JoAnn Martin of Ameritas to Lead ACLI

JoAnn Martin, president of Ameritas (Photo: Ameritas)

If lawmakers in Washington or state capitals start to tinker with life insurance and annuity taxes, the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) will have a leader who will understand what the proposals really mean.

Members of the insurer group have elected JoAnn Martin, the chief executive officer of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., to be the 2019 chair.

Martin succeed Mark Mullin,the president of Transamerica Corp.

The ACLI announced the leadership change Monday, in Washington, at its annual conference.

The ACLI also picked Daniel Houston, the chairman of Principal Financial Group Inc., to be the chairman-elect. He is set to take over as chairman in October 2019.

Ted Mathas, the chairman of New York Life Insurance Company, will be the chairman-elect designate, meaning that he will be on track to take over as the ACLI chairman in October 2020.

What is the ACLI?

The American Council of Life Insurers is a Washington-based trade group that was founded in 1906.

It represents 290 companies. Those companies account for about 95% of U.S. life insurer assets.

The ACLI reported $45 million in annual income and $55 million in assets in the tax form it filed in December 2016, according to Charity Navigator.

Who is JoAnn Martin?

JoAnn Martin has a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a master's degree in taxation from Colorado State University, and the Certified Public Accountant and Fellow of the Life Management Institute professional designations.

She started out at the company that became Ameritas working in the accounting and auditing divisions.

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