Did you Miss the Annual Advisor Conference?
AgencyONE just wrapped up their first IN PERSON Annual Advisor Conference in almost 3 years, April 24 – 26 at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, DC. It seemed like eons since we were last together and able to enjoy SPEAKING FACE-TO-FACE and SITTING IN THE SAME ROOM. We SAW peers and business partners that we hadn’t seen in a long time and met new advisors who recently joined our AgencyONE 100 community of Advisors. We HEARD leading speakers and industry experts discuss topics important to you and your clients. And we FELT the camaraderie that comes from experiencing an in-person meeting.
High Praise for the Speakers & Content
For those of you who could not attend our Annual Conference, we missed you. The advisors that did attend commented that the meeting was truly outstanding, full of relevant and timely topics presented by the best and brightest speakers the industry has to offer. (More on that later). The meeting also provided AgencyONE 100 advisors the opportunity to present sales and marketing ideas. The feedback we received from these sessions were that they were incredibly valuable and they invigorated seasoned advisors to try new marketing and sales concepts in their businesses.
Early Bird Session
The conference kicked off with an early bird session on planning for business owners featuring speakers from Kalamath Consulting and Principal Financial Group. This was
followed by a fully insured business owner exit planning case study presented by advisors from Pacific Advisors. These sessions set an incredibly high bar for the rest of the conference, as attendees began to immediately collaborate with one another and were provided with actionable sales ideas. Attendance at these early sessions filled the room to almost capacity, and interest was so significant that two specific business owner planning study groups were created to focus on opportunities in this market in 2022 and beyond.
The Tone of the Conference
AgencyONE Managing Partner Gonzalo Garcia officially opened the conference with eye-opening metrics on whether clients are receiving the services they expect from their wealth advisors. Some of the statistics shared included:
- 82% of clients expect to receive advice on obtaining life insurance but only 12% receive it;
- 80% of clients expect to receive advice on business succession planning but only 1% receive it; and
- 93% of clients expect to receive estate planning advice for after their death but only 22% receive it.
These statistics resulted in a BIG A-HA moment in the audience and confirmed that there is more opportunity than ever to provide clients with the services they expect from financial advisors and subsequent sales opportunities. The referred to metrics and their details can be found in Gonzalo Garcia’s ONE Idea titled Client Expectations: Investment & Risk Management.
A Variety of Speakers & Topics
In an attempt to close this “services expected vs services received” gap and provide AgencyONE 100 advisors with information they can use NOW both with their clients and in their practice, AgencyONE officially kicked off our annual conference. The speakers and presentations provided an in-depth look at all aspects of the industry – there was truly something for everyone. We heard from an insurance carrier CEO, an economist, an industry watchdog, an estate planner, a marketing expert, fellow advisors, a technology and security specialist, industry and product analysts, and underwriters. Linked here is a copy of the 2022 conference agenda and following is a list of the sessions and speakers. These presentations are available ONLY to AgencyONE 100 advisors via your personal dashboard on the AgencyONE website (if available for distribution).
Working With Business Owners – The LARGEST Untapped Market
Cary Fry, MBA, ChFC, CLU, CMFC, Exec. Sales & Distribution Leadership, Kalamath Consulting
Fletcher Brown, Founder & President, Kalamath Consulting
Jim Wanek, CLU, Managing VP, Life Distribution, Principal Financial
Fully Insured Financial Infrastructure for Business Exit – Winning Submission of the Forum 400’s Forum MAX Fast & Furious Sales Idea
Jason Giorgio, CLU, CFP, MBA, Pacific Advisors
Kim (Mo) Mahoney, MBA, WMCP, RICP, CExP, CEPA, Pacific Advisors
The State of the Life Insurance Industry & Where 2022 is Taking Us
Brooks Tingle, President & CEO, John Hancock Insurance
The Economy, Markets, Inflation, The Debt, The War …. Now What?
Tim Uecker, CIMA, VP, Investment Specialist, Prudential Financial
A Washington Update: Tax & Regulatory State of Affairs
Marc Cadin, President & CEO, Finseca
Planning in a World of Legislative Uncertainty
Edward A. Renn, JD, Partner, Withers Worldwide
5 Biggest Marketing Opportunities for Advisors in 2022
Samantha Russell, Chief Evangelist, FMG Suite/ Twenty-Over-Ten
AgencyONE 100 Advisors Discuss How their Marketing has Changed Over the Years
David Appel, CLU, ChFC, AEP, Managing Partner, Appel Insurance Advisors
Robert Trotenberg, CLU, CLTC, Founder & President, Arbor Group
The Future of Life Insurance Distribution
Bill Shelow, CEO, Libra Partners
Opportunities for Long-Term Care & Linked Benefits in 2022
Shawn Britt, CLU, CLTC, Director Long Term Care Initiatives, Nationwide Financial
Kim Natovitz, CLU, CLTC TriBridge Partners
Product Update in a Post 7702 World Featuring Whole Life & Variable Universal Life Product Solutions
Kevin Shannon, Managing Director, MassMutual Strategic Distributors
Wayne Baldwin, CLU, FLMI, Regional VP, John Hancock Insurance
Bobby Samuelson Unfiltered – an advisor ONLY event (vendors and carriers could not participate)
Bobby Samuelson, Editor, The Life Product Review
Mobile Device & Email Security
Luis Jarquin, Senior Training Specialist, designDATA
Low Volatility Index Accounts – IUL Redux and Other Product Updates
Bobby Samuelson, Editor, The Life Product Review
A Unique Approach to the Construction of Low Volatility Index Accounts
Tom Haines, SVP, Capital Markets & Index Solutions, The Annexus Group
Point/ Counterpoint
Bobby Samuelson, Editor, Life Product Review
Tom Haines, SVP, Capital Markets & Index Solutions, The Annexus Group
How Underwriting Technology Has Changed in Real Time
Julie Melendez, Director of Underwriting, AgencyONE
Elizabeth Thimme, Product Lead, Vive Solutions
Andrea Caruso, Executive VP & COO, MIB
Charles Fowler, Assistant VP & Digital Platform Underwriter, Symetra
2022 Underwriting Update – Panel Discussion
Dennis Bartos, PA, Partner, AgencyONE
Bill Wheeler, FALU, FLMI, VP Underwriting, Protective
Angela Thieschafer, FALU, FLMI, Assistant Chief Underwriter, Security Mutual Life Insurance
We Had Fun Too!
Besides the fabulous content, we also had some fun, as we always do at AgencyONE. We enjoyed carrier dine-arounds at a variety of local Dupont Circle restaurants (thank you to all of our carrier sponsors for hosting our AgencyONE 100 advisors). We hosted a phenomenal conference dinner at Boqueria restaurant on M St. in DC where we enjoyed sangria, tapas, paella, churros and more! We mingled, shared ideas, talked and collaborated and even had some late night cocktails in the Doyle Bar at the Dupont Circle Hotel.
If you missed this meeting and would like to learn more about what was presented, please let us know. If you have questions about how to access the presentations or any of the speakers, please let us know. And if you are not working with AgencyONE and either want to learn more, have a case you would like to discuss or want to be included in future AgencyONE events, please let us know.
Contact AgencyONE’s Marketing Department at 301.803.7500 for more information or to discuss a case.
