Independent brokerage agencies, like the life insurance and financial service professionals they cater to, are facing an increasingly challenging business environment. Industry consolidation, legislative and regulatory developments — not least the Department of Labor's proposed fiduciary standard — and the sharing of industry best practices are ever more urgent priorities for stakeholders in the wholesaling/distribution space.
Among them: The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies, which is holding its 2015 annual meeting in Orlando Nov. 18-20. In advance of the gathering, LifeHealthPro Senior Editor Warren S. Hersch spoke with NAILBA Chairman David Long to explore professional development and advocacy initiatives underway at the organization. The following are excerpts.
Hersch: How would you assess NAILBA in terms of its financial health, standing in the industry, and ability to advance advocacy and professional development objectives?
Long (shown at right): NAILBA is very strong financially; we have reserves that would probably be the envy of most associations. Also, our standing in the industry is excellent. We've achieved great recognition from both partner associations and the industry generally over the last several years. We're also enjoying greater industry prominence as independent brokerage firms have grown their market share of the life business.
Our membership ranks have, however, shrunk over the past couple of years from about 350 companies to 320. NAILBA is not immune to the mergers and acquisitions that have increased as the first generation of brokerage agency owners retire from the business. But the membership has not adversely impact our budget.
Hersch: Just to clarify, the decline in membership is the result of mergers and acquisitions within this space, yes?
Long: Correct. The first generation of BGA members range in age from 65 to 85. So you're seeing retirements and not all of them have a successor. Some of them are selling their agencies, merging them with other agencies or shutting their doors.
To compensate for the industry's consolidation, we've adjusted admission criteria to allow organizations that previously were not eligible to join: online distributors like SelectQuote, carrier-owned agencies and direct marketers affiliated with LIDMA.
Hersch: And how is NAILBA adjusting to meet the industry's professional development and advocacy needs?
Long: Our ability to advance advocacy objectives had leapt forward. We've partnered with the AALU [Association for Advanced Life Underwriting], which has a huge advocacy team at the federal level. Most recently, we issued a joint comment letter opposing the Department of Labor's proposed fiduciary standard.
On the professional development front, we developed a strategic plan a year ago based on a deep-dive survey of our members. The result is cutting-edge educational content that better reflects what our members are looking for. At this year's NAILBA 34 annual meeting, for example, we have breakout workshops on digital marketing and how to get Gen Y to buy. We offer similar program content at our agency successor-networking group, which is comprised entirely of second-generation members at existing agencies.
We also continue to deliver traditional content, such as the future of long-term care and our risk appraisal forum. We're also lending a greater focus to multicultural marketing, as the nation's demographics shift to a more multicultural society.
Part of the strategic plan is to do more outside of the annual meeting. So we'll be repurposing a lot of workshops at NAILBA 34 as webinars for agencies that can't make it to the annual meeting. We're also developing new webinar content.
Hersch: Which advocacy issues are top-of-mind for NAILBA's leadership in 2015?
Long: The DOL proposed fiduciary standard remains front-and-center for our members, in part because we see no need for the new rules. There is no quantitative evidence that consumer complaints about retirement plan advisors space are increasing.
Secondly, the [DOL proposal] reflects a lack of understanding of financial markets and consumer behavior. For example, DOL representatives say they don't want to end commission-based compensation.
However, they cite the U.K.'s [Retail Distribution Review] — which banned producer commissions in Britain starting in 2013 — as an example of the changes they're striving for. The changes in the U.K. have drastically reduced the number of agents and advisors in the business, as well sales of life insurance products.
The industry is already experiencing a shrinking and aging workforce. The DOL proposal, which represents a barrier to entry for new producers and a reason for industry veterans to leave the business, will only worsen the retirement savings crisis the middle market is now facing.
