Speaker Bios
Main Platform Speakers and Moderators
Cliff Berg, Jr., CLU, ChFC, AEP, MSFS, is the national president of the Society of FSP for 2009-2010. He is also the owner/director of The Financial House, a full-service financial planning firm in Centreville, Delaware and a registered representative with Lincoln Financial Securities Corporation. Cliff has been in the financial services industry since 1974. He has served as president of the Delaware Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, president of the National Association of Insurance Financial Advisors (NAIFA) — New Castle County, and state president of NAIFA — Delaware. He is also a past president of the Estate Planning Council of Delaware as well as a member of FSP, NAIFA, the Financial Planning Association, the Estate Planning Council of Delaware, and the Wilmington Tax Group. Cliff is also an active community member, volunteering his time with such organizations as the American Cancer Society and the Boy Scouts of America.
Steve R. Akers, JD, is a Managing Director with Bessemer Trust Company, N.A., in Dallas, Texas, and Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law. At Bessemer Trust Company, Mr. Akers is Fiduciary Counsel for the Southwest Region and is in the Legacy Planning Department. Mr. Akers is a member of the Advisory Committee to the University of Miami Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning and is a frequent speaker at that Institute, as well as other estate planning seminars across the country. He serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and currently serves as Regent, the Editor of the ACTE Journal, and a member of the ACTEC Long Range Planning Committee. He is a past Chair of the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section and of the Dallas Bar Probate, Trusts and Estates Section. He is a co-author of A Planning Guide to Buy-Sell Agreements.
Attorney Robert G. Alexander, JD, LL.M., AEP, EPLS, is the President and majority shareholder of Alexander & Klemmer, S.C., located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Secretary of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). Mr. Alexander entered into private practice in 1978 and concentrates his practice in the areas of wealth transfer, asset protection and family business planning, including discretionary dynasty trusts, federal estate and gift taxation; trust and estate administration; fiduciary income taxation; life insurance planning; retirement planning; charitable planning; business organization and succession planning and international tax planning. He has earned professional designations as a Board Certified Estate Planning Law Specialist (EPLS) as accredited by the American Bar Association, and as an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards, and is a Wisconsin Super-Lawyer. He is a nationally known author and speaker who lectures and teaches extensively for both public and private organizations.
Guy E. Baker, MBA, MSFS, CLU, ChFC, CFP®, Immediate Past President, MDRT, has developed and manages a group of financial services companies focused on the needs of wealthy business owners. Included in the group are BMI Consulting, Baker-Jensen Investment Advisors, The Stewardship Advisors and BTA Advisory Group. Baker has authored several books including "Baker's Dozen — 13 Principles for Financial Success" and "Investment Alchemy." He is a 32 year member of the Top of the Table, qualifying since 1977, and served as president of the MDRT and the MDRT Foundation. He was also on the Association of Advanced Life Underwriters' board of directors. Baker has received numerous industry and company awards including being named one of Worth Magazines top 205 Advisors. He received the Pacific Mutual's Preston Hotchkiss Distinguished Service Award, Agent of the Year and Orange County Agent of the Year. Elected to National Association of Estate Planning Council Hall of Fame 2005.
Thomas M. Brinker, Jr., CPA/PFS, ChFC, CFE, AEP, is professor of accounting at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania and a member of AICPA. He also serves as coordinator for the accounting program in the Department of Business/Health Administration and Economics. He graduated cum laude from Saint Joseph's University in accountancy, and holds masters degrees in taxation and accounting from Widener University. In addition to earning his J.D., Professor Brinker earned an LL.M. in International Taxation from Regent University School of Law, where he received the distinction of "Outstanding Graduate" in his class. He presents nationally and internationally on various tax topics, and has published dozens of articles in numerous journals, including The Journal of International Taxation, The Tax Adviser, The CPA Journal, The Journal of Practical Estate Planning, and The Journal of Financial Services Professionals. Professor Brinker has received awards for teaching excellence, including the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, and lectures primarily in the financial accounting and individual tax areas.
Stephanie Curry, CLU, ChFC, CFP, CRC, is an assistant vice president at Pacific Life, leading the Retirement Resource Group in Pacific Life's Annuities & Mutual Funds Division, and the Chair of the Retirement Section, Society of FSP. She oversees the area responsible for assisting brokers in individual case design and implementation and for conducting continuing education seminars for insurance, CFP, PACE, and CPE as well as client informational seminars. Stephanie's 30-plus years of industry experience encompasses a variety of financial positions from individual inside and outside sales, wholesaler, advanced life consultant, and advanced annuities consultant. She has sold a broad spectrum of financial service products including annuities, mutual funds, life insurance, and property/casualty products. Her focus for the past 15+ years has been on charitable giving and retirement planning strategies. Stephanie is chair of the Retirement Sections for the Society of Financial Services Professionals and is on the advisory committee of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
Terry K. Headley, LUTCF, FSS and incoming President of NAIFA, is a senior agent with the Principal Financial Group, having joined Banker Life Company in 1973. His 37 years in the insurance business include numerous awards, honors, and affiliations with MDRT, NAIFA, the Life Underwriter Training Council, the Society of FSP, and others. He is a contributing writer to the Textbook and Moderator's Guides for LUTC Course Curriculum and holds NASD Series 6, 7, 22, 24, 63 and 65 licenses. Terry has given many seminar presentations, association talks, and consumer education programs, including local television and radio series on "Financial Fitness" and "Insurance Corner."
Tom Morris, Ph.D., our Keynote Speaker, is an author, philosopher and corporate advisor who has become famous throughout the world for using the wisdom of the past to confront the challenges of the present. His unique ability to apply the thinking of history's greatest minds to everyday life is helping to change lives and revolutionize business practices everywhere. He holds a Ph.D. in both Philosophy and Religious Studies from Yale University, as well as other, honorary doctorates in recognition of his public work of bringing practical philosophy back into the cultural mix. His twelve books include If Harry Potter Ran General Electric: Leadership Wisdom from the World of the Wizards, and Twisdom (Twitter Wisdom): A Philosopher Ponders Life in 140 Characters or Less.
Sarah Spear, J.D., LL.M, is the Director of Policy and Public Affairs at AALU. She came to AALU from the Washington National Tax Office for KPMG where she was a Senior Associate and assisted firm professionals and clients with tax issues relevant to financial institutions. Sarah grew up in Ft. Myers, Florida before pursuing her B.S. from Vanderbilt University in English Literature and Financial Economics. After Vanderbilt, Sarah pursued her J.D. at Florida Coastal School of Law where she served as the chief of staff to the student bar association and graduate cum laude. Sarah then pursued her L.L.M in taxation from the University of Florida where she focused on the taxation of trusts and estates. Sarah also served as the technical editor for Wiley Publications famous line of books titled "Limited Liability Companies For Dummies." Sarah held internships with the Chicago Board of Trade, the Office of U.S. Senator Bob Graham, and the Department of Environmental Protection.
Janet Trautwein is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) in Arlington, Virginia. Her responsibilities include oversight of all NAHU activities and primary representation of the association to the media, government agencies and elected officials at all levels. Prior to becoming the CEO of NAHU in 2005, Janet served as the head of NAHU's government affairs department, working with members of Congress, senior government officials, governors, and state legislators, and directing the government and political affairs of the organization. Janet is considered an expert in health insurance markets and health plans of all sizes and frequently testifies before Congress on these issues. Her expertise in issues related to the uninsured, health insurance pools, risk and reinsurance pooling, health related tax issues, and both national and global health reform has been recognized throughout the industry.
Richard M. Weber, MBA, CLU, AEP® is Secretary-Elect of the Society of FSP and a 42-year veteran of the life insurance industry, having been a successful agent, an insurance company executive, and now a consultant to insurers and their agents on the topic of effective and ethical selling. Author of more than 200 articles encompassing products, sales practices, and the due diligence necessary to buy and sell insurance, his newest book is "Revealing Life Insurance Secrets: How the Pros Pick, Design, and Evaluate Their Own Policies" published by Marketplace Books. Mr. Weber has been a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals since 1974 and has served on its national Board of Directors. In 2008, he received the Society's Kenneth Black, Jr. Leadership Award in recognition of his "…exemplary leadership qualities and significant contributions to the fulfillment of the Society's core values of ethics, education, and relationships." In 2009, Dick was elected to the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame and selected to receive the Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner award and designation for "…significant and outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to the practice and profession of estate planning." View a series of Webcasts on Retirement Planning for Baby Boomers produced and featuring Mr. Weber.
Educational Session Speakers
Jay Adkisson, JD earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1988, and was a member of the Oklahoma Law Review. He has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Oklahoma (1989), Texas (1993) and California (2007), the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th, 10th, and 11th Circuits, and numerous federal district courts nationwide.
Nationally known as a leading critic of abusive asset protection and offshore strategies, Jay is the author, along with Mr. Chris Riser, of Asset Protection: Concepts and Strategies (McGraw-Hill, 2004), which is the all-time bestselling book on the topic of asset protection. Jay has been quoted on a wide array of legal and financial planning topics by such publications as Forbes, BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and National Public Radio.
Jay regularly speaks to professional groups and associations on asset protection issues. He has presented to the American Bar Association, many state and county bar associations, the University of Miami's Heckerling Institute, the Southern California Tax & Estate Planning Forum and other prestigious groups. Jay is the only asset protection planner to have lectured to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service about how to defeat certain asset protection strategies.
Attorney Robert G. Alexander, JD, LL.M., AEP, EPLS, is the President and majority shareholder of Alexander & Klemmer, S.C., located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Secretary of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). Mr. Alexander entered into private practice in 1978 and concentrates his practice in the areas of wealth transfer, asset protection and family business planning, including discretionary dynasty trusts, federal estate and gift taxation; trust and estate administration; fiduciary income taxation; life insurance planning; retirement planning; charitable planning; business organization and succession planning and international tax planning. He has earned professional designations as a Board Certified Estate Planning Law Specialist (EPLS) as accredited by the American Bar Association, and as an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating in legal ability and ethical standards, and is a Wisconsin Super-Lawyer. He is a nationally known author and speaker who lectures and teaches extensively for both public and private organizations.
Terry Altman, CLU, CFP, ChFC, LIC, AEP, is a registered representative of LPL Financial and an Investment Advisory Representative of Center for Financial Management One, a Registered Investment Advisor. For 19 years, Terry has specialized in wealth accumulation, wealth protection, asset management and distribution planning for professionals, business owners and individuals with a nationwide clientele. Terry founded Physicians Financial Resource, an education provider to physicians and professional practices, and has served for many years as a practitioner-instructor member of the Oakland University Financial Planning Program. He is a frequent speaker to industry groups including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, state accountancy societies, broker-dealer groups, insurance marketing organizations, and other organizations including the Million Dollar Round Table, the Society of Financial Service Professionals and the Financial Planning Association. He is emerging as a noted voice addressing the differentiation of, and interaction between, investment products and risk-management products.
Stephanie Curry, CLU, ChFC, CFP, CRC, is an assistant vice president at Pacific Life, leading the Retirement Resource Group in Pacific Life's Annuities & Mutual Funds Division, and the Chair of the Retirement Section, Society of FSP. She oversees the area responsible for assisting brokers in individual case design and implementation and for conducting continuing education seminars for insurance, CFP, PACE, and CPE as well as client informational seminars. Stephanie's 30-plus years of industry experience encompasses a variety of financial positions from individual inside and outside sales, wholesaler, advanced life consultant, and advanced annuities consultant. She has sold a broad spectrum of financial service products including annuities, mutual funds, life insurance, and property/casualty products. Her focus for the past 15+ years has been on charitable giving and retirement planning strategies. Stephanie is chair of the Retirement Sections for the Society of Financial Services Professionals and is on the advisory committee of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
Gerald (Jerry) W. Frye, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL, is president and owner of The Benefit Services Group, Inc. (BSG®), an employee benefit brokerage firm he co-founded in 1987. BSG serves nationwide employers in a wide variety of industries, consults for health care systems in Wisconsin and Illinois, and has won several regional "best workplace" awards. Mr. Frye has served for over 25 years in various roles in the insurance and employee benefits industry. He offers clients the unique insight and creative solutions necessary to overcome their most sophisticated problems.
Widely regarded as an industry innovator and thought leader, Mr. Frye is also a much sought-after speaker who has appeared at numerous events including the University Conference Services series (UCS), ISCEBS seminars, physician symposiums, employment law seminars and the national Society of Financial Service Professionals conference. In 2008 he was invited to speak at a Wisconsin legislative hearing regarding state health benefit issues. In the same year, at two separate national conferences, his presentations addressing the drivers of health care cost and methods for change garnered the highest ratings of all speakers appearing. Mr. Frye holds his insurance licenses for life, accident and health, and is an NASD Series 7 and Series 63 registered representative.
Terri L. Getman, JD, CLU, ChFC, AEP, of Plymouth, Minn., has served on the Society of Financial Service Professionals national Board of Directors, and is currently serving on its Section Committee and Young Professionals and Diversity Committee. She also is a member of the LIMRA Advanced Sales Committee and AALU Business, Estate and Charitable Planning Committee. She is a past president of the Society's Des Moines Chapter and the Women's Life Underwriters Conference of Des Moines. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Va., Ms. Getman earned a juris doctorate from Drake University School of Law in Des Moines and is a member of the Iowa Bar Association. Since law school, she has pursued a career in the financial services, having worked as an agent and in the home office. She became a Chartered Financial Consultant in 1985 and a Chartered Life Underwriter in 1988.
Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) is a partner with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP and a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Accredited Estate Planners (Distinguished) award from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. Mr. Keebler has been named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States as well as one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession. Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the IRS National Office in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift and income tax examinations and appeals, and he has received more than 150 favorable private letter rulings including several key rulings of "first impression."
Denis A. Kleinfeld, JD, is of Counsel in the Ft. Lauderdale office of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Keechi where he focuses on counseling affluent families and closely held businesses on complex national and international income tax, estate tax, investment and transaction planning, and asset protection planning matters. He is a Professor of Law in the International LLM program at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Professor Kleinfeld is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences and regularly writes articles on current issues of importance. He co-authored the two-volume treatise Practical International Tax Planning, published by Practicing Law Institute, and is on the Editorial Board of Estate Planning Magazine, published by Research Institute of America. Mr. Kleinfeld also holds the position of Program Chair for the annual Florida Bar Association Tax Section Seminar on "Wealth Protection Planning."
Ric Lager is president of Lager & Company, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory in Golden Valley, Minnesota. For the last five years, Ric has been an instructor at the Dorsey Wright Global Online University, teaching registered representatives and registered investment advisors how to build and manage a retirement plan investment advice business. In June 2009, Ric co-created the "No More Pies" investment series of seminars for advisors. This seminar provides a call to action for advisors who want to rethink their entire client asset management process, reduce their reliance on outside money managers and improve their client and prospect retention. More information on the "No More Pies" seminars can be found at this web site www.nomorepies.net. Ric is also the author of the book, Forget the Pie: Recipe for a Healthier 401(k).
Lisa McAree, CLU, LTCP, is President of The McAree Company, a subsidiary of LTC Global, a national senior market-focused company. Lisa has focused on long term care (LTC) funding and executive benefit planning for the past 18 years. The McAree Company specializes in executive carve out long term care benefit plans. In addition to her client work, Lisa has served on many industry boards and advisory councils including the Boston Chapter of FSP. She is the 2010/2011 President Elect of the Boston Estate Planning Council, a 700-member multi-disciplinary association organized to provide educational programs to the Boston estate planning community. Lisa is a frequent speaker at conferences and has published many articles in several business and industry journals. She was named to the "Top Ten Insurance Professionals" by Boston Women's Business Journal in August of 2008. Lisa was also recognized on the power list of "Who's Who" in LTCI industry in the November 2008 issue of Senior Market Advisor Magazine.
Tracy W. Oishi, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, began his career with the Aetna Life and Casualty in 1971. He started as an agent and then moved into a supervisory role recruiting, hiring, and training of new agents. While with the Aetna he relocated to St. Louis for several years as an Advanced Life Specialist working with agents over a four-state area. In the past 10 years he has been with American Express Financial Advisors (Ameriprise), and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in the capacity as an RVP for life products. While at Thrivent he rose to be the national manager of the life wholesaling group. Tracy is currently working with Allstate and several of their property and casualty agents to write and place life, disability, and annuity products. Tracy has presented several topics for the Society over the years including two national video conferences.
John L. Olsen, CLU, ChFC, AEP is a financial advisor and estate planner practicing in St. Louis County, Missouri. John began his career in 1973 with Metropolitan Life. Following positions with Lincoln National Life and General American Life, he started his own financial consulting practice, Olsen Financial Group in 1987. In 2006, John became a partner and Director of Financial & Estate Planning for Equos Financial Group, LLC. John has written and taught courses in insurance, financial, and estate planning and conducted seminars for agents, planners, and lay audiences. In addition to serving his own clients, John provides consulting services to attorneys, accountants, insurance agents, and financial advisors. He is widely published in professional journals, including Financial Planning, The Journal of Financial Planning, the Journal of the Society of FSP, and others, and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investment Advisor, Barron's, Investment News, On Wall St., and other publications.
Deborah O'Neil, JD, CFP, CLU is vice president of AXA-Equitable. Previous positions with AXA have included: Advanced Underwriter, Director of Advance Planning and Assistant Director, Life Marketing and Estate Planning, and Director, Wealth Planning Team responsible for assisting Paramount Planning Group (PPG) members with advanced planning issues for case design and technical matters. In 2007 Debbie became the Director of the AXA Advanced Markets (AAM) team in NY supporting the advanced market needs of all AXA producers nationally including investment advisory planning activities. Debbie is licensed to practice law in Michigan and Colorado and holds her FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 licenses.
Debbie has published articles in the ABA publication The Complete Lawyer January/February 1999 edition, in Steve Leimberg's Estate Planning Newsletter November 2005, and in the National Underwriter Life & Health Magazine, February 2006. She is a member of numerous professional associations and organizations, including the ABA, AALU, FPA, the Business Insurance and Estate Planning Committee of AALU Michigan Bar Association, Colorado Bar Association, American Society of Financial Service Professions, Probate and Trust Section of ABA, Taxation Section of ABA, New York City Estate Planning Council and the Advanced Sales Committee of LIMRA.
Mary Read, CPC, QPA is vice president — qualified plan marketing for National Life Group. She is a leading authority in qualified retirement plans with 30 years experience. At National Life Group, Mary's organization supports career and independent producers in qualified plan sales. Prior to joining National Life she was a pension consultant with Feldman Benefit Services, an actuarial consulting firm, and previously was assistant vice president of marketing and retirement planning for MONY Life Insurance Company of New York. She also has experience as a financial professional, a pension analyst and a pension compliance manager for an international company. Mary is a frequent speaker on qualified plans. She has been published in National Underwriter and the Pension Newsletter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, has taught pension classes across the country for major financial institutions, been a featured speaker at national meetings for the Society of Financial Service Professionals, AALU and LIMRA and will be speaking at MDRT in 2010.
Andrew J. Rinn, JD, CFP, CLU, ChFC, is a senior advanced markets consultant with MetLife's Wealth Advisory Group. His expertise includes wealth preservation, estate planning, business planning, and executive benefits. He consults with insurance professionals and clients' tax advisors when appropriate to facilitate sales opportunities. Prior to joining MetLife, Andrew was an advanced markets consultant at Mutual of Omaha and Principal Financial Group where he specialized in business and estate planning. He is a frequent speaker and has authored articles in Life Insurance Selling, Senior Market Advisor, National Underwriter, and AALU Quarterly. He also holds his FINRA Series 6 and 63 licenses.
David A. Saltzman, RHU, DIA, began his career in 1981with State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America as a producer and ultimately, a trainer and sales and brokerage manager. In 1984 he founded D.A. Saltzman & Associates, an agency with its foundation in the sale and service of disability income products. He has served as the national president of the National Association of Health Underwriters and, in 2003, received the organization's highest honor, the "Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award." In 1997 he accepted a position as President of Administrative Services, Inc., a multi-state firm that provided health, retirement and disability services to Taft-Hartley and commercial clients. He later went on to serve as Regional Director of Consumerism for Humana, Inc., and in 2007 became part of the senior management team at Carolina Care Plan. In 2010 he joined Disability Resource Group and travels the United States working with sales and marketing organizations, providing consulting, technology and distribution systems on a platform of disability products.
Peter A. Savarese, Esq., AIFA®, is a securities and corporate attorney in private practice in Palm Beach Florida and acts as Senior Regulatory Counsel for National Compliance Services, Inc. of Delray Beach Florida. His work at National Compliance Services, Inc. focuses primarily on regulatory matters for federal and state registered investment advisers. His legal practice includes business formations and business consulting, general corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, hedge fund formations, and structuring business arrangements among investment advisory, money management, broker-dealer, and other financial industry participants, including, arrangements for the provision of advisory services to retirement plans and participants under by ERISA. Mr. Savarese is a member of the Florida Bar Association and the American Bar Association's Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities and has earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ (or AIFA®) professional designation.
Sarah Spear, J.D., LL.M, is the Director of Policy and Public Affairs at AALU. She came to AALU from the Washington National Tax Office for KPMG where she was a Senior Associate and assisted firm professionals and clients with tax issues relevant to financial institutions. Sarah grew up in Ft. Myers, Florida before pursuing her B.S. from Vanderbilt University in English Literature and Financial Economics. After Vanderbilt, Sarah pursued her J.D. at Florida Coastal School of Law where she served as the chief of staff to the student bar association and graduate cum laude. Sarah then pursued her L.L.M in taxation from the University of Florida where she focused on the taxation of trusts and estates. Sarah also served as the technical editor for Wiley Publications famous line of books titled "Limited Liability Companies For Dummies." Sarah held internships with the Chicago Board of Trade, the Office of U.S. Senator Bob Graham, and the Department of Environmental Protection.
Brian Staples is president of RIGHT LLC, a regulatory, compliance, and educational consulting firm headquartered in Versailles, Kentucky specializing in life settlements. Projects include providing assistance to the life settlement industry at the National Council of Legislators (NCOIL), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and various state legislatures. Brian is actively involved in the development of educational and training seminars specializing in life settlements for the life settlement industry and insurance regulatory officials. Brian is the former Director of Life Insurance for the Kentucky Department of Insurance. The 2000 Kentucky General Assembly enacted the Viatical Settlements Act that Brian and his team wrote which implemented pre-licensing training, testing and continuing education requirements on viatical settlement brokers. While at DOI he represented Kentucky on the NAIC Life Insurance and Annuities "A" Committee and helped write the NAIC Viatical Settlements Model Act and Regulation adopted during the early 2000s.
Ed Wallace, MBA, CPA is Chief Relationship Officer of The Relational Capital Group. Throughout his twenty-five-year career as a number-one sales producer and vice president of business development for a firm that grew from $1 million to over $120 million in revenue, Ed Wallace learned that creating outstanding business relationships is the true secret to success. Ed founded The Relational Capital Group so he could bring his relationship-building principles to corporations and their client-facing professionals. The firm provides professional development and consulting services to help organizations and individuals develop the key relationships that most impact their business performance—leading to improved profitability and sustainability in the global marketplace. In his most recent book, Business Relationships That Last (Greenleaf, 2009), Ed illustrates his relationship-building principles through real-life stories, examples, and insights gathered from his success as a sales leader, and shows his readers how to establish and maintain successful business relationships. Ed was a Teaching Fellow at Drexel University's College of Business, where he earned his MBA, has a B.S. in Accounting from Villanova University, and a CPA designation in the State of Pennsylvania.
Richard M. Weber, MBA, CLU, AEP® is Secretary-Elect of the Society of FSP and a 42-year veteran of the life insurance industry, having been a successful agent, an insurance company executive, and now a consultant to insurers and their agents on the topic of effective and ethical selling. Author of more than 200 articles encompassing products, sales practices, and the due diligence necessary to buy and sell insurance, his newest book is "Revealing Life Insurance Secrets: How the Pros Pick, Design, and Evaluate Their Own Policies" published by Marketplace Books. Mr. Weber has been a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals since 1974 and has served on its national Board of Directors. In 2008, he received the Society's Kenneth Black, Jr. Leadership Award in recognition of his "…exemplary leadership qualities and significant contributions to the fulfillment of the Society's core values of ethics, education, and relationships." In 2009, Dick was elected to the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame and selected to receive the Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner award and designation for "…significant and outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to the practice and profession of estate planning." View a series of Webcasts on Retirement Planning for Baby Boomers produced and featuring Mr. Weber.