NAIFA leaders Bryon Holz, ChFC, CLU, LACP, and Stephen Kagawa, FSS, LUTCF, LACP, are presenting at the 2022 MDRT Global Conference in Sydney, Australia. Sharing their industry knowledge and experience with a global audience, Holz is NAIFA’s 2022 President-Elect and Kagawa, NAIFA’s 2020 Diversity Champion, is a member of NAIFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.

Each year, Forbes and SHOOK Research select the industry's premier financial security professionals. The Forbes Top Financial Security Professionals list aims to answer the question: “Would we recommend these professionals to a family member or a friend?”

Rather than focusing on performance and profits, Forbes selects candidates based on quantitative factors (including production, assets under management (AUM), and client-related trends and data) and qualitative factors (including adherence to best practices, use of team and team dynamics, and level of community involvement).

This year's Top Financial Security Professionals list includes 27 NAIFA members:

Andrew Holt is the Government Relations and Grassroots Manager at the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA). NAIFA works on behalf of its members to promote a favorable regulative environment, provide professional education services, and ensure ethical professional conduct for insurance and financial advisors.

Andrew spent several years of his career in the political arena, getting his start as an intern for a senate race in South Carolina, where he found his passion for connecting voters with elected officials. This eventually led to his current position at NAIFA, where he influences public and elected officials on legislative priorities, engages volunteers in grassroots efforts, and leads grassroots lobbying efforts at the state level. 

On August 31, join NAIFA-Past President Juli McNeely, LUTCF, CFP, CLU for “Risk Matters,” a Building Relationships Every Week (BREW) webinar from E4 Insurance.  

In this session, McNeely will share insights on how to help your clients evaluate risk and the importance of consistently analyzing risk. A loyal NAIFA member since 1996, McNeely is Past President of NAIFA-WI, a graduate of NAIFA’s Leadership in Life Institute (LILI), and a Financial Security Advocate.

For HealthMarkets insurance agent Scott Gulledge, it’s all about problem-solving. He knows that health insurance is one of the biggest expenses for families and business owners and he works every day to find the best price for the coverage his clients need. 

On August 24, join LIBRA Senior VP of Business Development Jon Jacobs for a 15-minute industry update.

Jacobs will discuss:

• Major trends in insurance and financial services
• The relationship between the insurance and wealth management industries
• The potential impact of brokerage mergers and acquisitions
• How private equity is affecting the industry 

Tune in on August 24 at 1 pm eastern for this webinar in the Building Relationships Every Week (BREW) series.

NAIFA announces the launch of the Employee and Executive Benefits Center (EBC), the newest of NAIFA’s Centers for Excellence, at NAIFA’s Apex sales summit. The EBC is a community of agents, firms, carriers, and vendors that offers top-notch resources, innovative research, access to industry thought leaders, and opportunities for collaboration in the benefits space.

NAIFA’s Leadership in Life Institute (LILI) has received a 2022 Power of Associations Gold Award from ASAE, the Center for Association Leadership. The Power of Associations Awards honor “associations that go above and beyond their everyday mission to undertake initiatives that have far-reaching benefits important to their profession or industry.”

Chris Gandy is the Founder of Midwest Legacy Group LLC, a boutique concierge insurance group for executives, professional athletes, physicians, business owners, and entrepreneurs. It focuses on the client's interests in wealth accumulation, wealth preservation, retirement strategies, insurance, asset protection, and investments.

Chris played professionally for the Chicago Bulls, the San Antonio Spurs, and in L'Hermaine, France, after playing for the Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois. After the NBA, Chris worked as a Representative for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, the APEX Consulting Group LLC, and was the Senior Vice President of Sales at MassMutual Chicago.

When Ryan Mulholland was young, his father told him that he should sell insurance. But it would take years of hard work—and no small amount of serendipity—for him to begin his career as an insurance agent. Now in his second year as a State Farm agent, he loves his work because he helps protect families every day.