New York Life Zone Vice President Joel Blanchard (left) and Managing Partner Steve Luby discuss the company’s growth plans at its Cedar Rapids General Office in early April. PHOTO DAVE DEWITTE
By Dave DeWitte
dave@corridorbusiness.com
New York Life Insurance Company is readying to expand in Eastern Iowa, as the growing wave of baby boomer retirements spurs demand for help managing and transferring wealth.
“The demand has never been higher,” said Steve Luby, managing partner for New York Life’s Cedar Rapids General Office. “Our industry as a whole is not geared up to answer all the questions people have.”
More than 76 million Americans were born in the ‘baby boom,’ from 1946-1964, and about 10,000 of them on average retire daily. They will continue retiring for the next 17 years, Mr. Luby said, and include not only wage earners looking to maximize and secure their wealth, but business owners and farmers looking to transfer their assets to family members or buyers with minimal tax consequences.
Permanent life insurance and term life insurance are core products for New York Life, but the company also offers a broader range of financial products such as annuities, mutual funds, disability insurance and long-term care insurance.
The low rate of life insurance ownership among Americans is a big opportunity from the company’s perspective.
“Less than 50 percent of Americans have life insurance outside of work, and more than 80 percent don’t have the right amount,” said Zone Vice President Joel Blanchard.
New York Life serves most of Eastern Iowa from its office in Hiawatha, which has a staff of 59, including 52 advisors. Most of the company’s advisors have offices in their own communities, although they come to Hiawatha at least once a month.
Mr. Luby expects New York Life to add 15-20 new advisors in Eastern Iowa annually for the next three to five years. Expansion plans also include a new office in Iowa City within the next two to four years, and the possibility of additional offices in Waterloo and the Quad Cities.
Advisors are central to the company’s traditional approach to building client relationships.
“We believe everyone deserves a one-on-one, face-to-face conversation about their financial future,” explained Mr. Luby, who recently moved to the Corridor from Dallas to lead New York Life’s operations after about eight years with the company.
Although New York Life’s advisor positions offer high income potential and a full range of benefits, Mr. Luby concedes it’s never easy to identify and recruit those who have a high potential for success. A personality assessment is part of the screening process for prospective hires.
“We look for that high integrity, servant- hearted person who wants to engage with people and help them with some of their most important life decisions,” Mr. Luby said.
Among the backgrounds from which New York Life recruits are former coaches and college athletes, entrepreneurs and owners of small “Main Street” businesses.
Yet Mr. Blanchard says he’s seen high performers from a wide range of career backgrounds, including clergy, engineers and nurses. A college degree is preferred but not mandatory.
“What’s important to us is a success pattern in their background,” Mr. Luby explained.
Back to business
One of the biggest changes in New York Life’s offerings in recent years has been a return to the group life insurance market. The company had offered life insurance through employer groups for much of its existence, but reduced the scope of its involvement to the nation’s largest employer groups in recent decades.
Mr. Blanchard said New York Life now sees opportunity in smaller and midsized employee groups. People make so many of their most important decisions at work, he noted, and payroll deduction is the best way for many people to put aside money for their financial future.
“There’s a huge need, but there’s a lot of competition for that money once it gets in the checking account,” Mr. Blanchard said.
New York Life’s work with small business owners often addresses their personal wealth management needs with products like a unique, custom whole life offering that provides business owners with high cash flow the ability to choose the number of years they want to pay the premium on their policy.
In the transfer of farms and businesses to the next generation, New York Life often works with other financial, tax and legal professionals to help find solutions to divide and transfer assets in the most equitable and tax-efficient manner.
As millennials become more serious about planning their financial future, Mr. Blanchard said the company realizes the importance of merging more technology with New York Life’s commitment to helping people reach their financial goals. The company is spending about $100 million on digital technology to respond better to customer needs and preferences, he said.
“We’re not there today, but we’re headed to the point where someone will be able to buy a life insurance policy without the necessity for things like having bodily fluids tested,” Mr. Blanchard said.
New York Life has operated an office in the Cedar Rapids market since 1926, Mr. Luby said. It is the oldest of the major mutual life insurance companies left after a wave of conversions to stock ownership by big mutual life companies over the past two decades.
Mutual associations are owned by their policyholders, who have the right to any excess premiums, either as a dividend payment or a reduction in premiums. A point of pride for New York Life is the company’s consistent history of paying dividends to shareholders since 1854.
“Our goals are aligned with our policyholders,” Mr. Blanchard said. “We’re here to serve them when they need us.”
