STAR Magazine November 2018 | Page 6

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS  Aleckson Wins WIFS Woman of Year Christy Aleckson of Single Point Financial Advisors in Beaverton, Oregon, was named the Women in Insurance & Financial Services (WIFS) Woman of the Year at the organization’s national conference on Oct. 25. The Woman of the Year award recognizes a WIFS member for her level of engagement with the organization. This includes serving as a mentor, volunteering to serve on a task force or participating in WIFS programs. Finalists’ information was shared at the WIFS National Conference, which was held in Austin, Texas. Aleckson was chosen via a live poll. “Being named Woman of the Year for WIFS brings me so much happiness,” Aleckson said. “Bringing more women into the insurance and financial services industries and advancing their careers once they are here is a passion for me.” Aleckson was also named to WIFS 2018 Circle of Excellence qualifiers, a voluntary recognition program for members who achieve significant income levels. This recognition is based on annual production for the previous year. This year, 160 members submitted qualification for this distinction with reported combined income of $48.5 million. Aleckson has been a financial advisor since 1999 and has been with Securities America since 2009. She serves on the board of directors of Women in Insurance and Financial Services, Portland Metro Chapter. She served as the chapter president from 2010-2012. She currently chairs the chapter’s programs and marketing committee. Aleckson also served on the board of directors for WIFS national organization from 2012-2014 and chaired the marketing and public relations committee.  New Rep Relations Center Phone Menus To improve service provided by the Rep Relations Center, you are now presented with an additional menu after entering your Rep Code. This will help route calls based on subject matter instead of the previous system that routed based on rep code. The new routing options are bundle resolution, money movement, non-brokerage direct business and all other calls. This change does not affect Gold Star advisors. 5 The STAR | NOVEMBER 2018  Holiday Hours In observation of the upcoming holidays, Securities America’s home office will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 22, and will close at 2 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 23. We will be closed Christmas Day, Tuesday, Dec. 25 and New Year’s Day, Tuesday, Jan. 1.  Securities America’s Staples Discount Now Available to Advisors Staples Business Advantage ® is Securities America’s preferred vendor for all the essentials you need to run your office. Say goodbye to shopping around. You’ll always get the lowest overall delivered price — which means you’ll have more time to grow and focus on your business. You’ll find access to office products, cleaning supplies, coffee, snacks, technology, furniture, low negotiated pricing, easy online ordering and fast, free, next business day delivery. Register for your account today.  LRPC Can Help Grow Your Retirement Plan Business About 87 percent of employer retirement plans have a financial advisor. But only 20 percent of sponsors believe their advisor provides value. Recent changes to ERISA can make it difficult to know what provider to use, what resources are available and how to grow the business. To help, Ladenburg created Ladenburg Retirement Plan Consulting (LRPC). LRPC provides resources to help with provider selection and requests for proposal, prospecting lists, advanced plan management technology, plan design education and more. This program will kick off on Nov. 27. To learn how LRPC can help grow your employer retirement plan business, call 833-204-5525, option 4 or email [email protected].  FSI CoveredAdvisor Benefits Program Financial Services Institute (FSI) members and full-time staff have access to specialized, guaranteed-issue or modified guaranteed-issue group and individual long- term disability and term life insurance. There is also an affinity benefits program offering products and services for your business at discounted pricing. The enrollment period is Nov. 5-Dec. 14. For more information visit FSIbenefits.com and use the access code FSI@SAI.