One year after joining NAIFA as its chief executive officer, Kevin Mayeux told the National Council that NAIFA “has forged a new path” through NAIFA 20/20, a strategic roadmap and action plan that will reinvent the Association and enable leaders to meet industry challenges and serve members in 2020 and beyond.

In his address at the Performance + Purpose Conference in Las Vegas, Mayeux recalled how he was “impressed and inspired” by NAIFA members’ dedication and loyalty to their Association.” When you have that level of commitment, you can’t help but be optimistic about the future.”

But in order to move NAIFA forward, leaders must acknowledge existing challenges, such as an aging and shrinking field force, declining NAIFA membership and increasingly burdensome government legislation and regulation.

NAIFA 20/20 will implement change and prepare NAIFA for the future, Mayeux said, adding that the strategic plan provides a new financial and business model to streamline the federation, diversify revenue and grow membership. The plan identifies three major goals to achieve over the next five years.

The first goal is empowerment. Empowerment will create a positive environment for advisors and their clients, one that assures:

• consumer access to affordable insurance and financial products,
• diversity in the agent and advisor workforce,
• the best training and professional development programs for members, and
• greater awareness among lawmakers, regulators and the public about the critical role advisors play in helping consumers secure their financial future.

“NAIFA is the advisor community’s strongest and most resilient voice,” Mayeux said. “Empowerment strengthens that voice and ensures our concerns are heard loud and clear in Washington and in every state capital.”

The second goal involves improving the NAIFA business model. By improving the model, NAIFA can more effectively and efficiently deliver member value and grow membership across the federation, with nimble decision-making, a governance structure that empowers NAIFA to act quickly and decisively on new opportunities and challenges.

“Our plan gives NAIFA’s leaders at the national, state and local levels more flexibility to adapt their structure to the changing needs of their member market,” Mayeux said.

The third goal is transforming the NAIFA financial model to generate more revenue from a diverse portfolio of products and services, including training, certifications and direct corporate support.

“We are already moving ahead in our drive to create new revenue streams and business opportunities,” Mayeux said. For example, NAIFA created a new Skill Builders Series program to provide training based on member needs. The first was launched in June 2016 to train advisors on how to comply under the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule.  NAIFA also is looking at international markets for courses and certification programs.

Tomorrow’s NAIFA will be different than today’s in the way it is structured, the products and services it offers, the markets it pursues and the members it attracts, Mayeux said.

“What we hold true, though, the values that we instill in each new generation of advisors—trust, service, integrity, professionalism, political involvement—those values will endure,” Mayeux said. “By working together, there is no limit as to what we can accomplish.”