President Tells Tale of Two NAIFAs

LAS VEGAS, September 9, 2012 -The president of NAIFA in his address to the annual conference decried an unhealthy level of distrust and division within the association and called for unity in the face of one of the most challenging times for life insurance and financial advisors.

Robert A. Miller, the 2011-2012 leader of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, said the animosity is damaging the very base of the federated organization of more than 600 state and local groups comprising 45,000 members.

“We see states vying with locals; locals that are having trouble filling their board positions and suspicious of any unsolicited advice,” Miller said this morning at the Las Vegas annual meeting, according to an advance copy of his speech. “The closing down of under-performing locals has reached epidemic levels, while states unable to afford professional management are on the rise. Some states and locals seem to gather hurricane force energy in stating their enmity toward NAIFA-national.”

Miller put NAIFA’s division in the context of the national schism with deep discord between political parties. But he said that unlike the Democrats and Republicans, NAIFA members should belong to one party in particular.

“No matter what party anyone in this room belongs to, the one party whose bandwagon you better get on is the insurance party,” Miller said, adding an ominous note. “We are one signature from extinction.”

For historical perspective of NAIFA’s impact on public policy, Miller reached back to the group’s early history, when it was the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU) and advocating for the insurance industry even before World War I. That was 1913, when NALU helped the Woodrow Wilson administration establish the tax benefits on which the industry now depends.

A hundred years later, NAIFA has to continue that struggle.

“In an ironic twist of historical symmetry, in 2013 NAIFA will be fighting to protect our products from a polemically charged Washington looking to pay down its debt,” Miller said. “The tax advantages that insurance products have enjoyed because of their unique nature are at risk. This threat is serious.”

But Miller also sounded hopeful notes as he described the enthusiasm he saw in many members he met in his year traveling for the association.

“As your president, I had the opportunity to experience the best of what NAIFA is all about,” said Miller, who is also a partner at Miller-Pomerantz and Associates in New York City. “I traveled across the country, meeting with members and state and local leaders. Some were experienced veterans of the business; others were young and promising agents. Many inspired me with their energy and enthusiasm.”
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