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LIMRA Announces Top 25 Rising Stars of Distribution Under 40

WINDSOR, Conn., March 30, 2016 – LIMRA today announced the winners of its contest to recognize the top 25 Rising Stars of Distribution under 40 in the financial services industry.

“As we celebrate our 100th anniversary we are not only looking at our past accomplishments but we are also looking forward to how we can support our members in the future.  We wanted to acknowledge the next generation of leaders who will be instrumental in the future of distribution,” said Robert A. Kerzner, president and CEO, LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global. “The outstanding young professionals who were selected demonstrate ingenuity, innovation and imagination in their respective roles.  They represent LIMRA member companies of all sizes across the globe.  We are delighted to recognize their accomplishments and celebrate their successes.” 

The winners will be honored at a reception during LIMRA’s 100th Annual Conference, which will be held Oct. 23-25, 2016, in Chicago, Illinois.  

To view the winners and read excerpts from their nominations, please visit:   25 Rising Stars in Distribution  

Congratulations to all of you — and thank you for driving us forward!

Michael Anza

Territory Manager
"Michael is a phenomenal distribution leader. His exceptional performance recently earned him a promotion to the territory head of Colonial Life’s New York division." — excerpt from nomination 

Chantel Bonneau

Wealth Management Advisor
"Chantel has grown into one of Northwestern Mutual’s top Millennial producers, earning MDRT and western regional rep in her second, third, and fourth years." — excerpt from nomination

Matt Bokosky

Senior Director, National Accounts
"Matt has played a key role positioning our suite of products on our #1 distributor platform, coordinating marketing, sales and product development projects associated with this distributor." — excerpt from nomination

James Christie

Head, Competitive Services Group
"James has been a key contributor in driving Lincoln life insurance sales. He has grown the competitive services team to be a unique and efficient arsenal, consistently winning new business for Lincoln." — excerpt from nomination

Shawn Davis

National Vice President, Alternative Distribution
"Shawn has successfully performed many significant roles, from marketing to captive distribution, independent distribution, and sales development and support. He is well respected by peers and has the ability to lead people from all age groups and diverse professional backgrounds." — excerpt from nomination

Chrissy Dunning

Assistant Vice President, Internal Sales
"Chrissy is responsible for the Brokerage General Agency internal sales desk. She has transformed her team, leveraging new technologies to create a wholesale model that drove significant sales growth." — excerpt from nomination

Riley Essay

Regional Sales Manager — Worksite Benefits
"Riley is a solution-based thought leader. He rebuilt the entire enrollment and distribution model within his region, customizing it to meet individual brokers’ needs."— excerpt from nomination

Matthew Jones

Vice President, Customer Engagement
"Matthew is responsible for providing Swiss Re’s life insurance policyholders a world-class customer engagement experience. He is helping start-up companies transform the insurance market." — excerpt from nomination

Steve Madison

Vice President, Marketing
"Steve was responsible for 18 percent growth in life applications in 2015, using a paperless system and web policy delivery. Under his leadership, his team delivered 200,000 downloads of new sales tools and grew Primerica’s sales force by 8 percent." — excerpt from nomination

Felix Malitsky

Managing Partner
"After serving in the U.S. Army, Felix entered the financial services industry and has become one of the top financial advisors in his peer group. He is an inspiration to all who work with him." — excerpt from nomination

Maggie Merica

Manager, Agency Training Design
"Maggie leads the curriculum and course development for agency sales at COUNTRY Financial and is working to expand agency manager development to provide greater support to the reps. Her efforts resulted in a 70 percent increase in the number of agents qualified for the sales-based contest." — excerpt from nomination

Sean O’Connor

Assistant Vice President and Regional Manager
"Sean has the unique ability to attract, recruit, and develop agents and leadership. He is responsive, loyal, committed, unselfish, and a leader. He will run through brick walls to help anyone." — excerpt from nomination

Matthew Olson

Vice President, Customer Marketing and Analytics
"Matthew heads up a research and analytics team that is tasked to find deeper insights into how to provide the best products, service, and support for Athene’s agents in the field. HIs dedication to exploring new ideas and using insights driven by data is a perfect demonstration of industry thought leadership." — excerpt from nomination

Sharon Parsons

Integration Product Category Leader
"Sharon integrated Humana’s Employer Group Portfolio and product development, resulting in new products and riders going to market more quickly and efficiently. She is also responsible for the initiative to help transition group participants to Medicare, providing education and other resources." — excerpt from nomination

Caitlin Pemble

Manager, Agency Growth and Development
"Caitlin spearheaded a groundbreaking research study on women and sales, which offers key information on how to crack the code on diversity and mirror the marketplace. Caitlin is a strategic thinker, and her ability to lead transformation was demonstrated in the gender balance initiative." — excerpt from nomination

Drinie Posthuma

Business Manager
"Drinie was the youngest named financial advisor at Sanlam Financial Advisors (in South Africa). In her current role, she remains connected to the field, staying in touch with the latest trends and keeping her finger on the pulse of technology, products, and legislative changes." — excerpt from nomination

Lisa Rickner

Assistant Vice President and Head, AdviceNext Consultant Team
"Lisa heads the advisory consultant team of the Investment products and Platform Group, the retail distribution arm of Lincoln Financial. Under her leadership, the team has adopted the latest technology and practice management tools to improve productivity and service to clients." — excerpt from nomination

Andre Robinson

Head, Advisory Services
"Andre has led Voya’s advisory services for the broker-dealer for the last year. Leveraging his experience and knowledge of the competitive market, as well as technology solutions, he has been an invaluable addition to Voya." — excerpt from nomination

Bobby Samuelson

Vice President
"Bobby is vice president on MetLife's life product development team. In his role, he continuously challenges the status quo, developing products that are simple and consumer-friendly." — excerpt from nomination

Steve Sanders

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
"Steve has driven the development of innovative technology to complete the digital process from initial prospecting to client contact and delivery of the policy at Columbus Life. He has also launched the company’s YouTube channel, LifeInsights, which provides a new forum for the industry to share best practices." — excerpt from nomination

Shane Shinn

Regional Director
"As regional director at Guardian Life, Shane exemplifies innovation and collaboration. His efforts have increased field leadership more than 300 percent since 2008 and increased field recruits by 250 percent." — excerpt from nomination

Michael St. Clair

Senior Regional Vice President
"Michael oversees the eastern region of MassMutual’s field force. Under his leadership, his team achieved record sales in 2015, with whole life product sales increasing 15 percent compared with 2014." — excerpt from nomination

Jay Stubbs

Regional Director
"Jay is regional director for First Protective. In this role, he has added value by providing accountability, consulting, technological support, marketing and branding strategies, and point-of-sale support to the field." — excerpt from nomination

Jennifer Tierney

Vice President, Sales and Distribution
"Jennifer is vice president of U.S. insurance sales and distribution at John Hancock. Jennifer is known for her creativity and her ability to find unique and different ways to meet clients’ needs." — excerpt from nomination

Jim Wagner

Vice President and Managing Director
"In his first year at Protective Life, Jim transformed the culture and productivity of the annuity internal desk and was instrumental in meeting very ambitious sales goals. Because of his success, his role expanded to include life insurance internal sales, where he achieved similar results." — excerpt from nomination

Media Contacts

Catherine Theroux

Director, Public Relations

Work Phone: (860) 285-7787

Mobile Phone: (703) 447-3257

ctheroux@limra.com

Erica L. Iorillo

Public Relations Consultant

Work Phone: (860) 285-7875

Mobile Phone: 860-371-8638

eiorillo@limra.com

Louis Sklenarik

Public Relations Specialist

Work Phone: (860) 298-3920

lsklenarik@limra.com

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