Written by I. David Cohen
On Tuesday June 10, 1958 I began my career as a life insurance agent with the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. The day before, I graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business.
The agency manager, Sam Selby, was a former assistant football coach at The Ohio State University. The office was located on the 12th floor of the Beggs Building located at 21 E. State Street in downtown Columbus. The agency field force consisted of approximately 60 agents.
There were 10 new agents that first day. We spent our time together learning the different types/kinds of insurance policies that Equitable had to offer as well as gathering material to study to take the state insurance examination to become a licensed agent. Fortunately, we all passed.
On the second day our entire agency attended the monthly luncheon of a trade organization called The Columbus Life Underwriters, founded in 1912, which was a local chapter of the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU), headquartered in Washington, DC. Ohio had 42 local chapters. Columbus had a membership of over 1,000. The luncheon was held at a downtown hotel (Neil house) where 450 members were able to enjoy engaging with others in our business. Even though I had been a native of Columbus I did not know anyone. It is also possible that I was the youngest person in the room just turning 23.
One of the truths I learned at the luncheon was that in those days everyone stuck to its knitting. Bankers accepted deposits and made loans. Stockbrokers sold stocks. CPAs prepared taxes. Attorneys gave legal advice. life insurance agents sold life insurance, fixed annuities, health and disability coverage. No one represented themselves as financial planners. I was fortunate to be with a company that provided excellent training. However, there were many smaller life insurance companies that did not have training departments for its agents. To fill the void, in 1948, with the insight of two giants in our industry, Woody Woodson and Ed Zalinski, they created sales training courses called life Underwriter Training Council (LUTC) which were marketed and taught by NALU members. To this day the LUTC courses continue to be an integral part of NAIFA (change from NALU.) The LUTC program has endured for the last 75 years. These courses have trained thousands of life insurance agents. For years you could not enroll in an LUTC course or become a member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) unless you were a member of NAIFA. Times have changed! No longer a requirement.
During the 1960s a parade of guest speakers at our monthly luncheons created overflowing crowds--- national superstars such as Frank Sullivan, Ben Feldman, Sidney Friedman, John Savage, Bob Forker, Phil Goldberg as well as local presenters Sam Chickarella, Chet Ledford, Herschel Henry, Ralph Antolino, Dennis Clark who inspired us with their wisdom and years of experience. They’ve all passed away but their legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of those of us who had the privilege to be present to hear their messages. I specifically remember one guest speaker, Pete Marquez, back in January, 1960, discuss how he sold insurance to Interns and Residents at local hospitals in his community. I met with him after our life underwriters meeting. He gave me a complete script to use in dealing with training doctors. For the remainder of 1960, using his suggestions, I was able to qualify for the 1961 Million Dollar Round Table. I was the luckiest person in the world to be a member of the Columbus Life Underwriters Association that day. I’ve always said “attend every NAIFA meeting – you never know which one might change your life”.
Over the next 20 years the life insurance world was transitioning. In the early 1970s many insurance companies were forming broker-dealer subsidiaries that allowed their agents to sell equity products. Mutual funds, limited partnerships plus other equity -based investment strategies were introduced. Many of our life underwriter’s meetings were hosted by representatives of the various mutual funds. The industry was passing from selling guaranteed products to selling products with lots of promises.
In 1975, Gene Riblet, program chairman, along with our board, decided to bring to Columbus the best of the best in our industry. We worked on a four-year plan. I was able to convince Frank Sullivan, past president of the Million Dollar Round Table and current Senior Vice President of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company spend an entire day addressing the Columbus Life Underwriters Association. His subject was deferred compensation. The event was held at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium on West Broad Street where 900 Central, Ohio insurance agents attended. The date – Tuesday, February 16, 1976. It was such a tremendous success that we continued the same format the following year by asking Woody Woodson, president of American General housed in Houston, Texas to give us his insights on how to become a successful life insurance agent. In 1978, we welcomed John Todd from Chicago, Illinois, a legendary agent with Northwestern Mutual who explained how he sold $50 million of life insurance in one year to the executives of General Electric using the split dollar concept. The following year (1979) we invited Norman Levine, of San Francisco who had built a scratch agency into a $100 million office. His words of wisdom to those in management were insightful, invaluable and well received. Over this four-year period approximately 4,000 attendees were given the opportunity to learn from the best of the best.
During the late 1970s the country was in turmoil. The economy experienced not only inflation but also soaring interest rates– 12 to 19%. In those days a pension plan could purchase a guaranteed investment contract (GIC) from a Life Insurance Company at 15% simple interest for 10 to 15 years. At the same time such publications as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times were writing articles lambasting whole life life insurance which they claimed was only providing a 3% increase in cash value over a ten-year period. In 1981, E. F. Hutton, a stock brokerage company, received approval to sell a new form of permanent insurance called Universal Life. The structure of this policy made it possible to separate the investment account from the amount at risk. A replacement fury erupted. Many insurance agencies were created to replace all whole life policies with this new Universal Life. Agents were illustrating future cash values based on 10 to 15% annual growth. Later, an even more aggressive approach was made with a policy series -- Variable Universal Life. By purchasing one of these policies, you could choose what type of fund or funds you wanted your cash values to be invested in. Understanding insurance language is difficult for most people. With the introduction of Universal Life and Variable Universal Life only made the understanding more difficult.
Slowly our membership started to decline for the fact that many agents no longer wanted to be labeled as an insurance agent as well as belonging to the Columbus Life Underwriters Association. Now that they had both insurance and equity products to market, they began to identify themselves more as financial advisors than insurance agents. Our structure and mission as an association of life insurance agents needed to change but unfortunately no one knew how to make the change. Just changing our name from the National Association of Life Underwriters to the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors did not induce financial advisors to join.
On a lighter note, during this period, one of our members suggested that we form a clown unit. He made a presentation at one of our board meetings. We thought he was absolutely nuts. However, being a persistent life insurance agent, he never gave up. As you might guess we relented which allowed him to form this clown unit. One of our members was a magician. Another one was a mime. Another one was a standup comic. I joined the group with my motorcycle.
We dressed up in our clown outfits. We performed at venues like Children’s Hospital, School of the Deaf, the School of the Blind as well as the Special Olympics on the football practice fields of Ohio State. The children loved our antics. It gave us a lot of name recognition and satisfaction. Also, during this period, Saul Sokol, past president, formed a group of fellow life underwriters to serve as bell- ringers for the Salvation Army during Christmas at various establishments throughout the city. Dozens volunteered. Both the clown unit and bell-ringers were a welcome relief from the stress of our business. In 1987 and 2012 we celebrated our 75th and 100th anniversaries, as NAIFA- Columbus, with black tie banquets including a great deal of merrymaking and pride of achievement.
In 1995, the board created a Lifetime Achievement Award to honor those members for their outstanding vision, dedication and commitment. The inaugural class consisted of Burt Holmes, Saul Sokol, Cy Benis, Dick Wetherbee, Sam Chickarella and Ralph Hoyer. Over the last 27 years NAIFA- Columbus has inducted 54 outstanding individuals dedicated to our business including Jan Pecek Berry who was our first female president (1986 – 1987). These individuals have truly made a difference in the lives they have touched.
In the years 1997-2003 past president, Bob Roach, served as a member of the National Board of Trustees of NAIFA. Bob is a true professional who has dedicated his business life serving the financial services industry through NAIFA. Recently, he received from NAIFA, the Terry Headley Award as a legendary NAIFA Advocacy Champion. Headley was NAIFA president (2010 – 2011). NAIFA- Columbus is extremely proud of Bob. Our Association also lauds past president Ron Mayer for serving on numerous MDRT committees.
In 2012, John Barber, Duane Borcherding, along with a dedicated committee developed a plan to create a Sales Congress featuring MDRT superstar presenters. Outstanding nationally known speakers such as Ed Slott, CPA made presentations to a ballroom full of Columbus NAIFA members. The MDRT DAY program continued for seven years. This venture added much to the prestige of NAIFA- Columbus.
Unfortunately, the membership of NAIFA has declined. In the past, the agency system as well as home offices supported NAIFA 100%. Today, the agency system has mostly disintegrated. Some home offices no Longer financially support the efforts of NAIFA.
In Columbus, Ohio we are fortunate that we are funded both by member dues and Worker’s Compensation commissions. We are strong with good leadership. We look positively into the future.
The focus today of NAIFA-Columbus and NAIFA is that of advocacy. We fully understand that we need to lobby with our state and national legislatures. Taxation issues such as retaining tax-deferred buildup of cash values and tax-free death proceeds remain at the top of our mission.
It is still hard for me to believe that the first NAIFA meeting I attended I was the youngest in the room and the last meeting I attended I was the oldest.
64 years as a member – you can’t fool mother time!!!!
Respectively submitted,
I. David Cohen, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF
February, 2023
I. David Cohen, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF
There is a good chance that David may be the oldest Ohio member of NAIFA. He will be 88 years old this spring (2023) with 64 years as a member of NAIFA- Columbus. He is a 60 -year member of MDRT. He taught LUTC and CLU courses from 1976 through 2017. At the NAIFA National Conference in Salt Lake City (2001) David received the Ed Zalinski Award from LUTC as the most outstanding insurance educator in the country. In the 111- year history of NAIFA – Columbus David is the only individual to serve two terms as president as well as serving on three boards of directors.
