CEO COLUMN
LifeMark, ICMG, IDA, NBA & TMA…Oh my!
NAILBA’s new brand of Belong, Connect and Grow is gaining ground.
As Bob Dylan so
eloquently sang,
“The times, they are
a-changing.” NAILBA’s
success hinges on our
members’ success, our
IMO partners and the
carriers who support
independent distribution.
Dan LaBert, CEO
NAILBA
[email protected]
It’s been an exciting 1st quarter for NAILBA as I was invited to attend the LifeMark Partners
Annual Meeting (Scottsdale, AZ), the Inter-Company Marketing Group Annual Conference
(Scottsdale, AZ), the National Brokers Alliance Spring Conference (San Antonio, TX), The
Marketing Alliance Annual Meeting (Tampa, FL) and the Insurance Designers of America Spring
Meeting (Scottsdale, AZ). The AimcoR Group Annual Partners Meeting (Park City, UT) is my
schedule for Fall 2019.
These meetings provided excellent opportunities to interact with current, former and
potential members of NAILBA, see the first-class operations of our IMO partners and continue
to build strong relationships with our carrier comrades and vendors who support independent
distribution.
In addition to the fantastic networking and attending the carrier presentations to further
my own professional development, both ICMG and IDA invited me to deliver keynote
presentations for their attendees.
My rock star colleague, Bonnie Godsman, Chief Executive Officer at GAMA International,
joined me on the ICMG Annual Conference main stage to discuss the “Impact of National
Associations and Progressive Leadership Styles.”
The Insurance Designers of America Spring Meeting was extremely welcoming and offered
an exciting opportunity to discuss NAILBA’s new brand of “Belong, Connect and Grow.” Part
of the presentation (under the “Grow” section) included a brief background on New York Reg
187 and other states (Nevada, New Jersey and Maryland) that will soon follow with similar
fiduciary standards.
A few points on New York Reg 187:
Regardless of what the standard is being called, in effect it will be a fiduciary standard—
the main concern with that is it will drive more and more producers away from a
commission based/broker-dealer business model and into a fee-based model, which will
result in mid-market clients losing access to service/advice/products. Clearly, this would
have a significant impact on brokerage.
The standard will be ongoing in nature, rather than a snapshot at the time of the
recommendation/sale duty.
It applies to not only annuities but to life insurance as well.
Individual states each doing their own version of an enhanced standard will create
compliance nightmares for firms/producers who operate in multiple states.
Both the Big I and NAIFA NY have initiated a court challenge to the reg.
However, NAIFA NY’s challenge is based on:
1 The reg goes beyond what the operative law permits;
2 The reg will place agents in a difficult, maybe impossible situation—as an agent of a
company, the agent owes his duty of loyalty to the company, but the reg will require
the agent to owe a duty of loyalty to the client—and it is not possible to owe the duty
of loyalty to both sides.
In addition to the IMO meetings, I represented NAILBA at the Industry Alignment Group
(IAG) meeting in Washington, D.C. Six insurance industry professional associations and four
life insurance carriers have joined forces to address issues that affect the industry and their
respective members.
4
Perspectives
Q2 2019
The group includes representatives from the following associations:
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Association
for Advanced Life Underwriting, National Association of Independent
Life Brokerage Agencies, GAMA International, Women in Insurance
and Financial Services and Life Happens.
The carriers represented are Principal, New York Life and MetLife.
Initially, Northwestern Mutual was part of the group but is no longer
active. Economics, declining association membership (in some
associations) and the value proposition of membership were some of the
driving factors leading to the group’s formation.
The IAG is an exciting opportunity for NAILBA and our members. We’ve
already experienced return on our investment of time as per the exciting
announcement regarding NAILBA and NAIFA. (see page 8)
As Bob Dylan so eloquently sang, “The times, they are a-changing.”
NAILBA’s success hinges on our members’ success, our IMO partners
and the carriers who support independent distribution. To achieve future
success, we need to embrace the changes all around us. NAILBA navigated
through change the past few years and is now positioned for greater success
with increased value proposition.
Many thanks to all the BGAs who joined or renewed your investment in
2019 membership. NAILBA’s membership is growing. There is safety in the
herd!
Let’s “Belong, Connect and Grow” together.
GRAB BROKERAGE
Dan LaBert, CEO of NAILBA spoke
on April 2, at Insurance Designers
of America’s Spring meeting
on making membership an
experience, not just a transaction.
by
the
HORNS!
November 7– 9, 2019
#SaveTheDate
Gaylord Texan Resort
and Convention Center
Dallas, Texas
www.nailba.org
Registration opens May 15, 2019