It is with delighted enthusiasm that I here congratulate Cindy Gentry, president of BBA Life Brokerage, named the 2017 recipient of the Billy Vogel Award by The Marketing Alliance at a ceremony during their recent spring meeting.
TMA’s most prestigious honor, The Billy Vogel Award is presented to individuals in the financial services industry who distinguish themselves through their business acumen, innovation and, above all, integrity. The award is named for William E. (Billy) Vogel, the late president of the W. S. Vogel Agency, Inc., who exemplified all of those qualities.
Cindy began her insurance career in 1980 as a service rep in the group health business. She moved to Texas in 1982 and landed a position with a small health brokerage, later moving on to personal production, then joining BBA Life Brokerage, an independent life and annuity brokerage agency. Now owner and president, she has been in marketing and management with BBA Life Brokerage since 1987.
Cindy has been an active member of the Corpus Christi Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors since 1989, serving on the board, executive committee and ultimately as president 1996. A member of the Society of Financial Services Professionals, she was named Agent of the Year in 1997. Cindy has served as education chair of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) and served on the board, the executive committee, and as NAILBA’s chairman in 2004. In 2007, she was presented with the inaugural NAILBA Education Excellence Award. Cindy held the position of chair of Life Happens in 2014, the nonprofit organization formerly known as The LIFE Foundation.
In addition to her membership in TMA and NAILBA, Cindy is a member of SAGE, a study group that collaborates on some of the unique issues facing women business owners and BGAs.
Congratulations Cindy, and thank you for your service to the industry, to your agents and their clients, and for your friendship.[SPH]
As they say, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile… I am gratefully indebted to and happy to (belatedly) announce that Charlie Gipple, Partners Advantage Insurance Services, has joined the ranks of Broker World’s monthly commentary contributors.
Prior to Partners Advantage, Charlie was the national director of indexed products at Genworth. In this role, Charlie directed the sale of indexed annuity and life products and was integral to their development, public awareness and marketing. Prior to Genworth, Charlie was a vice president at ING for 11 years, leading a number of diverse product lines and distribution channels.
Currently the senior vice president of sales and marketing at Partners Advantage, Charlie manages all sales, marketing, recruiting, agent training and sales support activities across the company. He is also the co-founder of The PILLAR System, a trademarked cutting edge practice management and client seminar system for use by financial professionals. He has extensive experience in client sales, account management and product development, as well as the wholesaling of life insurance, annuity and mutual fund products. He has demonstrated his expertise working with MDRT-level agents, independent marketing organizations, brokerage general agencies, broker/dealers and banks.
Charlie is a specialist in indexed products, financial markets, financial legislation, behavioral finance and the positioning of insurance products. He is well-known in the industry as a keynote speaker on these topics, presenting to NAFA, NAIFA and MDRT Top of the Table meetings as well as media outlets like AM Best TV and thestreet.com.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from the University of Northern Iowa, carries Series 7, 6, and 63 securities licenses, and is a CLU and ChFC.
Charlie’s first column appeared in last month’s issue of Broker World, an excellent, practical treatise on Powerpoint presentations that I urge you to check out if you missed it. This month’s contribution on The Mind-Game Of Seminars is also a must read. Welcome aboard Charlie, and thank you! [SPH]
