AALU Members Moved, and Shook

A session at AALU's recent TRANSFORM 2019 meeting, in Washington. (Photo: AALU)

AALU brought about 1,000 of some of the smartest, most sophisticated financial services advisors around to Washington last week to try to sell Congress on the idea of promoting retirement security measures.

The Washington-based group offered a full slate of conference sessions, but the core of the event was sending about 400 of the attendees out to about 260 meetings with senators, representatives and congressional staffers.

(Related: AALU Mobilizes Member Firms' Full Teams)

AALU members sought support for H.R. 1007, the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019 (RESA) bill, and H.R. 1994, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) bill.

Several lawmakers came on over to speak at the AALU meeting. The list of lawmaker speakers included House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass.

AALU prepared members to be movers and shakers on Capitol Hill by preparing a series of YouTube videos on how to talk policymakers.

The presenters covered topics such as where everything is, how to get people's attention with stories, what kinds of shoes to wear (comfortable ones), and why some meetings might occur in the lobby, or in the hallways. The presenters also pointed out that the staff members are crucial to policymaking, and not to be disappointed if they ended up speaking to staffers, rather than directly to members of Congress.

"There's different pieces of legislation that you might be advocating on, but the thing that is constant all the time is the noble work that you guys do with your clients every single day," the presenter said in one of the videos, which was posted April 18.

AALU Officers

Here's what happened to AALU officers:

Ray Bening took over from David Byers as chair.
Jeri Turley took over from Bening as chair-elect.
Rick Van Benschoten took over from Turley as vice chair, treasurer and secretary.

— Read Marc Cadin Takes the Reins at AALU, on ThinkAdvisor.

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