Advisor Today is providing a daily newsletter, the Conference Daily, with highlights from the NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Today's edition includes coverage of the presentation of the C. Carney Smith Award and a schedule of today's events.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors has recognized Todd W. Johnson with the association’s most prestigious honor in association management: the C. Carney Smith Award. Johnson has served as the executive director for NAIFA-Minnesota, NAIFA-Minneapolis and NAIFA St. Paul since 2000.

NAIFA – Toledo Member is the Sixth Recipient of the Award

By Kevin Mayeux, CAE, NAIFA CEO

The life insurance industry’s highest honor will be presented at the NAIFA Career Conference and Annual Meeting in October as a tribute to his more than 50 years of service and contributions to the industry.

There are 39,000 fewer financial advisors today than there were in 2008, according to research by Cerulli Associates. The primary cause? An aging advisor force has led to a wave of retirements. The Cerulli data indicate that more than half of current advisors are older than 55, and an additional 100,000 of them will retire in the next 10 years.

Different clients have different needs. It’s a simple truth, and the main reason the advice and services of insurance and financial advisors is so valuable to American families. How many times have you picked up a magazine or newspaper and read a piece by a personal finance personality advising all of his or her readers to avoid permanent life insurance – to buy term and invest the difference?

Greg Gagne told attendees at NAIFA’s Career Conference and Annual Meeting that owners of financial planning businesses need to focus on what they do best and delegate the rest. “If we want to be more successful, we have to pay people to do things we shouldn’t be doing,” he said. The owner should work on the business rather than in the business.

The NAIFA Government Relations team provided their annual legislative update to attendees at NAIFA’s Career Conference and Annual Meeting.

SmileTrain is a cause very close to the heart of NAIFA CEO Dr. Susan Waters. The charity provides sustainable care to children in developing countries in need of corrective surgery for cleft lips and palates by promoting partnerships between local doctors and hospitals.