Distribution Conference

Life insurance and annuity distribution professionals involved in channel growth, productivity, and reshaping distribution for success. Attendees include heads of distribution, sales, recruiting, compensation, distribution finance, training, marketing support, and product development. Enjoy the freedom to attend any of the breakout sessions across these key distribution channels — agency building, brokerage, independent, multi-line, and direct-to-consumer.

2023 Distribution Conference Highlights

Highlights

History tells us that great teams achieve the near impossible. We see it in Olympic sports, in medical research, the arts, military, and particularly in business when great partnerships turn a mediocre plan into an outstanding result. The fact is that the industry functions best when we work together to solve macro needs and address the opportunities.

At the 2024 Distribution Conference, distribution executives from across the industry will come together to discuss strategies for successfully leading through today’s transformative forces.

How can we work together to win?

As an industry, we need to focus on the large and growing need for protection and retirement income. Working together, we can amplify our messaging to reach the millions of people who need our services and solutions rather than battling for the limited market share we have today. By 2030, gaps in investors’ retirement savings and needed protections are projected to exceed hundreds of trillions of dollars. This presents an opportunity for insurance companies to better serve current and potential customers to bridge these chasms. Although facing challenges, there is enormous potential for growth.

Our industry is constantly evolving, and we face various challenges that require innovative thinking. Together, we can identify solutions to challenges like technological disruption, cybersecurity risks, changing customer expectations, regulatory compliance, talent retention and skill gaps, fraud, economic volatility, and so much more.

Turning these challenges into opportunities requires a combination of technological innovation, strategic planning, regulatory compliance, and customer-centric approaches. We must be adaptable and proactive in embracing change to stay competitive.

Community Engagement Opportunity to Help the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch

Click for details

Together, we can better prepare for the shape of things to come.

Don’t miss this premier event for distribution professionals.

Community Engagement: This year's Distribution Conference will be providing an opportunity to leave a lasting impact through donations to the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch. More Information

Speakers

Elatia Abate

Founder, Future of Now and Futurist in Residence, Paylocity

Elatia Abate

Founder, Future of Now and Futurist in Residence, Paylocity

Elatia Abate, the founder of the Future of Now, is an entrepreneur whose mission is to revolutionize the way trailblazing leaders understand, train and fuel their leadership. Named a Forbes leading female futurist, she is a globally recognized expert on the future of work and strategy.

Her Future-Led Leadership™ learning and development content has been utilized in organizations including PwC, Verizon, UniGroup, RMI — Rocky Mountain Institute, Grupo Globo, CME Group, GMAC (Graduate Management Admissions Council), and The College of William and Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business.

Elatia is a sought-after keynote speaker on the topics of the future of work, leadership, and resilience, sharing her message for audiences of tens and auditoriums of thousands including, Citi, NY Life, VRBO, Deloitte, Honeywell, Belcorp, SHRM, among many others. She has a TEDx talk entitled, “Pioneering the Future of Work.” In a former life, she served as Global Director, Talent Acquisition with Anheuser-Busch InBev and Vice President of Human Resources at Dow Jones & Company.

She has been featured in Fast Company, Esquire, Chief, Forbes, Exame, and La Voz, as well as in work with Trevor Noah and Tony Robbins. She was the only woman contributing to the Tony Robbins 2020 Business Resiliency Expert series.

She is an instructor for LinkedIn Learning, at Stanford University in the Continuing Studies Department, and the Executive Education Department of The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. She received her BA and MBA from the University of Chicago.

Bryan Hodgens, AIF

Senior Vice President, Head of Research, LIMRA and LOMA

Bryan Hodgens, AIF

Senior Vice President, Head of Research, LIMRA and LOMA

Bryan Hodgens is Senior Vice President and Head of Research for LIMRA and LOMA. In this capacity, he develops and executes the research strategy for both the distribution and retirement research programs, focused on providing insights and best practices to address the current and emerging business challenges facing LIMRA members.

Hodgens joined LIMRA in 2022 with more than 25 years of executive experience at companies such as AIG, Wells Fargo Advisors and Asset Growth Partners. Most recently, he was senior vice president and head of LPL Financials’ Retirement Plans and Financial Planning Group.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Emory University in Atlanta Georgia.

Debra Jasper, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO, Mindset Digital

Debra Jasper, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO, Mindset Digital

International speaker Debra Jasper, Ph.D. has delivered keynotes and master classes in more than a dozen countries around the world, from Ukraine to Dubai.

She serves as a Faculty Fellow at The Ohio State University, where she teaches graduate courses in managing in a hybrid world. Recently named one of the top 12 Winning Women entrepreneurs in North America by Ernst & Young, Debra has been intensely focused for more than a decade on how to engage clients and colleagues virtually.

Today, thousands of professionals, from small businesses to Fortune 100 firms, are enrolled in her firm’s gamified, high-performance online coaching programs that drive new habits—and measurable results.

John Kennedy

Executive Vice President, Chief Distribution and Brand Officer, Lincoln Financial Group

John Kennedy

Executive Vice President, Chief Distribution and Brand Officer, Lincoln Financial Group

John Kennedy is executive vice president of Lincoln Financial Group and Chief Distribution and Brand Officer. In this role, he has oversight for Lincoln’s industry-leading wholesale franchise, Lincoln Financial Distributors, Inc. (LFD), focused on Retirement Solutions, Life & Executive Benefits and MoneyGuard businesses. He also leads Lincoln’s brand, sponsorship, advertising and consumer insights organizations, which includes Lincoln's partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles Organization. He is a member of the company’s Senior Management Committee.

Kennedy currently serves on the board of the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), a leading association that champions retirement security through advocacy, awareness, research, and the advancement of digital solutions. He is also actively involved in The Alliance for Lifetime Income, a non-profit organization focused on creating awareness and educating Americans about the importance of protected lifetime income.

Kennedy was previously senior vice president and head of Retirement Solutions Distribution for LFD and led its relationship management organization. Prior to joining Lincoln, Kennedy held various leadership roles at MetLife Investors, AXA Distributors and PLANCO, a financial services subsidiary of The Hartford.

He received a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.

Seth Mattison

Leadership, Culture and Future of Work Strategist, FutureSight Labs

Seth Mattison

Leadership, Culture and Future of Work Strategist, FutureSight Labs

With his finger on the pulse of the changing nature of work and leadership, Seth Mattison blends storytelling from his own personal experience working with category-leading brands with cutting-edge research to develop fresh perspectives on the issues most relevant for organizations to thrive today.

Seth is an internationally recognized thought leader, author, advisor, and top-rated keynote speaker on talent management, high-performance cultures, leadership, and the Future of Work.

His research, case studies, and thought leadership focuses on inspiring audiences while sharing actionable strategies to support individuals and organizations in their pursuit to be future-ready.

For almost two decades, Seth has shared his insights with tens of thousands of business leaders around the globe for many of the world’s most recognizable brands including Mastercard, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, The Dallas Cowboys, AT&T, PepsiCo, GE Energy, E&Y, Caterpillar, and The Walt Disney Company, to name a few.

In addition to speaking, Seth is the founder and CEO of FutureSight Labs, an org design and transformation firm that supports many of the world’s most inspiring leaders by helping prepare themselves and their organizations for the Future of Work through research, training, advising, coaching, digital tools, and thought leadership.

Ethan Mollick

Associate Professor, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Ethan Mollick

Associate Professor, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Ethan Mollick is an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship, and also examines the effects of artificial intelligence on work and education. He also leads Wharton Interactive, an effort to democratize education using games, simulations, and AI. His academic papers have been published in top management journals and his research has been covered by CNN, The New York Times, and other leading publications. He has created numerous teaching games on a wide variety of topics. Prior to his time in academia, Ethan co-founded a startup company, and he currently advises a number of startups and organizations. Mollick received his PhD and MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Alison Salka, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President and Director of Member Benefits Research, LIMRA and LOMA

Alison Salka, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President and Director of Member Benefits Research, LIMRA and LOMA

Alison Salka joined LIMRA in 2012 and is responsible for driving the strategy and direction of its global research program. She oversees a team of more than 85 professionals in LIMRA’s Member Benefits and Research division who conduct benchmark studies, discovery research, and thought leadership designed to help companies better understand industry issues and trends. Salka previously led the retirement research and competitive intelligence team at Prudential, and was also a director of retirement research and business analytics at MassMutual. She has a Master’s degree from the College of William and Mary and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.

Agenda

View the agenda

Hotel / Venue

Omni Amelia Island Resort

39 Beach Lagoon Road
Fernandina Beach, FL, USA, 32034

The Omni Amelia Island Resort is now sold out. Please contact A Room With A View for information about the official designated LIMRA overflow hotel. They will secure the lowest available rates at the best available hotels within a short distance to The Omni Amelia Island Resort.

A Room With A View can be reached at 1-800-780-4343 (817-453-8038 International & Canada) or online at reservations@aroomwithaview.net (always include your arrival & departure dates). This is a FREE service for all LIMRA attendees. Should rooms become available in the LIMRA group block at The Omni Amelia Island Resort, A Room with A View will be contacting attendees to see if they would like to transfer back.

Please contact our Event Planner, Lisa Baehre, if you need assistance with reservations.

If you receive any unsolicited or suspicious email or phone call about a hotel booking in conjunction with this meeting, our advice is not to click on it, but delete the email immediately. In the case of a phone call, never give out your credit card information. Our designated conference hotels will not call you unless you contact them first.

Become a Sponsor or Exhibitor

The Distribution Conference connects industry experts, business thought leaders, and top-notch distribution professionals to examine the vital role distribution pays among today’s transformative forces and discuss strategies to successfully manage distribution.

Join the conversation by securing a sponsorship or exhibiting at the conference.