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2021 Distribution Conference for Financial Services

Empowered by Change

2/25/2021 - 3/26/2021
On Demand

Overview

Who Attends

Dedicated to helping distribution executives and professionals achieve ever-greater success, this conference will present leading-edge strategies to enhance operations and increase sales. It is the premier event for anyone with a vested interest in channel growth, productivity, and reshaping distribution to succeed in the United States and Canada.

Highlights

The winds of change are going to be with us for a long time, but it is not all bad. We have learned to improvise, overcome, and adapt to get through 2020 — perhaps the most difficult year of our lives — and have emerged transformed by the experience. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve, it will further affect distribution around the world. How is distribution meeting the challenge?

Distribution professionals have proven to be resilient and adaptive. They have prepared by building strategies focused on both the near- and long-term. They have found their footing in a socially distant environment. Key to this change is their relationship with technology and “normalizing” remote interactions. Most have already taken steps to address short-term impacts of COVID-19 — moving employees to a remote setup and expanding online customer service channels.

The next set of challenges involves the long-term — reimagining distribution in a post pandemic, remote world. Some will take this opportunity to do more than simply be better than they were yesterday; they will reach beyond and truly transform their mindset, their approach, and their organization to grow beyond what they previously thought possible.

What changes are you making? What areas are you going to tackle? Take this time and work on bringing your business to the next level. From closing the coverage gap, to enhancing digital transformation, from recruiting to increasing productivity, you can elevate your game on so many levels.

Our conference will address moving beyond this crisis and emerging better. Shift your mindset and grow beyond what you thought possible — empowered by change. Don’t miss this premier event for distribution professionals.

Speakers

Al Comeaux
Former VP of Travelocity;
Change Champion at GE and American Airlines
  • Tuesday, February 23, 2021

    11:15 am - 12:15 pm: GENERAL SESSION

Al Comeaux

Former VP of Travelocity;
Change Champion at GE and American Airlines

Al Comeaux, a former executive at Travelocity, GE and American Airlines, is a decorated corporate pioneer and global authority on change from inside organizations. His career championing change as a senior leader at uber-disruptive dot-coms as well as established, world-renowned companies — and his 20-year journey researching why so many change efforts fail and what’s needed for success — make him one of the world’s most forward thinkers on what leaders must do — and how they must think — to succeed at change. In 2019, Al founded Primed for Change, a disruptive new project created to prepare leaders to take organizations successfully through change. Al and his family live in Ft. Worth, TX, where he is deeply involved in his family, faith, and community.
Neil Pasricha
Author of Five #1 International Best Sellers Including The Happiness Equation
  • Wednesday, February 24, 2021

    2:45 pm - 3:45 pm: GENERAL SESSION

Neil Pasricha

Author of Five #1 International Best Sellers Including The Happiness Equation

Neil is the author of seven books including: The Book of Awesome, a spinning rolodex of simple pleasures based on his 100-million-hit, award-winning blog 1000 Awesome Things, The Happiness Equation, originally written as a 300-page love letter to his unborn son on how to live a happy life, Awesome Is Everywhere, an interactive introduction to guided meditation for children, and You Are Awesome, a nine-step guide to building resilience told through stories and research. Neil’s books are New York Times and #1 international bestsellers, have spent over 200 weeks on bestseller lists, and have sold millions of copies across dozens of languages. Neil also gives over 50 speeches a year at places like Harvard, SXSW, and Shopify. His first TED talk “The 3 A’s of Awesome” is ranked one of the 10 Most Inspiring of all time and his second is called “How do you maximize your tiny, short life?”, an artistic side-project called the world’s first TED Listen, composed entirely of questions. Neil hosts an Apple “Best of” / iTunes Top 100 podcast called 3 Books where he is on an ‘epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world.’ Each of the 333 chapters unpacks the 3 most formative books of an unique or inspiring individual. The show is recorded live at the guest’s preferred location and is 100% ad, sponsor, and interruption free. 3 Books publishes on the lunar calendar with each chapter dropping on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon up to September 1, 2031 at 5:52 am.

Executive Perspective: Changing Distribution Strategies

Tim Gerend
Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer, Northwestern Mutual

Tim Gerend

Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer, Northwestern Mutual

Tim Gerend is Executive Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer at Northwestern Mutual where he leads the career distribution, marketing, and strategic communications organizations to bring the company’s value proposition, brand story to life. Gerend also serves as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, which oversees Northwestern Mutual’s strategy, execution and operations.

Gerend joined Northwestern Mutual in 2002 and has held a variety of leadership positions spanning law, field compensation & planning, enterprise compliance and campus planning. Before joining Northwestern Mutual, Gerend was an Associate in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.

In addition to his leadership at Northwestern Mutual, Gerend is a thought leader in the financial services industry as well as an advocate of professionalism and high standards for developing the next generation of financial advisors. Gerend is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in economics and received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Jennifer Torneden
Senior Vice President, Distribution and Strategic Growth, Legal & General America

Jennifer Torneden

Senior Vice President, Distribution and Strategic Growth, Legal & General America

Jennifer Torneden is Senior Vice President, Distribution and Strategic Growth of Legal & General America’s insurance division, which includes operating companies Banner Life Insurance Company and William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York. She is responsible for leading LGA’s growth initiatives across the entire organization through strategy, collaboration, and by creating new capabilities within the brokerage, partnerships, and direct-to-consumer distributions. Prior to joining Legal & General America, Jennifer was the SVP, Head of Distribution and Sales at AON Affinity. Jennifer was the winner of the 2019 Women to Watch award from Business Insurance, 2018 Woman of the Year award from Rough Notes for promoting diversity and inclusion within the insurance industry.
Scott Woodman, CFP, CLU
Vice-President, Distribution, Sun Life Financial Distributors

Scott Woodman, CFP, CLU

Vice-President, Distribution, Sun Life Financial Distributors

Scott Woodman is the VP, Distribution where he leads the Distribution sales team at Sun Life and works closely with our advisors. In this role, he is accountable for the face-to-face advisor sales strategy, including planning, execution and achievement of performance targets. He provides strategic leadership and direction in order to grow the business, as well as the sales team through recruitment, retention, advisor productivity and an effective compliance framework. Having been with Sun Life for over 23 years, he brings extensive field experience and knowledge to this role. Scott is a proven sales leader with strong impact and influencing skills. He is passionate about Sun Life and its commitment to being a trusted partner to our Clients. Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Certified Life Underwriter (CLU). In his spare time, Scott enjoys travelling, reading, playing golf and spending quality time with his family.
John Carroll, MBA
Senior Vice President and Head of Insurance and Annuities – U.S. and Canada, LIMRA and LOMA

John Carroll, MBA

Senior Vice President and Head of Insurance and Annuities – U.S. and Canada, LIMRA and LOMA

John Carroll began his career at Merrill Lynch and over the course of 20 years held a variety of sales and marketing roles, culminating in Managing Director, Head of Distribution and Co-Head of Merrill Lynch Insurance Group. After Merrill Lynch, he joined Allianz Global Investors (AGI) where he was Chief Operating Officer for AGI Distributors (AGID), their U.S. Broker Dealer, and ultimately Head of U.S. Retail Distribution and served as the Chief Executive Officer of AGID. He joined LIMRA and LOMA from Epoch Investment Partners, an institutional asset management firm, where he was Head of Intermediary Client Relations. He holds a BA in Economics and an MBA from Rutgers University.

Agenda

All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time.

2021 Distribution Conference Breakout Sessions

Registration

The conference program is available on demand through Friday, March 26.  Receive 20% off when you register for on demand access!

Member registration fee: $595

Non-member registration fee: $895

Group Registration Discount:

Take advantage of our group rates to ensure your team’s knowledge stays relevant and up-to-date amid the changing trends and directions in the industry.

We are pleased to offer two group registration options that you can secure by contacting customer.service@limra.com.

  • 5-9 - Registrants from the same company will receive a $75 discount per person when using the quantity discount promo code provided.

  • 10+ -  Companies may purchase 10 or more registrations and receive a 20% discount off the total registration fee. Single payment is required along with the total number of registrants. We will provide a special company link/code for the your organization to distribute to the group.

Note: Discounts may not be combined with any other discount offer. We cannot combine existing individual registrations into group registrations.

Substitution Policy

Substitutions of registrations are permitted up to 3 days prior to the virtual event start date by submitting a written request to customer.service@limra.com. The individual submitting the substitution request is responsible for all financial obligations (any balance due) associated with that substitution.

Cancellation Policy

In the event that a scheduled meeting or event is cancelled by LIMRA for any reason, LIMRA shall refund any conference registration fees that have been paid by the registrant. Under no circumstances, however, shall LIMRA be liable to the registrant for any other expenses including, but not limited to, airfare and hotel expenses incurred by the registrant.

All cancellations must be received in writing. Email customer.service@limra.com. Cancellations received by February 9, 2021, will be refunded, less a $100 processing fee. There are no refunds after February 9, 2021.

Become a Sponsor or Exhibitor

Sponsors and Exhibitors

Sponsors

Contact us to learn more:

Suzanne Melanson

Conference Coordinator

LIMRA and LOMA

(860) 285-7879

smelanson@limra.com

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