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Life Health > Life Insurance

Nationwide To Distribute Through CPAs

By Trevor Thomas

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Nationwide Financial Services, Columbus, Ohio, is targeting certified public accountants as a new distribution channel in an unusual agreement with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, New York.

The arrangement will give Nationwide access to clients of 18 of the top 100 CPA firms, says Bob Rolland, Nationwides vice president of strategic partnerships.

Under the agreement, CPA2Biz Inc., a for-profit company established by the AICPA, will sell Nationwides retirement and other financial services through its subsidiary, Capital Professional Advisors Inc. In addition to the 18 firms, other interested CPA firms affiliated with Capital will also have access to Nationwides 401(k) plans and other retirement and life insurance products, Rolland says.

“Each [of Capitals] CPA firms has licensed insurance professionals, and through this relationship, we gain access to probably close to 100 licensed reps,” Rolland says.

He contends that working with accountants represents a tremendous opportunity to reach small-business owners and wealthy clients with insurance-related products.

“They have a trusted relationship with clients and are looked to by many of those clients as the advisors most qualified to offer them financial planning,” Rolland says. “We see CPAs as a significant distribution channel.”

Along with employee benefits, Nationwide expects Capitals affiliated firms to sell its nonqualified plans for executives, Rolland says.

Capital began selling annuities and other insurance products through its own broker-dealer operation in January 2001, he notes.

He declines to predict how many products Nationwide expects to sell through the CPA channel, pointing out that insurance products are new to many accountants.

“There is a cultural shift CPAs need to get into, to get from accounting to financial planning,” he notes. “In the short run, we expect to take awhile to ramp up. But we see a significant opportunity to add to our distribution.”

The new agreement gives Nationwide a minority interest in CPA2Biz for an undisclosed value. In return, Nationwide will offer not only products but also training and other support to CPAs in selling to their clients, says Doug Wright, president of Capital.

He says his company chose Nationwide as its partner because it believes the carrier can help CPA2Biz CPAs sell payroll services, retirement plans, insurance and other financial services to their clients.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, May 20, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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