Sweeping changes to come for ?NAIFA in the 21st Century'

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, based in Falls Church, Va., is implementing dramatic changes to meet the needs of its members. Called “NAIFA in the 21st Century,” the plan addresses the need for NAIFA to create “customer value and dedicate itself to its members’ success.”

On Jan. 19, NAIFA’s board of trustees approved a strategic plan that calls on NAIFA to strengthen its core product, legislative and regulatory advocacy, create new products and services, and utilize technology to deliver products so members have “total ease and convenience of access.”

To do this, NAIFA will create products and services that its members said they need in the areas of advocacy, education, training and networking. And NAIFA will deliver the newly created products using wireless and computer technology so members have “on demand” access. NAIFA’s Strategic Planning Committee based its recommendations on an extensive study of members, lapsed members and prospective members conducted by Ketchum Inc.

“I think the message in the plan comes across loud and clear – we are putting the needs of our members, our customers, before anything else,” said David E. Smithkey, NAIFA’s immediate past president and chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. “To deliver the value they expect requires NAIFA, in many ways, to let go of the past and embrace change.”