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. 

Congratulations to the NAIFA members who earned the Life and Annuity Certified Professional (LACP) certification during the July testing window.

• Julianne Hertel, LACP, (loyal member since 2009), financial advisor and founder at Dream Big Wealth Strategies, LLC, in Worcester, MA

• Robert Edgin, LACP, (loyal member since 2004), insurance agent and registered representative at American National in Colorado Springs, CO

• Matthew Georgopulos, LACP, (loyal member since 2022), insurance agent at Muir Insurance Group in Lake Zurich, IL

On August 24, tune in for "Helping Middle-Income Families Protect Their Financial Future," a LinkedIn Live event presented by NAIFA partners LIMRA and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).

Hear insights into Americans' perception of life insurance from a panel of industry experts: Susan Neely, President and CEO of ACLI; David Levenson, President and CEO of LIMRA and LOMA; and Alison Salka, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and head of LIMRA research.

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 the areas of 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.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) is proud to announce its participation in The American College of Financial Services' sixteenth annual Conference of African American Financial Professionals. The event is being held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. this week and is attended by many NAIFA members and association partners.

NAIFA is a benefactor this year and provided a scholarship to Mitrick "TJ" Johnson, a rising senior at Alabama A&M University. The HBCU institution is a traditional 1890 land grant university established the same year as NAIFA and greatly expanded the efforts of its 1879 founder, Dr. William Hooper Councill, into creating a sustainable institution focused on teaching, research, and public service. 

As a college student, Christine Pikutis-Musuneggi, CPRC, CLTC, LACP, planned to study architecture. Her plans changed, however, when her family inherited a third-generation business and needed a financial planner to work with insurance agents, attorneys, accountants, and the other professionals required to run a business. So, Pikutis-Musuneggi changed her major to business management and became a financial planner. 

In a competitive job market, businesses are looking to financial professionals for benefits to help them attract and keep talent. Nonqualified benefits, like deferred compensation plans, may be a good solution to appeal to executives looking for pre-tax opportunities beyond IRAs and 401(k) plans to accumulate greater wealth for retirement. Knowing the ins and outs of these products may help you practice stand out and appeal to a larger pool of business clients.

NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine has launched a new Podcast series featuring outstanding NAIFA members and partners sharing their stories and answering questions about their own professional success. Their insights will offer practical ideas and inspire agents and advisors to reach their own levels of peak performance. Industry thought leaders featured on Advisor Today podcasts have a deep understanding of the insurance and financial services industry and what it takes to thrive in the profession.

On August 10, 2022, tune in for "DEI Success: From Making a Great Hire to Serving a Wider Audience."

Presented by InsuranceNewsNet, this special webinar will feature two NAIFA members: Kristen Hall Eskew, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at OneDigital, and Toni L. Gonzales, MBA, LACP, Vice President of Sales at Ohio National Financial Services and Vice President of Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS).

NAIFA has opened access to the NAIFA Family Response Fund to assist members of the association impacted by devastating flooding in Kentucky that resulted in a federal disaster declaration covering many of the state’s counties. In addition to widespread flooding, severe storms, mudslides, and wind and tornado damage have resulted in significant property losses and fatalities.