Insurance News Roundup: Week of Aug. 22, 2016

Seasoned professional to oversee two Missouri operations

POWERS Insurance and Benefits and sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA) recently named Brien Pidgeon as their new Chief Operating Officer.  POWERS Insurance and Benefits is one of the largest family owned and operated independent insurance agencies in the bi-state region.  VIAA is a cohesive family of nearly 100 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Southern Illinois. In this position, Pidgeon will be responsible for the agency’s internal operations while maintaining an atmosphere of integrity, profitability, professionalism and exceptional customer service.  He also will help position the companies for future growth. Pidgeon’s accomplishments including being a Fulbright Scholar, earning a master’s degree in business from Lindenwood University, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. “Brien’s talent is a custom fit to our companies” POWERS’ CEO Pierce Powers said in a press release. “His presence will assure our ongoing success in serving our clients and family of agents for many years to come.” 

Forethought Life named to Ward’s 50 top list (again)

Global Atlantic Financial Group’s issuer of annuities and preneed life insurance, Forethought Life Insurance Company, has earned a spot on the 2016 Ward’s 50® list of top life and health insurance companies. This is the seventh consecutive year that the insurer has been included on this list. Ward’s 50 is published annually by Ward Group, an Aon Hewitt company and the leading provider of benchmarking and best practice services for insurance companies. “Having one of Global Atlantic’s insurance companies continuously named to the 2016 Ward’s 50 for the last seven years is a testament to our strength and strategic direction,” said Robert Arena, President of Global Atlantic’s retirement and life businesses.

CBLife plans iGO to support the expectations of millennial clients

iPipeline®, a provider of cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance industry, has announced Colorado Bankers Life Insurance Company^® (CBLife) has selected iGO® to process its Timber Ridge Series® term life product with a critical illness rider. CBLife is the first North American insurance carrier to participate in iPipeline’s new iGO “JumpStart” program. iGO is an intelligent fillable form used for the processing of life insurance applications, to streamline new business activities and provide flexibility and options to support growing millennial expectations for digital technology in buying and selling activities. Under its JumpStart program, a single term life or final expense product is selected for accelerated deployment within 60 days at a highly competitive price. Standard features include wizard screens, basic rules, doctor and Rx lookup, address verification, e-signature, print and wet sign, email validation, PDF submit, SSO, Admin tools, standard reports, and responsive design. The deployed solution can be enhanced at any time to add additional functionality.

Efficient Advisors selects Gladstone Analytics

­Efficient Advisors (EA), a third-party asset manager and strategist, announced a strategic partnership with Gladstone Associates, a premier corporate advisory firm for the financial services industry, to provide EA’s advisors with access to the Gladstone Analytics software suite of assessments and tools. Gladstone Analytics software enables advisors to gauge the health of their practice and grade themselves on their firm’s business stability, client stability and overall market risk, then take appropriate steps to improve their firm’s value. “Like Efficient Advisors, Gladstone Associates is committed to helping financial advisory firms perpetuate and grow into the future,” said EA President Nicole Newlin. “By offering our advisors access to Gladstone Analytics, we can help them make the most informed decisions on critical business issues.”

Brightway Insurance named to Inc. 5000 nine years in a row

With Inc. magazine’s release earlier this month of the 2016 Inc. 5000, Brightway Insurance, the Jacksonville-based national property/casualty insurance retailer selling through a network of franchised independent agencies throughout the country, has again been named one of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The company has received this distinction every year since they began franchising operations in 2008. The ranking is developed using each privately held company’s three-year growth rate, along with 2015 revenue. In the three-year period Inc. evaluated, Brightway grew 53 percent and finished 2015 with revenue of $395.1 million. “We are delighted to be on the list again and, most importantly to us, we are thrilled to be the only property/casualty insurance agency franchisor on the list,” said David Miller, Brightway chairman and founder.

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