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May 02, 2016 at 08:38 AM
The AALU has “real concerns” about the Department of Labor’s finalized fiduciary rule because it will reduce consumer access to retirement products and investment advice.
Founded in 1957, the AALU is combating federal legislative and regulatory threats facing the industry by expanding and diversifying its membership ranks. The association is also looking to innovate: instituting a new membership tier, revisiting its brand and developing custom content to help recruit, retain and drive value to its members.
These were among the highlights of a wide-ranging discussion between LifeHealthPro Senior Editor Warren S. Hersch and Marc Cadin, AALU’s senior vice president of government affairs, in advance of AALU’s 2016 annual meeting, being held in Washington, D.C., May 1-3. The interview explored, among other topics, AALU’s position on federal tax reform, federal and state initiatives of concern to the industry, and how the organization is evolving to meet its members’ advocacy and professional development needs. The following are excerpts.
Hersch: How will this year’s gathering differ from last year’s? How might the conference’s thematic focus be reflected in the session content?
Cadin: With more than 1,100 people, the 2016 annual meeting will be the largest attended conference in the last several years. We’ll also have the largest number of first-timers — over 330. We’re really excited about that.
A number of new events reflect on our theme in 2016. To start, we’ll have our first-ever Diversity Summit. Fourteen companies from across the industry are sending diversity officers to share their lessons with members. They’ll discuss their business environments and how to become a more inclusive organization, one that more accurately reflects what the country looks like.
Within the Diversity Summit, The American College will present a study on women in the industry. We also have planned a second annual “Women in Insurance Breakfast” featuring Jennifer Griffin, a Fox News national security correspondent and triple-negative breast cancer survivor.
Other speakers will be contributing to our innovative line-up this year including Dr. Craig Venter, who helped to decode the human genome and is now CEO of Human Longevity Inc. and the J. Craig Venter Institute. Also presenting are Nate Silver, a statistician and founder of FiveThirtyEight; and Frank Abagnale, a fraud expert who will explore developments in cyber security — a huge and growing issue for insurance and financial service professionals.
On the Main Stage, too, will be Gary Vaynerchuk, a serial entrepreneur and social media guru; Scott Clemons, an economist and chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman; and Jason Redman, a former Navy SEAL and founder of Combat Wounded Coalition.
See also: 10 critical tax issues for 2016
Hersch: In respect to federal tax policy, what are the immediate threats that AALU’s legislative team members are most focused on in 2016?
Cadin (pictured at right): A top concern is the potential impact of tax reform on our industry. On this front we’re aiming, as House Speaker Paul Ryan says, to move from being an opposition party to a proposition party: to help unite Congress behind substantive policy positions we can support and that give people a true choice. To that end, we’re continuing the education process with members of Congress to ensure they’re aware of the foundational pieces that will impact tax reform, assuming this happens in 2017.
As to 2016, we’re also staying abreast of other proposals — including Treasury Department regulations respecting corporate tax inversion — that may effect our industry. One thing we’ve learned over the years is that the life insurance industry is not always well understood on Capitol Hill. So an ongoing educational process has to occur to protect the industry’s products and consumers.
Hersch: To realize your advocacy goals, will you also need to beef up AALU’s membership so as to have a greater presence on Capitol Hill?
Cadin: Yes. If you don’t have a growing membership, it’s very hard to be an effective advocacy group. So growth in our ranks is core to our strategy.
The good news is that we’re on pace to have our best year ever with some 2,300 members, a 7 to 9 percent increase over’s last year’s total. Apart from our advocacy needs, the broadening of our membership has been driven in part by the professional development tools and resources.
Hersch: Turning to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, has the AALU’s position evolved since the release of the finalized regulations? Does the association approve of certain changes to the last draft proposal? Which areas are of ongoing concern?
Cadin: Policymakers have perpetuated a false narrative about financial advisors generally and life insurance professionals specifically: that they’re not working to serve consumers’ interests — their best interests — every day.
We’re still digesting the 1,000-plus pages of regulations, but based on our initial review, we continue to have real concerns about them.
To be fair, the final rule includes modifications we view as positive, such as the phased-in implementation. But other changes are for the worse, including an expansion of the types of annuity products that are subject to the BIC without any new data to justify the inclusion, as well as limitations being imposed on small businesses to provide retirement plans for their employers.
See also: 15 women in insurance you need to know
In terms of advocacy, we’ll devote two sessions at this year’s meeting to bringing members up to speed on the rule. We’ve engaged Drinker Biddle as counsel to assist in this effort, led by Brad Campbell, a former ERISA “top cop” at the DOL under President George W. Bush and a nationally-recognized retirement benefits expert. Drinker Biddle will provide a complete analysis of the rule’s details and the practical implications for the life insurance industry in a report that we expect to deliver to our members shortly.
We’ve additionally created an implementation task force — including people from The American College, NAILBA [National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies] and GAMA International [formerly the General Agents and Managers Association] to formulate a unified interpretation and message on the rule.
The bottom line is this: The final DOL rule reduces consumer choice and access to retirement solutions, increases costs and liability, and significantly disadvantages lifetime income products including life insurance and annuities.
