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Focusing on the Future: Retirement Planning and Protection
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With National Life Group’s overall sales up 53 percent in 2008, no one would
have been surprised if CEO Mehran Assadi had simply told employees at the start of this year,
“Let’s keep doing what we are doing.”
But that’s not Mehran’s style.
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“The most successful organizations never stand still,” he says. “They are always
looking for ways to do better; they are always seeking to reinvent themselves, aiming even higher.”
Mehran kicked off 2009 by announcing a reorganization of NLGroup’s Life and Annuity
Division, creating two new divisions that will focus exclusively on developing strategies and products for
retirement and protection.
“Now, more than ever, our focus must be on the future. We must be pro-active
and nimble,” he says. “We need to forecast the needs, be innovative in our response and master the art
of execution.”
Mehran has tapped two National Life Group veterans to lead the divisions: Wade Mayo,
president and CEO of Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, will be in charge of the retirement business,
while Ruth Smith, a senior vice president who has led the company’s independent life division, will lead
the protection business. The two will work closely with Vincent Vitiello, National Life’s new chief
marketing officer, who is in charge of all distribution and marketing for life and annuities.
Despite – or perhaps because of – the troubles in today’s financial markets, both Wade
and Ruth are excited and optimistic about their new roles.
Wade: It is very clear that the need for safe, secure, retirement alternatives is more
compelling each day.
Ruth: I am very optimistic. Wade’s right: The upheavals in the stock market have
made people search for new answers now more than ever.
Wade: I am very optimistic too, but I am quite concerned with the present view by
Washington that they alone can cure all ills. Individual action, not Washington action, is the key.
Can you tell us about your backgrounds?
Wade: I’ve been involved in the annuity side of retirement for more than 20 years,
with the 13 years before that being involved in estate planning and other forms of insurance and investments.
Ruth: I came to National Life in 1996. Prior to that I was an executive with
Connecticut Mutual, playing many roles in their Life and Annuity organization, including leading both
life and annuity product development, customer services and distribution.
What will customers gain by this reorganization?
Ruth: Thoughtful, coordinated solutions. For me, protection brings to mind words like
safety, security and peace of mind. Our “protection” products are designed to address client financial concerns.
This change allows us to focus our products and services more clearly on our target markets and on the producers
who work in these markets.
Wade: Our retirement business will focus on giving savers the choices they need for
both safe and secure accumulation and retirement income. We will look not only at products but at services
that will wrap around products to present real solutions to their needs.
What do you see down the line?
Ruth: Opportunity, opportunity and more opportunity. As we help Americans from coast
to coast better understand the financial planning tools that are available to help protect both themselves
and their families, I am confident that we will continue to deliver responsible top and bottom line business
growth.
Wade: People are confused and they are worried. And understandably. Life expectancy
is up, Social Security doesn’t cover as much as it used to, fewer people have defined benefit plans. So today
people want a clearer understanding of the whole picture: It’s about education and planning. It’s about
developing real solutions to their needs.
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