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]
