

A graduate of California State University, Northridge, in 1969 with a BA in Economics, Allen jumped into the insurance industry in 1978, founding AIM Marketing & Insurance Services. He has founded three successful companies in his 45-plus year career, developing and distributing brokerage supported insurance products and building strategic partnerships and alliances throughout the industry. With the invaluable help of wife Gail, owner and CFO, AIM Marketing provides a wide range of insurance products including term, universal life, whole life, annuities, long term care, living benefits, short term medical, travel medical, dental, disability, group ancillary products and retiree medical insurance utilizing more than 50 carrier partners.

Beyond ICMG Allen he has been active in many other conferences and organizations. He has served on multiple boards including the Mass Market Insurance Institute, PIMA, Voluntary Benefits Association, and the NAILBA Charitable Foundation. He has been inducted into the Workplace Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame and had a founding role in the California Association of Health Underwriters. He also holds membership in the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and the marketing group National Brokerage Agencies (NBA).

This year’s Don Kampe Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by ICMG’s executive director, Larry Sigle, who said about Allen, “It’s evident that his unwavering dedication, visionary leadership, and profound industry impact make him a deserving recipient.”
Allen has been a dear friend since the early 80s when our paths crossed at some conference, likely NBA or NAHU. From early on in my career I’ve found Allen to be warm, welcoming and an invaluable source of industry knowledge and education. I and countless others owe him a debt of gratitude for the advancement and longevity of our careers. Thank you Allen, and congratulations on an honor richly deserved![SPH]

In Memoriam

Truly sad news for our entire industry…Henry “Hank” George passed away this January after a brief illness. He was a tireless advocate for the underwriting profession, and traveled around the world sharing his vast knowledge.

In 1969, Hank met Esther Ledesma and they married in 1970. They went on to have two children, Matthew and Rachel. He was a loving and supportive father. As a family man, he is remembered for his playful sense of humor and for his ability to inspire and encourage.

Hank began his career in underwriting at Northwestern Mutual in 1970. He also worked for Manulife, Lincoln National Re and ExamOne before starting his own underwriting consulting and training business in 2002.

A selfless proponent of the industry and the relationship between underwriting and distribution, Hank gave literally thousands of speeches, many at conferences organized by the Society of Actuaries. He was featured twice at the Million Dollar Round Table from the main stage. He was a past president of the Home Office Life Underwriters Association (HOLUA) and the creator of several underwriting study groups. In recognition of his many contributions to the underwriting field, Hank was a recipient of the Academy of Life Underwriting Outstanding Achievement Award and was inducted into the AHOU Hall of Fame.

During his career Hank published more than 550 research papers and articles, including many for Broker World. He authored two books: Getting it Issued (co-authored with John Krinik), and Underwriting: What Every Producer Must Know to increase and enhance the productivity of the agent/underwriter relationship. He founded the underwriting journal On The Risk as well as the Internal Underwriting Congress and the e-newsletter Hot Notes. Hot Notes was a beloved project of Hank’s and he poured his heart into it, producing more than 23 volumes, but unfortunately with his passing it will be discontinued. The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) is in his debt for authoring their Field Underwriting Guide.

Outside of work, Hank was a film enthusiast and regularly published movie reviews in Hot Notes. He was also deeply interested in politics and spirituality, and a die-hard fan of the Packers, Brewers, Badgers and Bucks.

Family, friends and colleagues knew Hank as a generous person who was quick to lend a hand to those in need. Hank actively looked for opportunities to build others up and was a mentor to many in his field. His dedication to his profession, family and friends was an inspiration to those who knew him best.

I only met Hank a few times at various conferences, but even in casual conversation his passion for the industry was clear. Few people, if any, in this industry have had a more profound and prolonged impact on how life insurers and the brokerage industry as a whole sees mortality and morbidity risk and how that shared knowledge can truly benefit all stakeholders and ultimately the consumers and families we strive to protect. We lost a really good one.[SPH]

It’s been my profound privilege to serve on the NAILBA Charitable Foundation board for a number of years, and help the foundation since its inception in 2002. Broker World was one of the original founding contributors and has continued to donate ever since. But I personally have been greatly rewarded beyond philanthropy by the amazing number of wonderful people I’ve been able to foster or enrich friendships with both on the board and by hawking raffle tickets at the annual meeting. The giving nature of our industry is seen in great measure and certainly seems to be alive and flourishing.

The NAILBA Charitable Foundation is where altruism meets the business of NAILBA. Since its creation by Founder Col. J. William Felton III in 2002, the Foundation has encouraged volunteerism in the NAILBA communities. NAILBA members and their corporate partners are encouraged to sponsor a charity they feel is working towards its mission of making dreams come true for those less fortunate. The Foundation is dedicated to providing grant funding to small, well-run charities that may not otherwise have access to additional funding. Since its inception, NAILBA Charitable Foundation grants have helped worthwhile philanthropic organizations plant seeds of change in their communities. NCF welcomes grant applications from NAILBA members, partners, and corporate sponsors, and greatly appreciates their efforts to improve conditions for those less fortunate.

The mission of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation is to encourage philanthropy and business to work hand in hand helping others who are at risk. Since 2002, the Foundation has raised and contributed more than four million dollars to more than 300 deserving charities and community organizations nationwide.

2022 contributions allowed the Foundation to grant funds to 24 deserving charities totaling $250,000. 2023 NCF grant recipients included: Our Mother’s Home of SW Florida, $25,000, the Felton Award Winner, for their Mentored Living Program; Action 169, $20,000, for their Runway For Action program; On Eagles Wings, $20,000, for their OEW Hope House Residential Treatment Scholarship program; Wishes And More, $20,000, for their Wishes and Memorial program; Jewish Relief Agency, $18,000, for their Monthly Food Distribution program; Kaitlyn’s Kloset-MN, $18,000, for their Food For All program; Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, $15,000, for their Family Support: Crucial Educational Support Resources For Families Facing Childhood Brain Tumor program; Time On Water, $12,000, for their Fishing Trip program; Ark House, $10,000, for their Apartment Lease Project; Capper Foundation, $10,000, for PSAF: Pediatric Scholarship Assistance Fund; Family Matters, $10,000, for their Social Wellness program; Madison Reading Project, $10,000, for their Expanded Big Red Reading Bus program; Salina Chapter of AMBUCS, $10,000, for their AMBUCS Mobility Program; Scholars Hope, $10,000, for their Academy; Sock Out Cancer, $10,000, for their Kansas Meets Boston Benefit Concert; Ready Readers, $10,000, for their Ready Readers Storytime program; Evergreen Goodwill of NW Washington, $7,500, for their Youth Aerospace program; Bringing Hope Home, $6,000, for their Light Of Hope Family program; Boys & Girls Club Binghamton, $5,000, for workspace items for their Teen Power Hour Tutoring program; and Ronald McDonald House of Central Arkansas, $2,500, for their Dental Care of Central Arkansas program. Four other charities received smaller amounts.

In 2023 the Foundation received more than $309,000 dollars in donations thanks to the incredible generosity of NAILBA/Finseca member agencies, vendors and carriers, as well as personal donations from too many wonderful staff members of those entities to even count. The great success of the 2023 fundraising efforts and a hopeful outlook for the coming year should make the 2024 grant cycle even more helpful, inspiring and heartwarming.

Few things in my life feel more rewarding and moving than watching the videos of each year’s grant recipients shown during the NAILBA/Finseca Mooers Award Dinner. Has unfailingly brought a tear each year. May God bless all you givers of time and/or money in the brokerage community and beyond.[SPH]

“Long overdue” is the first phrase to come to mind in announcing that Jim Ash, one of the most influential BGAs to ever grace our business (and a really great guy), is this year’s recipient of the Douglas Mooers Award for Excellence. Presented at the annual conference, the Mooers award is NAILBA’s, and thus brokerage’s, most prestigious award, honors distinction in brokerage, and is presented to the individual most committed to furthering independent life brokerage as a distribution system and who demonstrates an exemplary record of community service.

Jim founded Ash Brokerage in 1970 with one part time employee and today the organization boasts a current employee count in excess of 500, with major offices in Ft Wayne, IN, Phoenix, AZ, Freehold NJ, Charlotte, NC, and Kansas City, MO. Ash Brokerage provides a full line of insurance products to agents throughout the country.

Jim has been a leader at both the local and national levels and is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the BGA community. Jim served as the president of the NALU chapter in Fort Wayne, president of GAMA of Fort Wayne, a president and member of the board for the BRAMCO organization, and founder of the Brokers Health Insurance Network.

In 1999, Jim was named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Northern Indiana. He has held field advisory board positions providing insurance expertise and guidance with more than 10 insurance carriers. In 2018, he was elected to the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame. Jim currently serves on the Ash Brokerage board of directors and continues to proudly represent Ash Brokerage among insurance carriers and within the brokerage general agency community. His primary focus has been, and continues to be, nurturing and developing relationships.

Jim has been a dear friend to the Howard family since the very beginning of Broker World. Dad and Jim were pals, while I met Jim at an early NAILBA conference and really grew to appreciate him while covering the Brokers Health Insurance Network. Over the years he has been a great friend and mentor. Just one example of his compassion and friendship came following a personal crisis of mine, when Jim diligently called me for months while I was struggling to recover. It surprised (although if you know Jim it shouldn’t have) and really encouraged me that such a greatly successful and prominent figure in our industry would take the time to reach out and say he cared. It means more than I’ll ever be able to describe. Truly heartfelt thanks to Jim Ash for decades of friendship and congratulations on receiving this award and the recognition he so richly deserves.[SPH]

I’ve never been a big fan of Pac 2 football (or the other 10 teams who thus far have found suitors…or maybe “foster families”). How ironic that, after decades of football tomfoolery, the conference soon to be only a bridge team seems to be having a last-dance resurgence. No worries…my former conference of allegiance, the Big 8/Big 12, seems like it’s edging toward gridiron irrelevance regardless of how many new teams jump in. And Nostradamus isn’t even sure what’s going to happen to the ACC…

Look, you can throw as many Horned Frogs and Bearcats into the playoffs as you want, but we all know in our hearts that, for now at least, the SEC or the Big 10 (or Big 10+2, or Big 14, or soon to be Big 18) are going to provide the team that snags the Natty for the foreseeable future. And now they’re just hoovering up all the teams who might even have a puncher’s chance. Okay, I know in the last 20 years Clempsin grabbed a couple, and Florida State 10 years ago, but prior to that it was clear back to 2005 and Texas. But in the 20 years prior, all “Power Five” conferences had multiple national championships as did two independents (Miami and Notre Dame) and a team from the WAC (BYU).

Not gonna mention the past difficulty in transferring schools because that will screw up my analogy by prematurely introducing an element of “captivity.” Now there’s a Transporter (or DeLorean if you prefer) to whisk a player away to another school if he gets his knickers in a knot over playing time. Or if he gets an offer from a school projected to get more TV exposure. Or a lucrative Name, Image and Likeness deal. Hold on…I may be getting a bit “into the weeds” here…

The insurance business too is just a bit different from what it was when I originally sauntered in around 1983. I’m not anywhere near bright enough to explain all the root causes, but between carrier acquisitions, marketing group mergers, aggregators buying up brokerage shops, and passionate producers aging out of the industry, in many ways the brokerage side of the insurance business looks about as invitingly attractive as my mirror does compared to my high school graduation picture (especially if you can ignore the 70s porn star mustache).

Add to this InsureTech advances, AI, and a slew of automated underwriting tools and it makes me worry about our industry’s moral compass and our foundational duty to help consumers and their families mitigate the most trying and often heartbreaking times in their lives. I’m talking about a wife and her children being able to stay in their home…not being sure that if Karen wants the winery, then there’s enough cash to get Brandon to be content with the deal. Don’t mistake me—there’s nothing wrong with being successful and becoming wealthy, and there’s nothing wrong with sound estate planning. Many clients like these you likely often grew from proverbial acorns.

But it’s different from ensuring that the kids can go to college if they so choose. That they can still have dogs and play sports or take music and dance lessons.

And it’s different from being able to help clients plan for just a comfortable retirement. Especially if the breadwinner(s) might be in less than preferred health.

As far as we all can tell there will always be insurance products and consumers to buy them. But the genesis of the brokerage business was generally the impaired risk case. Oversimplified no doubt, independent carriers and wholesalers found a profitable and much needed niche by serving those who were declined or priced out of the “career” shops. Which was all hunky-dory until they applied the same underwriting and actuarial insight to price products more affordably for those who weren’t sub-standard. The brokerage business became so lucrative that career carriers worked to develop brokerage departments and products to compete…with varying degrees of friction in the boardrooms I imagine. But over the past two decades or so, for likely myriad reasons but certainly profitability being one, independent brokerage companies were acquired by other companies. Still other companies just shut down and sold their assets when they couldn’t compete for one reason or another. Regardless, there are markedly fewer companies selling life insurance today. Heck, there are only a handful of DI or LTCI companies left.

So, in my imagined altruistic Catch 22, fewer carriers, fewer producers, AI, automated underwriting providing potentially more “kick outs” and a larger than ever prospect pool, how does an agent’s own view of the viability of his or her agency navigate maintaining a favorable carrier status, and being able to afford a lake house and nice vacations, while still pursuing a desire to serve those who need his or her solutions the most?

Fewer producers means more “white whales” per agent in theory, which could lead to less attention to only marginally profitable (if at all) or even developmental (read young, just starting out, new families, etc.) prospects. More potential prospects per agent combined with company pressure combined with automation means potentially less time spent on medically questionable prospects. Why take time trying to help a fat old guy like me when two houses down is the guy with a “13.1” sticker in the back window of his nice SUV? To the best of my knowledge there is still a thing called a “placement ratio.”

Today there are still very skilled underwriters, well staffed underwriting departments and dedicated medical directors (like our very own Dr. Bob Goldstone!). And your cheat code for this currently still theoretical Kobayashi Maru is still the talented and dedicated staff at your BGA—truly the lifeblood of the brokerage business! Fat guys who mostly follow their doctor’s advice can still get life insurance. But as more and more shops are sold, or merged and consolidated, I have to wonder about the long term efficacy—especially shops where the founders retire with no familial or emotionally invested successors in positions of significant influence.

Are mergers and acquisitions leading our industry to a thankfully still distant point where the number of significant brokerage players on the carrier level dwindle to nearer the number of recognized reinsurers? What is the 10 year timeline on the brokerage shops being aggregated? And will Hal 9000 increasingly tell BGAs and underwriters alike, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Is it really possible that the industry is prime to begin a descent on the slippery slope back to an overarching risk mentality of “Send me your active, your cognizant, your healthy masses yearning for an open pickleball court?”

After all is said and done, change is inevitable. I just hope the insurance industry ultimately mirrors the NCAA in one particularly crucial area…and thus I can scheme a way to get showered with a boatload of sweet NIL cash. [SPH]

I unfortunately read an online article recently that elaborated on what your pets would do if you passed away in your home without human companionship. Assuming you were not checked upon timely by family or friends, the article announced that within 12-24 hours of having run out of kibbles, your cat would eat your face. Makes me side-eye Pootie and Penelope a bit more often I can assure you, not to mention reinforcing the practice of filling their dishes before I say my prayers and drift off to sleep. For dog lovers, as we are as well, it seems your loyal canine is willing to wait a number of days forlornly staring at the unretrieved Chewy box on the porch before tucking in the proverbial napkin. Surprisingly that doesn’t make me love Leala and Zoey that much more than the cats.

Undaunted, I will heroically ignore the risks and continue to welcome the purrs and diligently apply the petting, although I must confess that just a tiny tinge of doubt now accompanies the face licks… Concurrently, I will continue to support a local shelter, pet food banks, and the wonderful folks at Kitty City here in Lenexa who foster out dozens of previously unhomed cats and then gather on weekends for truly warmingly successful adoption events. Twas there we were a bit reluctantly chosen by Penelope who has morphed from teacup sized kitten into the feline equivalent of Jabba the Hutt. She’ll be the first to feast no doubt, and likely while I’m still somewhat warm. But her wonderful purrs and frequent commentary have in my mind earned that privilege a thousand times over. I do hope however that I’m found, even looking like one of the Walking Dead, before the dogs have to resort to my overly abundant flesh. Based on the looks I get when there is the infrequent accident, I would spare them the guilt if I could.

Where the heck was I going with this… Oh yeah, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation. Please disregard any recency bias regarding the previous paragraphs! Absent the unlikely event of a shipwreck and months on a raft, neither I nor my fellow board members have any predisposition to cannibalism to the best of my knowledge. We collectively just want to pick your pocket for a great cause! Although not many pet-related charities make the cut, the NAILBA Charitable Foundation does great work benefitting literally thousands of underprivileged humans every year. It’s a great way to give back for all this industry has given you whether you are NAILBA affiliated or not.

The mission of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation is to encourage volunteerism among NAILBA members and provide grant funds to worthy charitable organizations that serve to enhance the quality of life for those less fortunate, with a special emphasis on children. Since 2002, the NAILBA Foundation has raised and contributed more than $3.5 million to more than 245 deserving charities and community organizations nationwide. At the 2022 NAILBA annual convention, Foundation Board President Jim Sorebo announced that $180,000 in grants were awarded with 39 charities receiving at least a four figure contribution. Last year’s Felton Grant, named after the founder of the NAILBA Charitable Foundation, Col. William J. Felton, and the Foundation’s largest grant each year, gave $20,000 to The Formation Project of North Charleston, SC, providing housing and shelter support for survivors of human trafficking.

And this year the Foundation has made it easier than ever to make a contribution. Simply scan the QR Code, click on the link that shows up, and you’ll be directed straight to the donation page.

In my experience folks in the life insurance industry are among the country’s most caring and generous. Perhaps it’s because you deeply feel the calling to insure families against the need for services like those helped by the NAILBA Charitable Foundation (and countless other organizations), and, attendant, you’ve seen too often and too clearly the result of failing to properly plan for families you know you could have helped. Your efforts in this profession alone qualify as charitable giving in my mind and yet you almost certainly still give philanthropically as well. I would ask you to consider the NAILBA Charitable Foundation even as just a small addition to your charitable giving program. It’s your industry proving yet again that we consistently rise above the selfishness and heartlessness that those in the political and legal ivory towers would have their audiences believe of us.

Hope and I contribute to humanitarian causes as well as animal ones, though we do feel particularly pulled by the pet ones. Blame Sarah McLachlan.

Regardless, I sincerely hope that any pets you leave behind at your passing are transferred to an equally or even more loving home…regardless of whether they’ve eaten your face or not.[SPH]

This time of year in particular reminds me that our industry owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to two organizations—LIMRA and Life Happens. We are, of course, on the doorstep of September’s Life Insurance Awareness Month, and the cooperative efforts of those two organizations to energize sales campaigns, provide brokers with excellent information, marketing and client-centric presentation materials, and devote countless hours to public awareness campaigns is quite frankly priceless.

LIMRA has been serving the industry since 1916, offering industry knowledge, insights, connections and solutions to help more than 700 member organizations navigate change with confidence. Visit LIMRA at www.limra.com.

Life Happens is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers take personal financial responsibility through the ownership of life insurance and related products. The organization does not endorse any product, company or insurance advisor. Since its inception in 1994, Life Happens has provided the highest quality, independent and objective information for people seeking help with their insurance buying decisions. To learn more, visit www.lifehappens.org.

That’s the stuff they attach at the end of their press releases, etc. More to the point they collaborate on an annual Insurance Barometer Study packed with useful statistics about consumer insurance purchasing attitudes, coverage gaps, misconceptions and more very useful information. Most of the following copy of any significance comes from the 2023 Insurance Barometer Study via the Life Happens website (https://lifehappens.org/press/new-study-shows-interest-in-life-insurance-at-all-time-high-in-2023/).

Per the study: “Overall, 52 percent of American adults report owning life insurance, and 41 percent of adults—both insured and uninsured—say they don’t have sufficient life insurance coverage. In comparison, just 40 percent of Gen Z adults and 48 percent of millennials say they own life insurance and nearly half say they either need to get coverage or increase their life insurance protection (49 percent and 47 percent, respectively), representing 53 million adults. (For more details, visit this page: https://a-llgtest.vev.site/gen-zy-barometer/)”

“Younger generations experienced a life-altering event just as they were starting their careers, getting married and having children,” said Alison Salka, Ph.D., senior vice president, head of LIMRA research. “The realization of how precarious life can be may have made them more aware of the need to protect their loved ones.”

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of single-mother households in the U.S. has increased by 40 percent since 1980. This year’s study looked at the growing single mothers market and found that less than half (41 percent) of single mothers say they have life insurance, 11 points below the general population rate. Because single mothers are often the sole source of financial support for their children, and typically have a heightened sense of financial concern, it is not surprising that their need for life insurance is higher. Fifty-nine percent of single mothers say they need life insurance coverage or more of it, representing five million adults.”

“Upon looking at parents in general, the study found parents of minor children were more likely than the general population to own life insurance (59 percent versus 52 percent), and they were also more likely to acknowledge they didn’t have enough coverage (47 percent versus 41 percent). Among younger parents, the need gap was greater. On average, 56 percent of Gen Z and millennial parents reported not having enough coverage.”

“Educating young adults is key because no one is going to buy what they don’t understand. Year after year, people significantly overestimate the cost of life insurance, while citing expense as the top reason for not getting coverage,” said Maggie Leyes, chief creative officer of Life Happens, and coauthor of the study. “It’s also important how we engage and educate them. Younger adults are increasingly looking to buy life insurance online and are more likely to use social media platforms―particularly Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok―to educate themselves. Our goal should always be to meet them where they are.”

“While two-thirds of Americans report their lives have largely returned to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 Insurance Barometer Study shows a record-high proportion of consumers (39 percent) who say they intend to purchase life insurance coverage within the next year. The intent to buy is even higher among Gen Z adults (44 percent) and millennials (50 percent).”

LIMRA and Life Happens have a wealth of information and resources to aid in Life Insurance Awareness Month initiatives, and hopefully bring an even more receptive public, but perhaps most importantly it is my hope that it strikes our industry’s awareness—producers’ awareness—that the most poignant real goal should be to convert the uninsured wherever possible and reach out to those who don’t even know they are underinsured. There’s a whole bunch of folks out there who desperately need you, and apparently they have never been more inclined to buy… So, Go Get ‘Em! [SPH]

I would like to claim that my frequent reference to commercials I find amusing is the result of a keen marketing mind appreciating the artform. Alas, full disclosure, it is much more likely that they have simply become wedged in my slowly atrophying brain due to over-exposure via ESPN and/or Josh Gates and Expedition Unknown. My current favorite is the Chewy commercial set in a lawyers office with the attorney acting as executor. The daughter of the deceased is granted control of the company, and the anthropomorphic cat is designated “to receive recurring delivery for all of his needs in perpetuity thanks to autoship from Chewy’’ to which he replies, “I always loved that old man.” The male heir, disappointed in his award, asks, “So what’s it say about the summer house?” The attorney replies, “The summer residence goes to Mr. Marbles.” In response to the son’s challenge that “it doesn’t make logistical sense,” the cat says, perhaps consolingly, “You got a train set Todd.”

So perhaps a reach for the segue, but our industry does a good job of landing the big fish with a great variety of insurance and investment products from huge term policies, to whole life, IUL, VUL, traditional LTCI and asset-based long term care. What we don’t do so well is caring for those less affluent. It seems we’ve by-and-large ceded the small case to online purveyors and other direct to consumer low or no touch mechanisms. Better than nothing I suppose, but my belief is that seeking insurance, particularly for those with much more limited means, is severely underwhelming at best—despite the radio diatribes of “Big Lou” and his brethren. Heck, even I, with a skull full of industry knowledge and a belly full of belief in the benefits, have, on several occasions, postponed meetings with my excellent advisor for reasons that should be of much lower priority. But he keeps after me, and that may be the key.

We still see dismal numbers of un- or under-insured from our great industry watchdog and educator LIMRA. Typically when numbers don’t align with my wishes I call the instigators “Mystics with Statistics,” but the LIMRA folks work tirelessly to provide our industry with the info we need to better insure Americans. The “how” is where each producer, carrier and wholesaler must find answers and apply themselves. Yes there are those low enough on the economic spectrum that they aren’t currently realistic prospects. But there are also many hundreds of thousands that could at least afford their families a modicum of protection, and a great number of young adults and new families just starting out who won’t generate trips to Ibiza today, but can realistically become decades-long clients with steadily increasing incomes and insurance needs. The producer who cared enough to start them on the insurance protection journey simply due to caring, can and should become for them a trusted advisor, a source for further protection, and a willingly referred expert for their peers. Small fish often grow to be great catches.

Another Life Insurance Awareness Month is less than two months away. Now is the time to work on a plan to help more Americans purchase life insurance protection. One BGA I admire greatly has a very large clear glass jar in their entryway and all staff are rewarded if the agency can fill the jar with marbles. The great salient point is, however, that a marble is added for each policy sold—a $100,000 face term policy counts the same as a policy earning $100,000 in commission. I really like that as an illustration of how truly valuable each case is—especially to those who purchased it. I’m sure many of you already serve clients at all points on the affluence spectrum, anyone who appears on your radar. And I’m also confident that there are those who read Broker World who actively seek out those just starting out or who have to this point eschewed insurance protection and I salute you one and all.

I admire Josh Gates for a number of reasons, not the least of which is his courage and willingness to explore any number of claustrophobic dens, scuba in dangerous locales and non-human company, rappel into some seriously sketchy crevasses with seemingly jury-rigged lifelines, etc., and often in places with State Department travel advisories that might as well say, “If you’re stupid enough to go there, please prepare your Darwin Award acceptance speech before you go.” Often it seems he should probably open with, “Watch this! Hold my beer…”

But another reason I admire him is the enthusiasm he portrays during his inevitably inconsequential material finds while pursuing pirate treasure, or historical despots’ unknown tombs, or any number of lost antiquities. Josh’ll make you think that a rusted, twisted medieval belt clasp is as significant as finding Excalibur or a small flake of pottery is as exciting as my next plate of pork ribs. In an effort to tie this all together, I would suggest that we as an industry should periodically tithe just a small amount of time away from Captain Ahabing and emulate Josh’s enthusiasm, even though the comp is but a shard, to help those desperately in need of even a small term policy to at least mitigate the effect of the potential loss of a loved breadwinner, and ideally forge a relationship with a Moby-to-be.[SPH]

I fear Hal, SkyNet, The Borg Collective, all of it. I really can’t see how a collective machine intelligence “organism” wouldn’t look at the human race’s propensity for aggression and ultimately come to the conclusion that our existence wasn’t beneficial long term. Indubitably the reason I eat so much great KC barbecue.

In the late seventies, however, I was a big fan of the Sci-Fi classic Logan’s Run, where a machine intelligence ran a sheltered community, controlling every aspect of life, and everyone on their 30th birthday got called to Carrousel where they ostensibly had the chance to be “Renewed” but all just floated up in the air and got fried. Some run rather than participate, and Logan is a guy whose job it is to hunt them down and fry them, till he decides to run and…long story short…chaos ensues. (For a while I was a bit conflicted about him running off with Jenny Agutter instead of Farrah Fawcett, but that could be because I, like millions of other teenage boys, had the iconic Farrah poster. But I digress.)

We’re in the age of AI and our industry is embracing it and, adroitly segueing away from my propensity for paranoia, many are the benefits of AI to carriers, BGAs and agents alike. Both the Cohens and Charlie Gipple explore ChatGPT in this issue, and Ken Leibow frequently sneaks the topic into his columns and my nightmares. But a group I belong to uses the acronym FEAR as False Evidence Appearing Real, so let’s move on.

Charlie, in particular, describes his plan to utilyze AI to collate verifiably independent product and investment strategy information to impart to agents and clients to aid in decision making, and that seems like a pretty awesome tool. The Cohens were impressed with the way AI answered questions regarding the advisability of DI. All three, as was I, were gratified that the ultimate recommendations in the ChatGPT conclusions included discussions with qualified insurance experts to decide which course of action best fit the client’s individual circumstances.

I’ve voiced my concerns about the direction the industry is heading with more and more emphasis on automated underwriting. Granted the carriers need to make a profit, those without health complications are provided coverage much more quickly, which is a good thing of course, and carriers are provided added protections against omissions clearing the contestability period. Risk assessment aids from DMV records to prescription drug histories are all accessible much more quickly, and the ability to draw from health data aggregators speeds up health record acquisition. There’s a bunch more, and more yet to come. I just hope we don’t get to the point that anomalies just generate an automatic and irreversible decline (and of course that decline ends up in an accessible database as well, granting its recipient the modern day Mark of Cain).

The optimist in me hopes AI might actually aid those with risk impairments. AI could virtually instantly provide an underwriter with a plethora of different contingencies and scenarios, noting further studies for positive outcomes with treatment program diligence, suggestions for additional testing to further evaluate the risk (and often benefitting the proposed insured at the same time with treatment options, etc.). As an ever increasing amount of data is accessible and collated, AI could even present the underwriter with potential pitfalls of one particular symptom or test result that could then alert the proposed client to the possibility of a perhaps rare indicator of a condition of which they and their doctors were completely unaware. It is undeniable that AI will be a boon to diagnostic healthcare.

According to LIMRA info there are at least 106 million Americans living with a life insurance coverage gap. Per the LIMRA website, “This is increasingly critical since LIMRA research shows that four in 10 families say they would face financial hardship within six months if the primary wage earner died. For one in five, it would be within just one month.”

It’s all in how creatively and compassionately one uses the tools. My somewhat convoluted point is that I hope AI isn’t used to institutionally reduce the cost to life carriers by simply easing the determination to antiselect those with less than optimum health—and relegate them and their families to the financial Carrousel.[SPH]