Local National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) Chapter President Stas Politis and board members Bethany Esse, Branden C. Schiralli and Hugh W. Downe joined about 800 other professional insurance agents, brokers, consultants and employee benefit specialists from across the country in Washington May 19-20 to meet with U.S. lawmakers and staff.
Politis, a local financial representative with Guardian Life Insurance Co. and National Planning Corp., is a member of the NAIFA, which sponsored the congressional conference event. The four joined NAIFA leaders, NAIFA President Juli McNeely, President-Elect Jules Gaudreau and members of NAIFA’s Board of Trustees for the event.
Congressional conference attendees talked with their representatives about the importance of life insurance, annuities, retirement savings and employee benefits for their clients and the U.S. economy.
Life insurance products account for 20 percent of Americans’ long-term savings, and pay out more than $1.5 billion every day, according to SecureFamily.org. More than one out of every six dollars of Americans’ long-term savings is in life insurers’ products, and the life insurance industry directly supports 2.5 million American jobs.
The effort has already started to make a difference, as lawmakers and regulators alike take a hard look at proposed and potential law and rule changes in light of the need to make sure that middle-income and lower-income Americans continue to have access to affordable professional investment advice and the products they use to protect the financial futures of their families and businesses.
The NAIFA Congressional Conference takes place every year in May, allowing in-person meetings with members of Congress and the opportunity to defend the policies that let consumers take responsibility for their future.
“We met with Rep. Patrick Murphy, (D-Fla.); Jenny Jacobs, legislative correspondent for Sen. Bill Nelson, (D-Fla.); Rep. Lois Frankel, (D-Fla.); Joshua A. Rogin, chief of staff to Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.); and LaTasha Lee, policy adviser, and Matthew Price, counsel/legislative assistant to Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.),” Politis said. “It’s so important to make these contacts on Capitol Hill and to share with our representatives and senators how important the insurance and financial services that we provide to our clients are to families, our communities and our economy.”
ABOVE: Stas Politis, Bethany Esse and Branden C. Schiralli on Capitol Hill.
