ID 20 WINNERS — Q & A
ID 20 winners from page 8
PART 2 :
Working smarter not harder
Norman Cousins , a well-known journalist , once said , “ Optimism doesn ’ t wait on facts . It deals with prospects .” As we roll through the second quarter of 2021 , optimism continues to gather speed with NAILBA ’ s ID 20 Award winners .
Steve Katz : There has been a perceptible change in the marketplace over the past 10 weeks . 2020 was marked with an extremely high volume of cases but target premiums were down . Since January we have seen the opposite — volume has gone down , but the big case market is back in a major way . We have received several Jumbo ($ 100 M +) preliminary applications in February and are working on a number of large Estate Planning / SUL sales . While this type of business is slower to close than the lower premium cases we worked on last year , ultimately it gives me significant optimism for the coming months .
Another reason for optimism is the renewed focus on cash accumulation life insurance in the high net-worth markets due to changes to IRC 7702 and anticipated increases in estate , income and capital gains taxation .
Bill Kauffman : If you look at production numbers ( premium ) there have been signs that sales on certain products , annuities and life insurance for example , are steadily increasing . That has carried over into 2021 and looks to continue for the balance of the year .
Tim Ash : We are highly optimistic on many fronts , namely , conversations around the power of cash value life insurance . Advisors are talking about taxes more than ever and we are equipping them with education and awareness on how to effectively incorporate the value of tax diversification into their wealth management practices . YTD , we are up nearly 50 % in our quoting / sales volumes and our pending inventory of business is at record high levels . We also launched a proprietary term
Colin Powell once said , ‘ Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier ’ and nothing could have been truer during the pandemic .
Sheryl HIckerson
insurance quoting / submission platform and we will soon be rolling out our first product that will be an instant decision term product . This will transform cycle time / placement rates and overall ease of doing business .
Disruptor extraordinaire
Sylvia Gordon : Our business was up 17 % last year . As much as COVID-19 was a disruptor extraordinaire , our agents were quick to adapt to e-apps / tech solutions to survive and grow in 2020 .
Bill Kauffman : Some of the biggest gains in our industry came in technology and giving us the ability to sell and process business in a non-face-to-face environment . For example , I do not see us going back to paper applications and forms . Drop tickets , eApp and agent portals have made everyone ’ s life easier and are here to stay .
ID 20 winners continued on page 12
10 Perspectives Q2 2021