Practice management

A change in ranks within the C-suite can often make or break business and personal relationships. In today's BeAdvised, a second-generation executive at an Atlanta brokerage shares first-hand tips to help any company build the next generation of leaders.

Every election year brings a certain degree of uncertainty to the financial markets, making life a bit more complicated for financial advisers and clients trying to anticipate how whatever happens in November will impact publicly traded companies, the tax code, Social Security and the full gamut of investment products going forward.

In a difficult economy, you have to be even more adept at creating value for your clients and their employee population. You need to go beyond being perceived as the point of access to benefits product information and services, and transcend your client's expectations. But that's no small task. How can you do that in these economic conditions when most are being forced to do more with less? Well, the best way we know is to create a multi-year benefits strategic plan. And now is the perfect time of year to initiate such discussions with your existing clients and prospects as well. It is a powerful planning process that will enable you to guide your client's benefits planning for the future.

Are you still using just a hammer in your benefits practice? Too many benefit brokers have been showing up at the jobsite equipped only with the hammer of health insurance, limiting their ability both to add new revenue and to be consultative and solve other HR problems.

Let's look at the use of power for selling and properly managing a sales staff. We are definitely talking about transformational leadership with these two applications.Leadership is the use of power and influence to direct the actions of followers toward others to goal achievement. I define power as the ability to influence the behavior of others and resist unwanted influence in return. The existence of either or both does not, however, mean that you will be able influence anyone. That is where the strength of the leader comes in.

Over the last two months I have discussed the use of video and article marketing in growing your business. This month, I am going to focus on public speaking, which is a great complement to the work that you have done during the past two months.

Big shifts may be coming in how retirement plans are managed after the Labor Department announced the final version of its rules under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, which require broker dealers to disclose their services and fees to plan sponsors for individual plans.

Two years after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the U.S. Supreme Court this month will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate that requires all individuals who can afford it to buy health insurance. The Court will also determine whether the Medicaid expansion is constitutional, which may affect employers with retiree health care plans. The majority of employers, however, are attuned to the Court's decision on the individual mandate and how much of the law will survive if that provision is found unconstitutional. Whatever the Supreme Court ultimately decides in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, here EBA outlines each potential ruling concerning the constitutionality of the individual mandate and how it affects plan sponsors and advisers alike.

Obamacare. Or is it ObamaCare? However you spell it, if you're in the health care advisory business you shouldn't be saying it.

What do you do when the trust you place in a carrier is violated? You assume your producer's agreement is in place to protect you. Think again. When we send carriers a request for proposal, we are trusting them to act in good faith. Sadly, I found out not all are trustworthy.

As medical costs go up and household income lags behind, more people are likely to qualify for health care tax deductions.

From carriers to brokers, enrollers to consultants, the message was the same to the more than 600 attendees gathered Tuesday in Atlantic City, N.J. for the Workplace Benefits Renaissance: Voluntary benefits are a mounting source of opportunity for those who are prepared to take advantage

With health care reform swirling all around us and impacting the way we all do business, I’m switching gears for a moment to focus on our future by glancing back at our past. Remember the pride you felt when you graduated college. Good grades, good memories and a diploma . . . your ticket to dreams of a bright, successful future – do you remember asking yourself, ok now what? …

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded grants totaling $229 million to 10 states to establish health insurance exchanges, authorized under the Affordable Care Act.

Insurers relying on social media sites for customer intelligence may need to look elsewhere, according to new research. Yet, as social network site users become more savvy, it may also present challenges.

More than a third of Americans say they most trust financial advisers to better understand retirement issues, according to a new survey.

Although voluntary benefits popularity continues to grow, administration of premium billing and accounting is also a growing aggravation and/or problem. In today’s BeAdvised Tinker Kelly provides tips and shares on how you can help your client overcome this with an easy solution.

When American workers engage in healthy habits offered in consumer-driven health plans, they can lower their total medical costs an average of $9,700 per employee over a five-year period, according to a recent study.

The fifth annual national survey assessing household saving revealed that — despite hopeful macroeconomic signs — an increasing number of Americans are having difficulty saving to meet goals ranging from meeting emergencies to affording retirement. Over the last three years, the number who spend less than their income and save the difference, are building home equity, have adequate emergency savings, and think they are saving enough for retirement has declined. However, the survey also revealed that having a savings plan has beneficial financial effects, even for lower-income families.

Although North American life, annuity and pension administration systems technology providers have seen a decline in deals since 2009, vendors with stand-alone systems have increased their deal volume.