2008 Top of the Table Annual Meeting October 22-25, Austin, Texas, USA

Transcription

1 2008 Top of the Table Annual Meeting October 22-25, Austin, Texas, USA 2008 Top of the Table Divisional Vice President s Welcome Mark Dorfman, CLU, ChFC 2009 MDRT Presidential Welcome Walton W. Rogers, CLU, ChFC Making a Difference Robert W. Hatch Day: Thursday, October 23, 2008 The Million Dollar Round Table does not guarantee the accuracy of tax and legal matters and is not liable for errors and omissions. You are urged to check with professionals in your state, province or country. MDRT also suggests that you consult local insurance regulations pertaining to the use of visual material with clients Million Dollar Round Table

2 Mark Dorfman: First let me say just how proud I am of each of you for having made the decision, in light of recent events, in the financial markets to come here to Austin. For many of you, I am sure that the thought crossed your mind that this is the time when you might need to stay back and counsel your clients or perhaps simply be there to support your staff while record numbers of phone calls are coming in. But like you, I chose a different point of view. This is a time when we should be sharing ideas, networking, bolstering each other up and learning from industry leaders with diverse backgrounds. But whatever your thought process was, I m glad you re here, and I m confident that your decision to come will be well rewarded. The best chance you have for a successful meeting is if you play an active role and participate in the many events that we have planned for you. When our board began making the changes necessary to facilitate, open dialogue amongst our members at this year s event, we could never have dreamed of a scenario more deserving of our new open sessions format. This year we changed the Top of the Table mission statement to reflect the fact that this is, without a doubt, the world s greatest forum representing an international network of financial advisors. And when I say we are the greatest, it s because Top of the Table has the most stringent requirements to entry of any financial organization in the world. And when I say that we re

3 international, it s because we have representation here from more than 20 different countries and our membership of more than 1,800 people is at an alltime high. And when I say network, I mean that many of us here have benefitted from working jointly with other members and from the partners that are represented here in this room. We re not just a collection of names, we re a network that continues to grow stronger and stronger with each passing year. I know I speak on behalf of the Top of the Table advisory board and our committee members when I say that we work for you. And I know that you ll see and feel that reflected in the agenda throughout the next few days. You wanted more open dialogue, more connectivity to learn from the best and that s just what you ll experience. Remember the synergy sessions where we would break up into small groups and talk about pre-scripted subjects? Well, this year we ve converted those into something that s never been done before in any meeting that I have ever attended, and it s called open session. We plan on soliciting from you, right here from the main platform, topics that are relevant to you now. And I mean right now. For example if something is happening in your business today, that wasn t topical just a month ago, you ll have an opportunity to gather a group of people around who want to discuss that same information. And, so that you get the most from this discussion, we ve invited a very professional team, Tom Lahey, to facilitate this session. He s going to jump start the afternoon sessions and get everybody involved in a timely and meaningful interaction. I ask you right now, as you sit here, to

4 think about what you need to come away with to make this meeting productive for you. You ll have a chance to share that with the group later on in the open session. This past year we also decided to reduce the number of focus sessions and came up with just a few important ones that we think are must haves for many of you. Since this week s experience is all about getting more interaction, we have new partnership connection spots instead of the traditional exhibitor booths. Do you folks like the new setup? I do too. These are located in the partnership hall and I encourage you to make the most of your time and visit and learn about the new products and services that you could use in your practice. And finally, we are here to have some fun. Thursday night, tonight, we have buses to take you into Austin for dinner. This is a great city so we sure to take advantage of the opportunity to experience all it has to offer. Friday night s gala event is a departure from the past black tie event. We will honor the casualness of our host city while maintaining the utmost style and class as we dress in denim and diamonds. This might be a good time for me to apologize to some of the ladies for making this dress code a little more challenging than usual, but I promise the evening will be fun and memorable. And this year s music will be something to remember as we will be entertained by one of my favorite bands, The Fabulous Thunderbirds. It s been a very busy year for Top of the Table as reflected by our launch of the first ever Top of the Table e-newsletter. Have you seen it in your inbox? There

5 are some terrific ideas that will be coming down the pike. And many of you have seen our new Facebook page as a connector. It s all starting to get some more buzz and keeps us pretty up to date so one of the things you can do is when you get home, hand your camera over to your child and ask them to upload all the pictures into the new Facebook page that Top of the Table has. In the sport of hockey, perhaps the greatest player of all time was Wayne Gretzky. One of his greatest comments that I can think of was when he was asked what makes him so great. He said, I skate to where the puck is going not to where it has been. Your greatness in this business world will come from your ability to see where the market is going not where it has been. It takes courage to operate in this volatile environment and to have the conviction to go to work each day. That s what makes your job so special, so difficult, but so special. Because few people can do what you do on a daily basis and for that you should be commended and I certainly would applaud you. All of us in this room know better than anyone the desperate need that people have for our advice. Any day of the week, we experience information overload about the fact that people are not financially prepared for whether they ll live too long or whether they ll die too soon. The fact of the matter is, that it s up to each of us to get people to act. It s our job. It s our moral obligation. We know that our products aren t bought; they re sold. And the reality is that when our clients buy from us, they re not buying asset allocation models and they re not buying riders and they re certainly not buying illustrations. What they re

6 ultimately buying is you. It s all about the trust we build through the relationships that we create. I ve been in this business now for 25 years but I also grew up watching my mom and my dad in this business. And the one thing I know for sure is that given the demographics and the economic environment and this whole new normal set of ways that the world is working, there s really never been a better time than now for you, for me, for us. It s all about building legacies that will go on for lifetimes which will extend beyond each and every one of our lifetimes, and at the same time this is an opportunity to build our own legacy. Hal Zlotnik, CLU, a dear friend and mentor to me and an icon in the insurance business and active at MDRT and TOT recently passed away. His physical presence will be missed but he left behind successful children who continue to run an enormously successful firm that bears the family name. And this is a legacy that he could be proud of. Make the most of your time here. Be present, really present. Learn all you can and in turn share generously. I look forward to being with each and every one of you and I wish you all the best for the best meeting ever. Before I introduce you to the MDRT Executive Committee, I would like to welcome our first time attendees and our first time Top of the Table qualifiers. We are honored to have you join us, please stand. Thank you very much for coming and I certainly hope you come back each and every year. Now I want to recognize the hard work and the contributions of the 2008 Top of the Table advisory board. Please hold your applause until they re all standing,

7 and please stand as I call your name. Ralph Antolino, Jr., CLU, Mark J. Hanna, CLU, ChFC, Philip E. Harriman, CLU, ChFC, Michelle L. Hoesly, CLU, ChFC, and Lou Pearce. And many thanks to the members of the 2008 Top of the Table program committee who plan this terrific event for the meeting and they are, please stand. Dale Martin, Van Mueller, LUTCF, Matthew E. Schiff, CLU and Michael Smith. Thank you. Equally important, who operate behind the scenes for us are our members of the Member Communication Committee and the Investor Relations Committee I d like to recognize also, please stand. Kelly F. Bills, Mike L. Weintraub, CLU, Peter H. Dodd, MSFS, CLU, and Jo Ann E. Favia, CLU, ChFC. These folks made meaningful contributions to committees that are essential to our operation. We appreciate your dedication and the hours you have spent to create an unforgettable meeting experience for all of us. And finally, I would also like to thank our meeting partners for their support. And a special thanks to our platinum partners, Credit Suisse and Coventry. We have with us this morning and throughout the meeting some very special guests and they are the MDRT Executive Committee and it is my privilege to introduce them to you today. I d also like to point out that our Executive Committee has 81 years of collective Top of the Table qualifications. These are not just leaders of an organization, they are one of us. Our Immediate Past President, James E. Rogers, CLU, CFP; Secretary, Jennifer A. Borislow, CLU; Second Vice President, Julian H. Good, CLU, ChFC; and First Vice President, Guy E. Baker, MSFS, CLU.

8 MDRT s President, Walton W. Rogers, CLU, ChFC, of Annapolis, Maryland is a 34-year member of MDRT and has been a valuable leader to MDRT serving since 1985 on numerous MDRT committees and task forces. Walton has also been a speaker at numerous MDRT annual meetings. In addition, Walton has also been highly active in the MDRT Foundation. Very commendable. He served for three years as a member of the Foundation Board of Trustees and most recently served as Vice President of the Foundation. A Platinum Knight level donor, he has participated in several major hands-on activities including the Habitat for Humanity home build and many phone-a-thon fundraisers. We can all remember that hands-on work as he built that table for us at the MDRT Annual Meeting. In the industry, Walton has served twice as President of the Annapolis Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and he s a 15 time recipient of Baltimore s Agency Leader award. Please welcome as only TOT can welcome, MDRT s President, Walton Rogers.