NAIFA-New York Board Votes To Secede And Move To Finseca

This is an updated version of the original article with comments from Marc Cadin of Finseca added.

A newly created industry organization said it wants to create a state-by-state approach to reach more members and strengthen its advocacy efforts. And New York appears to be the first state in that effort.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors’ New York State chapter board made an unprecedented move to secede from NAIFA and affiliate with a newly created industry association, Finseca.

Finseca is the name of the organization formed from the merger of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting and GAMA International. Finseca’s goal is to unify all of financial services in one coordinated effort around education, advocacy and elevation.

The NAIFA-New York State move was unprecedented, NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux said in a statement.

“Never in our 130 years has a group within a chapter board decided to secede from NAIFA and go against the NAIFA way of working together to represent the best interests of members in that state chapter,” he said.

In a news release, NAIFA said the chapter’s decision to affiliate with Finseca was made “by a handful of former NAIFA-NYS board members and their outside association management firm without consulting NAIFA’s national leadership or the members of the NAIFA-NYS chapter. Several former NAIFA-NYS board members have tendered their resignations from the board due to this move.”

NAIFA-New York State members were notified of the move in an email sent to them on Wednesday.

“NAIFA members flooded our email inboxes and customer support line confused and upset at the notion that NAIFA's New York State chapter might change or no longer exist,” Mayeux said. “NAIFA members were confused by an announcement that suggested their membership could somehow be transferred to Finseca.”

Mayeux said that NAIFA-New York State members continue to be NAIFA members in good standing, and are not members of Finseca unless they separately choose to join the organization on their own.

He added that NAIFA is putting in an interim leadership team to serve NAIFA-New York until the NAIFA members in New York can elect their own set of officers that will represent their best interests. NAIFA has created a new chapter website with the official NAIFA-New York State logo.

Meanwhile, in a news release issued Wednesday, Finseca announced its affiliation with NAIFA-New York State and said the chapter’s membership will roll over into Finseca through the end of 2020. Members will be invited to renew in 2021. Finseca said it is committed to “offering a seamless membership experience aimed at reducing dues for state members with a stronger benefits package, effective advocacy and greater integration between federal and state issues.”

Marc Cadin, Finseca's CEO, said in a statement that "Finseca’s goal is to elevate, accelerate, and advocate for the profession at both the state and federal levels. I have been on a personal journey to unify the profession for the last several years, ever since I first gave a speech on the topic in 2016. Last year, under my leadership, AALU partnered with GAMA and Bonnie Godsman and together we put the principles of unification to work by merging our organizations and creating Finseca. I am thrilled to work with any organization that raises their hand to work towards unification."

Finseca’s chair Kelly Kidwell said in the release that “our new affiliation with NAIFA-NYS is the first step in building out a state by state approach that will deliver more value and strengthen our advocacy efforts."

Phillip Held, president of NAIFA-New York State, said in the release, “We believe that Finseca represents the future of the profession and we want be part of helping to shape that future."

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

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Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].