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July 30, 2014 at 02:37 PM
Aflac gives Duckprints Award to three leaders for their support of the Children’s Art Project at MD Anderson Cancer Center
Aflac presented its Duckprints Award to three Houston-area residents for their longtime support of The Children’s Art Project at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The Art Project, founded in 1973, is a program that raises funds for juvenile cancer patients and their families by selling merchandise featuring designs created by young cancer patients.
The award recipients are:
- Caitlyn Mortus — A former MD Anderson patient who at age 13 fought Burkitt’s lymphoma. Now 18, she has become a regularly featured Art Project designer, with seven designs in the 2013 collection alone.
- Mia Gradney — An anchor and reporter at Houston’s KHOU-TV who includes The Art Project in many of her philanthropic efforts and frequently hosts events that benefit the program.
- Kendra Scott – A celebrated jewelry designer who has consistently given back to MD Anderson, hosting promotional events and raising money for the Children’s Art Project.
As part of the Duckprints campaign, Aflac is calling on unsung heroes across America to become active in the cause. People can get involved by taking to social media to talk about childhood cancer. Aflac will donate $2 for any Duckprints-related social actions taken on various social mediums up to $2 million.
For more information, visit aflacduckprints.com.
Allianz Index Advantage New York® Variable Annuity offers balance with potential growth and protection
Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York launched the Allianz Index Advantage New York® Variable Annuity, a new Index Variable Annuity (IVA) that offers the combination of traditional variable options with an index strategy. This new product offers a balance of growth potential and a level of downside protection with a built-in death benefit.
A key feature of Allianz Index Advantage New York is the index performance strategy. This crediting method offers customers a level of asset protection for the principal investment while maintaining the potential for higher performance. It also gives accumulation-focused customers the flexibility to pursue the accumulation strategy that best suits them each year whether there is positive or negative performance. However, the product and features are available only in New York, and may vary by broker or dealer.
MassMutual establishes MassMutual Ventures LLC
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced the formation of MassMutual Ventures LLC (MMV), a $100 million corporate venture capital firm with the mandate to back startups and entrepreneurial businesses whose technologies have the potential to transform MassMutual’s core insurance, retirement and asset management businesses.
MMV is managed by Doug Russell, MassMutual’s senior vice president, strategy and corporate development; Eric Emmons, who joins MMV after serving as the head of Siemens Venture Capital North America for the past five years, and Mark Goodman, who founded and managed two technology-focused venture capital funds, Terawatt Ventures and Brookline Ventures.
MMV will manage its worldwide investments from its offices in Boston and will focus on investments in financial technology, consumer internet, digital health and cybersecurity.
Transamerica expands enrollment options to better serve employers and employees
Transamerica Employee Benefits will utilize the technology of a cloud-based provider of benefits administration, exchange, payroll, and HRIS solutions to employers. The TransApp® enrollment system now offers complete integration with PlanSource. Using a streamlined enrollment process and PlanSource’s easy-to-use enrollment technology, employers can offer their employees insurance products from Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates (Transamerica), including hospital indemnity, short-term disability, cancer, critical illness, accident, universal life, interest-sensitive whole life, and term life.
Employers can now simplify benefits administration with easy tools for maintaining Transamerica’s policy group information and billing reconciliation. The system also allows employers to transmit data between benefit advisers, payroll systems, health plans, insurance carriers, COBRA providers, FSA administrators, HSA administrators and other benefit service providers, all from one source. Employees can access multi-media educational materials, review benefit options and sign up for Transamerica products through a quick and simple enrollment process.
Seasoned senior account executive joins Burnham Benefits
Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, a California based employee benefits brokerage firm, announced the addition of its newest team member, Helen Vits. As a senior account executive, Vits consults with Burnham clients as they structure their employee benefit packages — from procurement and analysis, to implementation. The role of consultants has especially evolved with the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Vits’ career began at Baker, Thomsen Associates, and when the firm was acquired by Brown & Brown, she launched and led a webinar series, managed partner relationships, served as a technical lead and pursued new business opportunities. Prior to her career in employee benefits, Vits worked in different accounting and advertising roles.
