Stephen Howard

“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]

Congratulations to good friend Jeff Mohr, recipient of the 2023 Billy Vogel Award, TMA’s highest honor. The Marketing Alliance is honored to present the Billy Vogel award each year. The criteria for this award are business acumen, sense of innovation, and above all, integrity. This year is the 17th time TMA has recognized someone with this award.

Jeffrey D. Mohr, RHU, CLTC, is president and owner of Diversified Brokerage Specialists, Cincinnati, OH, originally founded by Jeff’s grandfather, Bill Dignan, as W.R. Dignan Associates Inc. in 1946. Jeff’s father, John “Jack” Mohr, now retired, spent more than 30 years in the business. Diversified took its current name in 1981 to reflect changes in the industry at the time. The company celebrated its 75th year in business in 2021.

Mohr Mohr received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati in 1982, double major in Insurance and Information Systems. In 1985 Jeff was called into the insurance business and rose to become a third generation business owner. He has been joined in the agency by his son Shaun Mohr for the past eight years, securing a fourth generation of family ownership.

Jeff is the exceptional caretaker of an agency with a rich history in the brokerage business. In 1947 the agency was the first to offer lifetime sickness benefits following the great depression, was the first to program disability coverage by combining non-cancelable short term benefits with yearly renewable long term benefits, and in 1954 introduced the concept of “Key Man Disability” coverage. In 1955 the agency founded the “Business Overhead Expense” policy first recognized under the Internal Revenue Code and wrote the first association group plan offering business overhead expense protection to professionals in 1956. The agency was also the first to offer a lifetime specialty “Own Occupation” definition to professionals.

Jeff initially used his computer skills to automate the agency, developing an agency management system that is still used today. When the disability insurance market fluctuated in the 90s, Jeff spearheaded a successful effort to expand into the life insurance business but never left his passion for the disability business, saying, “Life insurance producers are plentiful. If you want to set yourself apart, sell a product that actually pays your client in their greatest time of need as opposed to paying their beneficiaries. For this reason I assure you that if you sell a client DI or LTC insurance, you can get the life insurance next.” Under Jeff’s watch the agency has grown from a disability specialty agency into a full-service life, disability, long term care and annuity insurance brokerage agency assisting brokers across the United States.

TMA President Tim Klusas explained, “Jeff is one of the unsung heroes in our business. Imagine the complexity and skill required to expand into life insurance from disability insurance in the 90’s and also move the business into new territory as a third generation business owner. The thunderous applause when the group figured out it was Jeff who was going to be recognized…it confirmed the committee made the right choice.”

In addition to TMA, Jeff is a member of The Plus Group, the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), has served as president of the Cincinnati-NAIFA chapter, been nominated to the Ohio State Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors board, served as president of the Greater Cincinnati Association of Health Underwriters, and has served on agent councils for several leading life and disability insurance carriers. He is a certified CE instructor for OH, KY and FL.

Perhaps the best indicator of Jeff’s character and success is his wholehearted embrace of the business motto of the agency’s founder: “Do the right thing for the client and the money will follow.”[SPH]

“Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’ ‘Cause I built my life around you…”—Stevie Nicks

Hope and I joined my awesome sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Christy and Rick White, in Raleigh, NC, last October for what Chris described as a “bucket list” event—Stevie Nicks in concert. The venue was an amphitheater with maybe the best acoustics I’ve ever experienced, but traffic to, and parking for, the event was indescribably abysmal…it took more than two hours to travel the final two miles to the venue and to get to the nearest open parking spot more than a mile from the gate. We missed the opening act and about a third of Stevie’s performance. But we heard easily a dozen wonderful classic songs including my favorite (and Hope’s), Landslide.

Although an astoundingly talented singer and songwriter, I wouldn’t have put this concert on my “bucket list” simply because…I’d seen Fleetwood Mac a number of times times, the first in 1977 and the last in September 1987…when annuity rates were around 9.5 percent with seven percent commissions. The late 80s marked perhaps the heyday of the band, and the following years would see the all too common departures, reunions and reformations, and one could argue that they found it difficult to recapture the true magic they produced in years past. Annuities would continue to climb for the next decade or two and that’s with the word “indexed” pertaining most commonly to the organization of library books.

What I can tell you is that Stevie Nicks still looks amazing and can belt out her magical songs as wonderfully as ever. It was truly an amazing two-thirds of a concert and worth every penny and traffic exasperation. But our industry looks a heck of a lot different than it did in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, etc., which isn’t necessarily bad…or all bad…it just is. And the last 10 years have brought about more change than most of us could have ever imagined.

Let’s begin with the lack of purely brokerage companies. I miss First Colony, and Fidelity Bankers, and Life of Virginia, and a bunch of others. Mergers and acquisitions. Brokerage divisions within carriers are still vibrant and alive, but one wonders if all the advancements in automated underwriting isn’t a slippery slope sliding us away from the origins of the brokerage business—finding coverage for the less-than-preferred risk. I sure hope not, as I count a bunch of underwriters and medical directors as friends (especially Dr. Bob). Is our industry sneaking toward the Space Odyssey where Hal decides that the fit get coverage and the rest of us simply become Soylent Green? Wow. Quite a stretch from You Make Loving Fun…

From hundreds of companies offering DI there are now only a handful. Same with stand-alone LTCI. With the wonderful, in my mind, advent of asset-based long term care, one wonders if, without State or Federal government intervention, my buddy Hagelman isn’t shoveling against the brown tide. Back to annuities. The climbing interest rates (biting my conservative tongue) that make it haphazard if not ridiculous for me to entertain the thought of a new house, with a new mortgage, may reinvigorate the fixed, non-indexed, annuity market but for how long? Meanwhile, non-literary indexing seems to be working well. This and the previous are just two examples of our industry’s incredible ability to adapt to circumstances and still prosper. But where is “Middle America” ultimately to turn for life coverage on a budget when it is extremely challenging for agents to make a living on term commissions? Agent initiated term sales to families just starting out must by necessity be viewed by producers as either a long-tailed investment in a client relationship or simply as service work. Add to this the chronicled aging of the independent agent force, the dearth of new recruits, and the fact that more people in my outside circle of acquaintance have fallen prey to time-share salesmen than have actively initiated or even researched a life insurance purchase via the internet on their own.

Further on distribution, the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), the bastion of brokerage for more than four decades, has merged with Finseca. Similarly, you used to couldn’t swing a dead possum without hitting a BGA marketing group, and now the merger of LifeMark Partners with BRAMCO, and more recently IDA, has formed one “super” marketing entity, with TMA still flourishing on the outside, but leaving some fewer others to find a decent niche and/or compete with varying degrees of success. And the mergers and acquisitions don’t end there—literally dozens of BGAs I’ve come to know over the years, and a remarkable number of my best friends in the industry, have been acquired by various incarnations of aggregators. I have no choice but to be optimistic for these friends, based in no small part on their unquestionable integrity, but taken as a whole I’m holding my breath regarding how this trend will affect the BGA system and the dedicated agents they serve.

Stevie Nicks is reported to have said that, “Landslide is about the fear of everything coming crashing down and not knowing how you’re going to hold things together in pursuit of a dream.”* If anything, 40 years in this business has taught me that the brokerage industry is nothing if not resilient, always finding a way to create new products to adapt to market conditions and provide the best possible solutions for you dedicated agents to meet changing consumer needs. We can take heart in that.

“But time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I’m getting older too. Oh, I’m getting older too.” [SPH]

*https://societyofrock.com stevie-nicks-describes-the-true-meaning-of-landslide/

Dammit this one really hurts. It is my sad duty to report the passing of great friend and industry shaper Michel Levy Boudreaux. Michel died unexpectedly at her home in Harahan, LA, on Thursday, January 19, 2023. She is survived by her beloved husband, business partner and devoted caregiver Kevin K. Boudreaux. The couple recently celebrated their 42nd anniversary.

Born November 11, 1954, and raised in the New Orleans area, Michel was the daughter of renowned Louisiana insurance entrepreneur and BGA Mike Levy who preceded her in death in 1992. Mike entered the business in 1954 in personal production, became a Manhattan Life GA, then made the leap and opened Mike Levy Associates.

Michel worked for her father throughout high school and college and, upon graduating from the University of New Orleans with a degree in Business Administration in 1977, she joined the agency full time as brokerage manager and ultimately president. Mike Levy, along with five others, founded the marketing group National Brokerage Agencies (NBA). Again following her father’s footsteps, she served a term as president of that organization.

Michel also served on committees and positions on the board of the New Orleans Association of Life Underwriters and became president in 1997. She was later awarded their Distinguished Member award. Michel then stepped into many positions on the Louisiana Association of Life Underwriters including the 1999 convention chair. She served as a delegate for numerous state and national conventions. Michel worked, along with Kevin, providing excellent service to agents and clients nationally until her death.

Michel also had a passion for preserving personal and family memories through scrapbooking. She cultivated her creative energy as an active leader in Creative Memories (1999) and Photo Solutions (1999), hosting scrapbooking events for a large group of friends. Upon discovering FOREVER.com in 2015, she quickly became a FOREVER Qualified Ambassador, claiming, “My memories need a permanent home; they need FOREVER.com.” In a December, 2019, article in Broker World, Michel explained that “There is only one company that includes permanency in their financial plan: FOREVER. FOREVER’s promise is that you will pay once for FOREVER Storage® and own it for your lifetime +100 years, guaranteed.”

That really exemplifies Michel’s wealth of talent, compassion, service and creativity—to serve not only clients’ financial and health protection needs, but to think outside the box and add protection of treasured family memories to her service repertoire as well.

I’m honored to be able to claim close friendship with Michel and Kevin for more than 35 years. Hope and I frequently travel to NOLA and no trip was ever complete without at least one meal with them. And I would usually feel compelled to tip double as we tied up the table for hours while Kevin and Hope caught up and Michel and I inevitably got lost in wonderful conversations. Michel Levy Boudreaux had a beautiful caring heart and gave me true, loyal and priceless friendship which I will dearly miss.[SPH]

The Howards and McAvoys have been good friends for more than 40 years. In fact, that friendship stretches back even before Broker World, to back when my father was Tom Sawyering local and regional ad prospects for our original publication Mid America Insurance Magazine. So it gives me great pleasure to congratulate Matt McAvoy for being named the 37th recipient of The Douglas Mooers Award for Excellence.

The Mooers Award is the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies’ (NAILBA) most coveted and prestigious award. Named after NAILBA’s Founding Chairman, H. Douglas Mooers, the Mooers Award was established in May of 1986. This annual award honors excellence in brokerage and is bestowed upon the individual most committed to furthering brokerage and independent life brokerage as a distribution system. Nominees are dedicated insurance professionals with superior career accomplishments as well as outstanding records of service to the community. Mooers Award recipients are this country’s peer-recognized leaders of brokerage. NAILBA is the premiere insurance industry organization promoting financial security and consumer choice through the use of independent brokerage distribution.

Matt McAvoy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Benedictine College in 1981. While in college he became licensed to sell insurance, and joined his father’s company in 1981. Founded by Lou McAvoy in the 1960s, Louis J. McAvoy & Associates was one of the first companies to handle impaired risk business. The name was changed to Target Insurance Services when Matt joined the firm. The agency is a multi-carrier wholesaler specializing in life, disability, long term care, critical care and annuity solutions, and is dedicated to partnering with advisors, agents, and brokers by providing a strong team of experts in case design, licensing, case processing, underwriting and customer service. The firm sets itself apart by establishing and maintaining a culture of confidence and trust, with a strong focus on doing what’s right for producing agents and their clients.

A founding member of NAILBA and a current member agency of LIBRA Insurance Partners, Target Insurance Services, Inc., merged with Ash Brokerage Holdings, LLC, on Nov. 1, 2018, and Matt joined Ash’s executive leadership strategy team as well as serving as an RIA Consultant for Palladium Group by Ash Brokerage. He also runs Ash’s Overland Park, KS, office.

Matt is very active at both a local and national level with industry-related duties. He was chair of NAILBA from 2005 to 2006 and director of what is now Life Happens from January, 2012, to November, 2013. While NAILBA Chair he was instrumental in integrating the American Council of Life Insurance’s (ACLI) anti-money laundering testing as an accepted testing benchmark for life insurance agents under The Patriot Act. He has completed his Long Term Care Professional designation from The Health Insurance Association of America and holds active security registrations Series 6,7, 63, and 24.

Lou McAvoy was a pioneer in our industry and embodies all that was and in most cases still is great and noble in our business—as does Matt. Besides being a great friend and mentor to Bill Howard, many were the times Lou took a fledgeling me aside to gently hammer home the imperative need for, and that nobility of, the brokerage business. And over the years Matt has somehow both enthusiastically and patiently explained any number of industry-related issues to me as well. Again, with great pleasure, I say, “Congratulations Matt for a job well done, and for a friendship much appreciated!” [SPH]