24 most creative people in insurance

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
JM: The “why I love my job” story for me is I had a client down in LA and I worked with he and his partner. My client started working for a show called “America’s Next Top Model” and I didn’t meet with them again for a couple of years. When I met them again, his income had skyrocketed and I was like, ‘Hey, what are you doing with all this money?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know; I just spend it.’ So I made him go on his laptop, and we set up a separate savings account with an auto-draw feature right there on the spot.  We figured out how much he could do and how much he should be doing. That was in January. In April, his best friend called to tell me that he was having brain surgery. He made it through the surgery, and when I was there again in June, he wanted to meet, which I was a little surprised about. He looked at me and said, ‘If you hadn’t put me on that savings plan, I wouldn’t have been able to get the best brain surgeon. I might not be standing here right now.’ That’s the kind of stuff that really inspires you and makes you feel like your work is worthwhile.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
JM: Planning is part science, part art. The fact is, even if you’re using a model, you need to get to know your clients and understand how they work. Especially when you work with any couple, once there’s more than one personality there, you have to figure out what’s the best way for them to plan. A lot of it is not only coming up with a plan, but coming up with a plan that’s going to work with your clients’ personalities. Because it’s all great in theory, but if it’s not something they’re going to implement or stick with, it’s not really going to matter how great your plan is.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
JM: I really think it’s a very noble profession. I think it’s not necessarily thought of very highly by some people outside the industry until they’ve been impacted by it. Whether they’ve been impacted by a family member needing insurance and not having it or by a family member needing it and having it and that made the difference, it’s one of those things where people don’t get it until they get it. I see what we do as protecting families and we make a huge difference.

We all think of “Groundhog Day” and the annoying insurance salesperson, but when you talk to anyone whose family was saved because they had the right coverage in place, it really shows you the importance of what we do.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
JM: I think probably the area where there will be the most change is the long-term care insurance segment. There’s so much that has happened and because it’s such a new product compared to some of the others, I don’t think the insurance carriers have gotten a handle on that yet.

I think the carriers underestimated the amount of people that would retain their coverage and underestimated the amount of claims they would have, so pricing was not done well. I think it’s going to become a harder and harder sell because there’s no price guarantees in long-term care the way there is with life insurance and disability. I’ve been seeing it cost more to get less and since there’s no guaranteed price, there’s going to have to be changes.

STEVEN MCCARTY
Co-Founder & Chairman, National Ethics Association

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
SM: After a close relative died broke in a nursing home, I became a believer in the value of Long Term Care insurance, which was then in its infancy. But it took a friend in the business to help me see that this could be a satisfying (and creative) career path. I was fairly young, but I got my license, joined a local agency, and was blessed with a mentor who matched up with my already established values — to REALLY know the needs of the customer and ALWAYS do the right thing for them, NO EXCEPTIONS.  But I also discovered how fulfilling it was to be successful in an arena where it seemed that hard selling and half-truths were the norm. This sparked an idea in my business partner and I — to co-create a company that would foster our values, and give like-minded agents a leg up in the marketplace.

LHP: Describe what you do.
SM: Most fundamentally, I see myself (and my colleagues) as being the ethical advisor’s champion. We help our members unlock the value of their best practices through contemporary online reputation marketing and branding. We also help our members attain the industry recognition they deserve, while providing member benefits that help them save money. Personally, I work closely with our team, making sure our strategy is on point while staying focused on delivering an optimal customer experience. I also am heavily involved in creative product development, helping carriers design insurance offerings for advisors committed to industry best practices.

LHP:Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
SM: Back in 2001, I co-created a verification service/membership for Insurance professionals, much like the Better Business Bureau, which evolved and improved over time. Today, the National Ethics Association (ethics.net) has tens of thousands of members who embrace the idea that with ultimate transparency comes trust, and with trust comes success. Therefore, the industry and consumers view the vast majority of our members as the cream of the crop, which is something to be very proud of. 

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
SM: I would define our creativity as “innovation that recognizes the value of others (our cherished members) and champions on their behalf.” We do this by creating unique benefits that really offer tangible value for them. 

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
SM: The shift toward good business practices — which means delivering quality, competency, and transparency at every stage of the client’s experience. Fueled by online technology, this is especially crucial during the initial “courtship” between consumers and prospective advisors. If advisors are transparent enough and consumers make use of today’s due diligence tools, all parties will be well served.  I feel this has really raised the bar in our industry and has fueled an ethics movement.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
SM: I think the industry will increasingly realize that ethical business practices are the foundation of every company’s success. In decades past, carriers suffered extreme reputation damage by concentrating on sales at any cost. Tomorrow, I think they’ll realize that best practices are the ultimate competitive differentiator. Plus, they’ll get even more skilled at finding ways to unlock the value of ethical practices at every level of their business. I expect this to improve sales effectiveness, business persistency, and certainly company profitability. I also think advisors will truly begin to leverage the power of social media to build their brands and attract new customers. But in order to survive long term, they’ll have to become hyper-vigilant about doing business ethically and compliantly, as one mistake can quickly spell curtains when transparency is 100%. Finally, consumers will enter a golden age of insurance purchasing, with new and more powerful shopping tools and options readily at hand. All in all, I look forward to insurers, advisors, and consumers forging even stronger relationships founded on transparency and trust. I can’t think of a better win-win-win for all concerned.

JASON MCCLELLAN
President & CEO, Insurance Advisors Direct Agency, LLC

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
JM: I was just out of high school, planning to go to college, looking for a career that would be flexible. My dad had gotten into insurance a number of years before, so I knew about the business. I had seen him grow and I thought there were some nice opportunities and once I was able to convince him that I could give it a shot, once he gave me the green light, I went out, got my license and started. Once I got into it, I realized that beyond it being a short-term or flexible career, as I’d originally thought, I actually really liked it. I liked the products; I liked working with the people. And I saw some real potential for the future so I put everything into it. I never ended up going to school and stuck with insurance and have really grown up in the industry over the last 17 years.

LHP: Describe what you do.
JM: My job today has really become more focused on developing relationships with the carriers, the advisors, the salespeople in the field, and creating selling systems to help them grow their business with our products and carriers. I do a lot of marketing — getting information about those products and carriers into the agents’ hands so they know that’s what we do and what our products are.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
JM: Early on in the business, just earning the trust and gaining the recognition from both my dad and other executives within the insurance industry until they saw me as someone who could get out there and work with agents.

Later in my career, I left my corporate position at a large company and ventured off on my own. Looking back, I’m proud that I had the courage to walk out on a comfortable position with a big budget and a nice salary and start over from scratch after 15 years of working in the industry. Deciding to do it for myself and build my own company. Looking back now, three years later, on a time when I had no agents, no business and no revenue, I guess we’ve come a long way.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
JM: The role I play is mostly sales and marketing. That you can get pretty creative with. You can take a pretty boring product, focus on a few key benefits and you can really make those live. From a marketing perspective, when we’re trying to introduce new products and companies to agents we work with, we’ve got to differentiate ourselves. We’ve got to stand out from the crowd of other FMOs in the marketplace. And so we get to put our creative hats on and go, “OK, how do we make our new product or service live? How do we make it better than the next guy? What kind of service is the next guy not offering that agents are demanding, and how can we do it? How can we do it better; how can we do it right?”

Within this industry, within our own little niche, we try to get more creative every day than we were the day before. Maybe in some cases it’s not the most exciting industry, but I think you can make it that and that’s what we strive to do. I think as we continue to look at new and alternative ways to promote, to recruit, to train, utilizing social media, Web, video, that’s really where we see the future of this industry. I think that in itself is exciting.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
JM: I think we, as a nation,  have gotten into some bad habits, and I believe the industry is working hard to help people understand how they can better themselves and their health by eating better and exercising more. The industry is working hard to bring more attention to that.

There’s also a lot of room for growth and excitement within the industry in the boomer and senior markets. That part of the industry is exploding. More companies, more products than I’ve ever seen before in my 17 years. Every day I turn around and there’s a new company, a new product. Something new and interesting. All of that keeps our business exciting, keeps us on our toes.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
JM: Technology is definitely a key component of all industries now and I believe carriers are going to have to learn to balance this delicately to better service both their agents and clients, but without taking the human component away completely. I think agents are going to become much more sophisticated with marketing themselves online through social media. We see a lot more sales being done direct to the consumer by telephone and the Internet. I do see that’s something that all of us within the industry at all levels have to embrace, but I think there has to be a delicate balance so that we don’t completely remove the human factor. Allowing technology to play its role but not take over is going to probably be the biggest challenge going forward.

AMY MCILWAIN
President, Financial Social Media

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
AM: I was first introduced to the insurance industry when I worked at Senior Market Advisor magazine. During this time I helped insurance companies reach advisors through integrated advertising campaigns and gained insight into the challenges advisors face. 

LHP: Describe what you do.
AM: At Financial Social Media I work with financial advisors, insurance agents and financial service companies to create and implement digital marketing strategies that increase revenue, decrease marketing expenses and improve customer service. By utilizing social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and others we have developed proven, compliant systems that deliver results.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
AM: In 2012 I published my first book, The Social Advisor: Social Media Secrets of the Financial Industry, which has sold over 10,000 copies and been featured as a bestseller in the Amazon business category. The positive feedback I’ve received from agents and advisors has been incredible. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve helped so many people take their first steps in learning how to utilize social media for their business. 

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
AM: Marketing and creativity go and in hand. At Financial Social Media we specialize in content marketing — and effective content marketing is an art. It grabs and holds people’s attention and gives your business a distinctive brand, loyal fans and increased sales. You don’t need a big budget to succeed, which is why good content marketing is the single best way to beat bigger competitors online.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today? 
AM: We are barely seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to opportunities in insurance marketing. Technology is fundamentally changing the way we communicate, and with social media you become the media. Not getting on TV? Start your own TV show and launch a YouTube channel. Can’t afford a radio show? Start your own radio show and distribute for free on iTunes. The world is literally at your fingertips and content is the currency. 

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
AM: Advances in communication and information technology are changing both the face and the pace of business. The rise of social networks that store the information people share are generating immense quantities of data, allowing businesses to send exactly the right message to exactly the right person at exactly the right time. A company’s ability to navigate this data and fine tune their messaging will be critical to their success over the next 10 years. 

BILL MOORE
Vice President of Underwriting and Medical Services, Munich Re America

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
BM: While teaching biology in Minnesota, a couple of my college classmates moved to San Diego, Calif., and enticed me to trade the cold of the Upper Midwest for the beaches of Southern California. One of them was working as a reinsurance underwriter, and he referred me for a position with his company.  I was hired as a replacement analyst, which consisted of completing replacement forms for the agents. This was at the time universal life plans were being introduced to the market with projected interest rates of 16 percent, replacing many existing policies. A few months later, an underwriting position became available in the reinsurance department, and, after much persistence and persuasion, I convinced the Chief Underwriter to hire me. My biology background assisted greatly in overcoming the requirement of prior direct carrier underwriting experience. Many have commented that I started my career in reverse (having started in reinsurance instead of direct and working in a desirable retirement spot). Not unlike many of my underwriting colleagues, my start in the industry was more happenstance than by design. Nonetheless, it is a very rewarding and challenging career.

LHP: Describe what you do.
BM: I am responsible for Underwriting and Medical Services for Munich Re. This position has primary responsibility for supporting the acquisition of profitable automatic treaty business through providing underwriting and medical services in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Additionally, this position establishes and implements policies, procedures and practices to provide superior risk selection and management and other value-added services to clients and prospects. The assurance that underwriting evaluation and analysis of client quote requests is incorporated effectively in the automatic pricing of our clients is a key element, as well. The role is responsible for underwriting individual life and disability risks and consults with other lines of business. Assurance of proper rule sets for automated underwriting is a critical component of responsibility.  

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
BM: Having joined Munich Re in 2008, I was fortunate enough to be in on the ground floor of their growth initiative. To deliver on growth commitments from an Underwriting and Medical Services perspective, many changes were made in the way we delivered service to our clients. An underwriting system was developed and implemented, an underwriting workflow and imaging system installed, a Risk Management Unit was created, a concierge underwriting team was formed and consistency of process and philosophy was achieved between two locations (Chicago and Atlanta). In a little over a year, our productivity nearly doubled and our turnaround time was nearly cut in half. In 2010, we created EDGE, our underwriting manual, and made it available to our clients. I am especially pleased with the results, as I believe it to be one of the easiest to use manuals in the industry. It reflects the high degree of technical expertise we have. I am so proud of the entire team in delivering the new EDGE to our clients.      

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
BM: Insurance and reinsurance is certainly on the “aged” end of the product lifecycle, and, in many ways, this makes it very challenging to find creative and innovative approaches to doing business. In our business, utilizing past experience to predict future mortality or morbidity is extremely important in achieving the desired financial results. It causes significant challenges to overcome when introducing new techniques or methods that are far less proven. The business environment today also makes it difficult to instill creativity as more oversight and regulation come into being. For me, one definition of being creative is finding ways of simplifying the way we do business and how we provide services to clients. Another is to find new methods that bring efficiency and convenience to consumers in obtaining insurance coverage, while meeting profit objectives such as the use of data in defining risk instead of obtaining a blood sample.   

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
BM: The most exciting thing for me currently is what I refer to as the new underwriting paradigm. For decades, underwriters have used pretty much the same evidence and process to evaluate individual risks in providing coverage to consumers. The explosive progress in technology and data storage has enabled the evaluation and analysis of huge amounts of very diverse data that could result in improving the quality and speed of underwriting decisions. This has opened new and exciting opportunities to explore risk selection in a manner never before thought possible. The challenge of finding where the value exists and translating that to new risk selection programs has re-energized me. There is a cultural shift occurring with this transition that also presents new management challenges, which I welcome with open arms. I hope to prove that you can teach this old dog some new tricks.   

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
BM: Access to insurance coverage will be much more readily available and delivered to a much larger consumer group than ever experienced in our past. With the aging of the agent population, new distribution forms will emerge. Coupled with new techniques for selecting risk, the industry will provide more services to those in need. Just think of a consumer wearing Google glass, and, by merely looking at an object, an insurance policy is sent electronically to a destination of their choice within seconds. 

SHERYL J. MOORE
President & CEO, Moore Market Intelligence

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
SJM: I had unexpectedly become a single mother of three babies (all in diapers); I lived in Des Moines and thought to myself, “What can I do for work in this city where, if my employer disappears, I can walk across the street the very next day and resume work?” Since Iowa is the second-largest insurance capital in the U.S., I naturally chose that industry as the place to start my career after being a homemaker. 

LHP: Describe what you do.
SJM: My grandma would tell you that I am the president of a life insurance company. However, I really run a life insurance market research firm and an indexed insurance consulting firm. My elevator speech goes something like this: ‘I think life insurance and annuities are awesome. However, the insurance industry seems kind of stuffy from the outside. So I created a couple of companies that help people see that life insurance can be fun, all while educating them about these invaluable products.’

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
SJM: I am proud to be a small business owner who has turned a profit every year for nearly a decade, while also providing salaried employment with full benefits to a highly competent staff.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
SJM: I would define creativity in this context: finding a way to sugar-coat factual insurance and annuity information so that the person I am educating not only swallows the information, but also asks for more.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
SJM: There are so many opportunities in the life insurance and annuity industry, and it is a market that is ripe for people like me who want to make a lasting change. Our industry has many problems to solve: lack of women in this profession, a dying distribution, public ignorance of our products, and regulatory challenges. The opportunities to improve lives are immense in this industry.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
SJM: I believe that we will continue to see distribution and products evolve, and regulatory uncertainty will be ever-present. Social media will improve the level of education that Joe Public has about life insurance and annuities. However, the changes that I would really like to see will not take place in the decade: many more young people in this industry, women representing a large percentage of insurance professionals, people with tattoos and piercings choosing a career in insurance, college graduates saying, “I want to be an insurance agent!” We need to change the face of insurance from that of a 65-year-old white man to that of the face next door. Maybe then we can see a greater percentage of our population adequately provided for with life insurance and annuities.

KELLY MOSER
Social Media Strategist, Disability Insurance Services

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
KM: Like most, my career in insurance was a happy accident. I majored in journalism and creative writing and fully intended on becoming the next big thing in print media. But, as many find out after college, jobs are scarce. I took the first full-time job I could find, which led me to become a personal lines insurance agent, moonlighting at a local paper on the side. I moved to DIS in 2012, where I joined the underwriting team and took over the company newsletter. It wasn’t too long before my background working with brokers and consumers, tied with my experience working for various San Diego publications, made me a unique candidate for DIS’s newly created position as Social Media Strategist.

LHP: Describe what you do.
KM: As the Social Media Strategist, my job is to stay up-to-date on the best SMO practices while engaging brokers through various social media platforms. And, though it can be a challenge, I try to not only educate but also entertain brokers through our company blog. Insurance can be fun if we let our hair down once in a while.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
KM: In general, I’m proud that I’ve been able to use my creativity and passion for writing within an industry that most outsiders would deem as dry and structured. When a seasoned agent, with decades more experience than I have, reaches out to tell me they enjoyed and/or learned something new from what I’ve produced, that’s when I feel especially proud of what I’ve accomplished.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
KM: It’s no secret that insurance content, particularly in regard to product knowledge and educational tools, can be boring. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Just as big insurance companies are catching the attention of consumers with humorous commercials, I strive to do the same through social media and online content. Providing helpful sales advice and up-to-date product knowledge to my brokers is important, but that doesn’t mean I have to offer it through an unengaging webinar. If I can take a sales topic and make it humorous by relating it to a current event or something in pop culture, I’m going to do that. Basically, I follow the golden rule. If I’d rather click on content or follow companies on social media that will engage me on a personal level, then that’s what I’m going to provide my brokers. I don’t want to read a boring white paper. I want to read an article about how selling insurance is a lot like rooting for the Padres — sometimes it’s enjoyable, sometimes it makes you crazy, and sometimes, only other Padres fans can understand what you’re going through. 

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
KM: It’s motivating to see veteran industry professionals encourage my generation to succeed and find their footing in the marketplace. I read articles daily on how the Millennial generation is nothing more than a group of whippersnappers, yet my superiors and those I’ve spoken with inside the industry are nothing short of encouraging and helpful in regard to Millennial advancement and education. It’s especially exciting to be part of a marketing team that values and respects a younger voice. 

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
KM: The online presence of insurance professionals and insurance companies will most definitely increase. From policies being delivered online to customer service on social media, everything in the industry is being made more efficient and up-to-date with our ever-changing technological world. They are exciting changes and we should embrace them.

RYAN PINNEY
VP of Sales & Marketing, Pinney Insurance

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
RP: My road into the industry is a little weird, because I’m a second-generation insurance guy. My father started about 30 years ago, and I joined him about ten years ago. Up to that point, I had always said ‘I’ll never do insurance.’ At the time we had just started in direct marketing to consumers over the Internet. I found that very intriguing and appealing from a marketing and technology perspective, and that’s when I decided to join the industry. Now that I’m here, I love it. I don’t ever plan to do anything else. 

LHP: Describe what you do.
RP: I head up our sales and marketing teams. We have two distribution models in our organization: direct marketing to consumers via Web, email, social media, and also a traditional brokerage agency where we market to individual agents. I run both of those teams, and the intersection of both is that today, as we continue to grow and change and look toward the future, all of that is geared around technology and selling online and doing a better job of converting clients or agents to customers with the help of these online tools.

I think it’s interesting because initially we were really out in front, not only for the industry, but as a whole. We started doing direct marketing in 2002, when the Internet was still really new. The dot com bust had just finished, so to have an Internet-based business was still unique at that point. Today, it’s totally changed. Consumers are very comfortable shopping online; eBay and Amazon and even things like iTunes have changed what consumers want and expect from a shopping experience. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And, our industry has really done a poor job of adapting in this way, so we had to focus on developing our own technology so that we could sell the way consumers wanted to buy. We had to go out and create our own platforms for things like an e-signature and e-application because in most instances these things did not exist the way we needed them at the time we needed them.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
RP: As we’ve built all of these tools and resources for our own use with consumers, we’ve taken the approach that the industry needs to grow and change as well. So we’ve designed several products that agents can use with their clients — things like e-applications and e-signatures, etc. — so that they can sell the way consumers want to buy. We’ve designed these products to help agents be more efficient, and as an agent myself that’s the thing that I hang my hat on. We help agents be more efficient and help them reach the middle market, an area that is greatly underserved and where these tools are incredibly useful.

LHP: How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
RP: The biggest part of creativity is kind of a cliché: It’s thinking outside the box. In our industry this translates to thinking about how to take valuable tools that exist outside our industry and bringing them into our industry to serve clients better. When you walk around our offices, you’ll see that everyone has a sticker somewhere around their desk that reads ‘Find a way to say yes.’ That’s our mantra. As we interact with consumers or agents or carriers we’re always challenging ourselves to find a way to say yes. We challenge ourselves to be creative and find solutions in order to provide a valuable service across all of our distribution channels.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
RP: I see huge, huge opportunity in our industry today to capitalize on a couple things in particular. One is the use of big data, which is really a way to capitalize on both existing clientele and on every lead or prospect that you have. Big data lets you use things like social media, buying habits, demographics, and information on how a typical customer moves through the sales process to inform how you market and sell. Those tools are the biggest thing that will impact us. At the same time, they’re the biggest risk, because we’re starting to see major retailers outside of our industry that want to come in and use those data points to sell insurance products. You’ve seen this already with Walmart selling life insurance and now Costco selling not only life insurance but also home and auto insurance. As an industry, we need to take advantage of these tools, but no one’s figured it out entirely yet; no one’s cornered the market. So for that reason there is huge opportunity in our industry today.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years? 
RP: First, I think you’ll see the rise of the direct marketer, which is something we’re seeing more and more: independent agents and firms turning to the Internet as a distribution source for their products.

Second, I think we’ll see the death of the traditional BGA. Carriers are trying to find a way to go around BGAs in the first place, and as that process continues, the distribution models will change. The BGAs that will survive will be the ones that have already adopted technology and adapted.

Third, I think we’re going to face outside competition from one or more major organizations, whether it is a retail organization like Walmart or Costco or an online marketer like Facebook. It will happen. And reading this may make it easy for an agent to get discouraged, but truly I thinkthere’s a huge opportunity for people to grow and think outside the box, to take advantage of other resources outside the industry. One of the things we’ve tried to do is really take advantage of those tools and grow. So I don’t think it looks bleak; I think it looks bright, but you are going to have to pursue change. You need to decide one of a couple things: Do you want to build your own technology, do you want to partner with someone who has the technology you need, do you want go buy it from someone … but at the end of the day, you have to have these things. The problem for some will be compliance, but there’s ways to work with compliance, and we’ve been able to figure this out. If you look at the marketplace from that perspective, there’s all this opportunity. There’s never been a time when there are this many underinsured Americans, when you can sell thousands of insurance policies each year as a one-man operation. And this will continue. It’s an innovator’s marketplace today. If you’re an innovator, there’s nothing that can slow you down and stop you from being successful in today’s marketplace.

AARON PROIETTI 
Chief Innovation Officer of the Life and Protective Division, Transamerica

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
AP: My background is in applied mathematics. Not knowing exactly what to do with an applied math degree, I worked in product development and risk underwriting at a credit card company for nearly nine years. I left to join a life insurance start-up company, as I wanted to see if my prior experience was transferable. I started by trying to leverage my math and risk underwriting background, but I failed my first and only actuary exam. (Turns out you really do need to study for those.) So, I decided to bring innovation and marketing research concepts into the world of life insurance. It turns out these were not very common disciplines in insurance at the time, but there was plenty of demand for it.

LHP: Describe what you do.
AP: I head up insights and innovation for the Life & Protection Division of Transamerica. My team connects employees to new choices to help them make better business decisions. We design programs to align leaders with what it means to be innovative. We spark creativity, eliminate barriers and encourage risk-taking. We help the business learn from failure so we can take smarter risks. We invite employees to establish connections with each other so they (and the organization) can benefit from collective intelligence. We deliver cutting-edge analytics and customer insight that matters to them.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
AP: Over the course of 2013, we enlisted over 200 employees to participate directly in the effort to create a culture of innovation. We hosted “Culture of Innovation Cafés” at all of our major geographical sites across North America, which enabled us to connect with over 3,000 employees. And, by soliciting survey feedback from our employees, we know we have made meaningful progress toward creating that environment.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
AP: Creativity = ignorance + frustration. Sparks of creativity come first from a choice not to play by the rules — both written and unwritten — which have led us to where we are today. Second, one must be willing and able to transform frustration — about the slow pace of change and how other industries are exploding in all directions (digitally, socially, globally) — into new thinking. The most creative person here is the one who can forget which sandbox he or she is playing in. If you’re complacent or stuck in the status quo, you won’t have the perspective or desire to create truly innovative solutions.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
AP: I think this industry is on the cusp of a big disruption, and has been on that edge for the past decade or so. The longer it lies dormant, the more disruptive it’s going to be when it happens. When my kids are adults, I doubt they’ll seek an advisor to buy insurance policies that then get mailed to them. They’ll hit three buttons on their wrist device and be done with it. Anything less would be unacceptable to them. Yet, look at the way we still think and act as an industry. Many of our practices seem archaic to me. Everyone wants to change, but it’s hard, expensive and risky. I want to be there in the trenches with the team that chooses to attack the legacy insurance traditions head-on to create a new world.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
AP: The lines will become more blurred between life and health offerings, as long as the state insurance departments are adaptive to emergent consumer needs. After all, the life insurer has a vested interest in keeping you alive longer; there is no industry in a better position to promote wellness and longevity!

Finally, many industry watchers seem to think one or two existing players will figure out how to make the customer experience better, and then the rest will follow. I think it’s more likely that someone from outside the insurance arena will barge in with a completely different, technically savvy way to protect against risk, and that this will be the major disruption. Our industry is ripe for it, given the immense under-penetration of the middle market, so I’m not sure we have time to evolve.

ARTHEA (CHARLIE) REED
Financial Representative, Northwestern Mutual

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
CR: I started late. I had actually been working as a professor and Dean of Education at University of North Carolina at Asheville for almost 20 years. And then I joined my husband in his practice. At that point, he was a Managing Director for Northwestern Mutual. I joined the business primarily because I had become so passionate about LTCI. I had seen my mother care for my father for eight years, and I saw what happens to a family when the assets are almost totally spent down. At that point when I joined the business, Northwestern Mutual was supposed to be getting an LTCI product, but it wasn’t ready yet, it was delayed. So I started my own company, Long-Term Care Insurance Connection, and began selling other LTC products while I waited for Northwestern Mutual’s product to be ready. During that time, I wound up sort of by accident in the corporate marketplace and that became the marketplace that I stayed in, although I continued to do business with individuals as well.

I now have a successor that has purchased my business, Barbara DeBerry. I did about a two-year search for the perfect person, around the country. I wanted someone who was with Northwestern Mutual so that they would know how to sell the products I sell and could continue to serve my existing clients. So I looked for the perfect Northwestern Mutual person. I had seven candidates and I interviewed three of the seven in the office. My spouse and I picked Barbara and it’s been great.

LHP: Describe what you do.
CR: In our practice, we do individual planning and we are often working with people that have worked with us or with someone else on retirement planning. Our typical individual clients are in their 50s and 60s. We do a lot of work with individuals, but our primary emphasis is in the corporate marketplace. We do a lot of executive carve out plans where companies are providing LTCI for their high-level executives. But the business that touches my heart the most is a large ministry who purchased LTCI for all their employees who are 50 or older and have been with the company for 10 years or more. They said to me, ‘We can never pay them what they’re worth because we’re a ministry and we’re accepting donations. They’re not making what they would make in a different market. But what we can do is provide them with benefits that will truly make a difference in their lives.’ So we are continuously enrolling new people to this corporate plan as they turn 50 or hit the 10-year mark, and it is incredibly rewarding to see. We have people in missions fields all over the world who own LTCI coverage as a result.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
CR: I am especially proud of the way we do our business and the way we work with our corporate and individual clients. We are always part of the planning process and only make recommendations based on what is truly best for them. Consequently, we do not always get the business, because some clients are looking for the cheapest plan or would be better served by products or services we don’t provide. I’m as proud of the ones that have walked away as the ones we have worked with.

We also make changes over time. Our clients stay with us for life, and as people’s needs change we make changes. For example, we are working with a client now on a hybrid product solution. As the opportunity has come along to use life insurance as a hybrid plan, this makes a lot of sense for certain clients. In this case, the client already has some corporate life insurance, so it really makes sense for them to use life insurance in that way and be able to convert an existing asset to an LTCI benefit.

LHP: How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
CR: There are traditional ways that people do insurance and they’re wonderful, but what we have done is taken what I believe is the best of what we do in terms of the planning process and finding what is the very best fit for each client’s individual needs, and we have taken that and applied it 100 percent to LTCI. We are very holistic in the way we serve our clients, which requires a great deal of creativity.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
CR: The industry today is obviously evolving tremendously. One of the things is that the industry is looking more and more toward insurance-based solutions for the population that is retiring and will be retiring in the next 10–15 years. This is part of the reason that hybrid products have come along, because that allows people to leverage the money that they’re spending on those products. And there’s the opportunity for even younger people to put LTCI riders on products like life insurance and annuities, so that as their life changes, their life insurance can become an LTCI benefit. Those creative solutions to the changing demographics are really exciting to me. It never happens fast enough; I always want it to happen faster! And a lot of these changes are driven by the field. We go out and see those needs; we have a client that really needs to do this, but there’s no existing product solution. And we go back and tell the carriers, ‘My client needs X,’ and they develop something to fit.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years? 
CR: I think that the trends above will continue. As the demographics change, the industry has to change. People are getting older, there are younger people supporting older people, so the industry has got to make changes to account for this. The other thing that I really see happening is bringing more women into the industry. In fact, I’m in the process of writing a book based on interviews with 50 women who have seen success in the industry. We’re seeing more women entering the industry and rising to higher levels because they really know how to serve these changing demographics. Maybe women aren’t the ones driving the sales of 401(k) plans, but we do drive the planning piece of it, which is becoming more and more critical. So I think we are the perfect fit to meet the needs of these clients who are retiring today. I think women will really continue to excel in this industry.

JOE SIMONDS
Digital Marketing Maverick, Advisor Internet Marketing

LHP:  Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
JS: I was fresh out of school from Georgia Tech and I received a call from a headhunter who convinced me how great it would be talking to insurance agents on the phone all day. Little did I know I would end up staying in this industry for good, going from insurance carrier recruiter to national annuity wholesaler, to owner of an FMO, to a Digital Marketing Maverick for Financial Professionals. 

LHP: Describe what you do.
JS: Today, I help financial professionals go digital by teaching them how to be found online through organic marketing tactics (free search traffic for the layperson). My title really is Digital Marketing Maverick, and I produce boatloads of content, how-to packages, and videos that teach and enable financial professionals to build an online practice, promote an online brand and enhance (not replace) all of their current marketing strategies. I still blog on two of the websites that I founded called Annuity Think Tank and Annuity123.com, to educate consumers, as well.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
JS: I am actually quite proud of my first two “outrageous” videos that I released, as they were some of the first videos to go against the trend of our sometimes-boring industry. The first one was called “Hair Club for Financial Planners,” and the second one was an animated video called “The Truth about Fixed Indexed Annuities.” Combined they have over 63,000 views (which is viral for our industry), and we still get compliments and inquiries about licensing those videos today. 

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
JS: I think it is kind of sad that we aren’t a creative industry. For some reason, the industry as a whole has become scared of regulators and trying too hard not to offend anyone. I am all about regulation and oversight for our industry, but nowhere in any rules or bylaws does it say that you can’t be creative and have some fun. A huge part of my job today is about being creative, having a fun story to tell that is sharable, and helping agents and advisors become more creative with their own marketing and message — because simply “fitting in” when you are selling products that are essentially commodities can lead to extinction.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
JS: I am excited that we are entering what I call the “perfect storm” in regards to retirement income. As an industry we have upwards of 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day for the next 10+ years; we have the first generation to retire mostly without pensions, and we have a stock market that resembles a casino more than a place to invest wisely. All that being said, I believe the opportunities to help the boomer generation and to see transformations in their life are unlimited. It is a good time to specialize in retirement income.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
JS: Oh boy. You had to get me up on a soapbox here by asking that question. All I will say is that I have written extensively about insurance and annuity agents going extinct if they don’t adapt with technology. It’s not just about how consumers are getting their information today, but also how they buy things (online). My best comparison is the forgotten travel agent who ruled the travel world for many decades until he finally either adapted to the power and efficiency of the Internet or went by the wayside. Today, the largest travel agencies in the world are all digital, like Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz. The same thing will happen in the insurance industry over time. But the exciting news is that there will be an enormous amount of new opportunity, new jobs and more efficient ways to get our incredible offerings into the hands of our clients. 

NEIL SPRACKLING
Managing Director, Swiss Re

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
NS: I basically fell accidentally into insurance. I applied for a reinsurance role requiring European language skills (which I had), accepted the position thinking it would be a good way to earn my first real money for say six months, then take off traveling around the world. After six months I realized I enjoyed the role and the business. My employer at the time (M&G Re) laid out an interesting career path, especially for a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 20-year-old like me, so I duly accepted and the rest, as they say, is history. I have always worked on the life side of the insurance industry, save a three-year stint when I straddled both Life and P&C, and I have developed an increasing passion for, and commitment to, the value that life and health insurance brings to society.

LHP: Describe what you do.
NS: In my current position as President, I lead the Life & Health business for Swiss Re in the United States. The US is the largest L&H market in the world, and Swiss Re’s largest life market, so I feel privileged to lead such a talented and diverse team to continue the profitable growth of our US business. My role is very wide-ranging and involves strategy development, talent engagement, culture development, industry thought leadership, and optimizing the financial and operational performance of the business.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
NS: It’s hard to pick one single thing. What gives me most satisfaction and pride is seeing our people succeed and make a difference in our industry and in society more widely. In terms of my ultimate goal of seeing more and more people covered by the great products we offer, my standout achievement in recent years is the development and execution of a pioneering partnership between Swiss Re and a market-leading health insurer to cross and upsell life insurance to its customer base.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
NS: I’d agree that insurance is not generally seen as creative. That said, we will need to apply our collective creative skills if we are to crack the infamous nut of the world’s protection gaps (the level of under-insurance). We need genuine creativity and innovation to work out how we can much more effectively cover the millions of people, both in the US and globally, who are grossly underinsured. It’s not about product innovation, but more about creating new approaches to consumer engagement (how do we pull consumers toward our products rather than push our products toward them) and increased commitment to, and integration with, new forms of distribution, digital and physical. The real creativity will be working out how we can more effectively give something back to consumers in exchange for all the information they share with us, over and above our primary role of providing them with a life insurance policy at the end of the application process.

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
NS: The immense opportunity that we have in front of us. While we have done a decent job of insuring the more affluent segments of the population, we have done a miserable job of insuring the masses, arguably the ones who need our products the most. If we can tangibly increase the level of life insurance ownership in the US and elsewhere, we will have achieved something of which we can all be very proud.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
NS: I genuinely believe that as an industry, we are at the classic tipping point. Generational and demographic shifts mean that attitudes are changing and we must adapt our previous “one size fits all” approach to accommodate as much of this changing behavior as possible. This means we will see technology playing an even more important role than ever, the use of data will enable us to tailor and target our products more effectively and thereby allow us to embrace new ways to assess risk. We will also see consumers engaging with life insurers in whichever way they wish, be this face to face, on the phone or using digital media. After almost 30 years in the industry, I have never known such an exciting time ahead of us.

ANDREW UNKEFER
President & CEO, Unkefer & Associates

LHP: Why insurance? How did you get your start in the industry?
AU: In 1988, I began working for an insurance company in the supply department responsible for managing and shipping supplies to agents and marketing firms nationally. I later moved into IT and helped the company monitor loss ratios on blocks of business. Try as I might, I could never quite get out of the industry.

LHP: Describe what you do.
AU: I work daily to serve three primary customers: independent agents and their clients, larger agencies and their clients, and other marketing firms and their agents. I work with my team to develop a unique set of proprietary resources, tools, products and training events which allow those who affiliate with us to profitably scale up their sales-leveraging technology and other existing resources available through our platform. What I really do, though, is help people. My personal goal is to serve others with excellence, identifying what they need to succeed and then applying myself to meet those needs. One of my favorite roles is finding companies who are facing big challenges and helping them connect with the ideas, concepts, strategies, techniques and people who can deliver success.

LHP: Share an achievement you are especially proud of.
AU: My team and I were recognized by the National Association for Fixed Annuities for the role we played in defending fixed indexed annuities as a fixed insurance product and not a security. During this challenging time, we rallied agents and other marketing firms around a website we created that provided audio updates and the ability to communicate directly to Capitol Hill. This site received over 60,000 visits per month and helped to mobilize thousands of people. We regularly visited representatives in Washington, DC, and the result was success in passing legislation that defined fixed indexed annuities as a fixed insurance product — assuring the guarantees we value in our planning would not be in question and protecting thousands of jobs in our industry.

LHP: Insurance is not widely recognized as a creative industry. How would you define “creativity” as it relates to the work you do?
AU: Our entire distribution is built on serving independent agents and marketing firms. Helping each identify winning business models is an endlessly creative endeavor. Imagining new products that can solve problems for millions of Americans takes ingenuity and creative thought. Understanding actuarial demands for sound products and blending this with the art of concept-based financial planning, along with the discipline of quality sales practices, requires daily creative expression.  

LHP: What excites you most about the industry today?
AU: The financial services segment of the insurance industry is well positioned to help people accomplish their long-term financial goals without exposure to unnecessary risk. We can also help people limit the erosive impact of taxation. By pooling lives and financial discipline, we can be there when the increasing costs of health care and long-term care needs arise. Perhaps the most important: We provide the only solution for guaranteed lifetime income. The greatest numbers of people in American history are marching into a lengthy retirement. Agents and marketing firms equipped with the right platform, knowledge and tools can really make an impact.

LHP: How do you anticipate the industry will evolve in the next ten years?
AU: Government pressure to collect new taxes and modify existing entitlement programs will be much more intense than it is today. As taxes rise and benefits get reduced, it will open up new planning opportunities and product solutions that no one has yet considered. Developing and growing businesses will cost more. New Web-based selling platforms will allow insurers to on-board new policyholders at a lower cost as they rely on these systems and their agents to input key client data for direct submission and processing. The industry will continue to see an influx of capital from new sources to fund the growth. This will lead to larger mergers and acquisitions. We will also see huge sales growth over the next 10 years through banks, broker-dealers and investment advisory firms.