National Retirement Planning Week 2011 A Summary of Activities After a successful soft re-launch in 2010, National Retirement Planning Week (NPRW) 2011 marked a significant step forward in the evolution of our signature consumer Led by 25 IRI member companies, and including 15 external coalition members, NRPW exceeded all expectations in terms of scope, measureable impact and member engagement. As a group, the coalition decided to have a theme for each day of the week, producing deliverables, press releases and other relevant content to coincide with each daily topic. Last year, the week was largely driven by press releases alone. This year, the coalition took a markedly different approach, building a robust calendar of events to help garner attention around the importance of retirement planning. Throughout the week the Coalition: Hosted a consumer retirement readiness webinar that was led by EBRI President and CEO Dallas Salisbury and attracted upwards of 300 participants; Held a media event in New York City where our members participated in a panel focused on the product and planning strategies manufacturers, distributors and financial professionals are developing to help address key retirement risks in today s everchanging markets and economy drawing 20 top-tier members of the press corps; Released proprietary research that found, among other key items, that 9 in 10 (92%) of Boomers who own insured retirement products have a higher confidence in their overall retirement expectations, believing they are doing a good job preparing financially for retirement; Hosted a practice management webinar for financial advisors that revealed that more than 7 in 10 advisors have experienced net increases in retirement income clients in the past year, drawing more than 200 financial professionals from around the country; Released our Eight-Point Plan for Life-Long Financial Retirement Health which breaks down the task of planning for retirement and is FINRA reviewed; Implemented a successful, multi-tiered social media campaign that became viral as non- NRPW groups joined the effort; and Held a thought leadership symposium in Washington, D.C. that was hosted by The Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security where 15 of our member companies were included as discussants, as well as IRI Board Vice Chair Lynne Ford and IRI Board Member John Carter. Media coverage of the week was exceptional, garnering more than $650,000 in earned media and reaching an audience of millions. This is a direct result of all of the Coalition partner s outreach, as many IRI members created and executed their own outreach initiatives to coincide with the week. (Please see following page for a recap of specific activities.) NRPW efforts were featured in both print, television, radio and online mediums, receiving coverage from Marketwatch, Fox News, Ignites, National Underwriter, AM Best, Investment News, US News & World Report, Investment Advisor, Advisor One, Senior Market Advisor, Forbes, Financial Planning, INN, and Producers Web, among others.
We are already planning for NRPW 2012, and look to convene the Coalition in June to begin discussions. In addition, we will gauge whether there is interest among the Coalition to host an early Fall event to help continue the national conversation around the need for retirement planning. While NRPW 2011 was notable success, in 2012 our goal is to grow the Coalition, expand our national outreach, and raise funds to help further develop the tools we can leverage to promote the week. A Sample of Coalition Activities As referenced earlier, the NRPW Coalition was highly engaged in the planning and outreach effort this year. While the below does not represent a complete list of activities, many members of the Coalition did share with us their specific efforts in support of NRPW. Those efforts include, but are not limited to: Prudential Lisa Bennett co-chaired the development and execution of the risk panel media event in Bryan Pinksy, SVP, Product Development, participated in the media Robert Doyle, VP, External Affairs, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Mark Foley, VP, Innovative Simplicity, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Vishal Jain, VP, Strategic Initiatives, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Bob O Donnell, EVP, Products, Investments & Marketing was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Promoted coverage of the week on the company website and internal newsletter. Ran 5-part educational retirement planning series on our company website and internal newsletter. AXA Equitable Issued several news releases before and during NRPW. Sent announcements on their latest retirement reality series video, BlackBerry Apps for life and retirement planning, and video calculators that aid retirement planning. Promoted these announcements, as well as NRPW messaging, their website and via their social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube). Leveraged erelationship, the way they push information to financial professionals, to carry these announcements and NRPW messaging. Allianz Life Robert DeChellis, President, Allianz Life Financial Services, participated in the Media Event.
Katie Libbe, VP, Consumer Marketing and Solutions, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Distributed a news release locally and to the trades. Robert DeChellis appeared on Fox Live to discuss retirement. Byline column about retirement by CEO Gary Bhojwani ran in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in late March. Internal training sessions on retirement for employees. LPL Financial Joseph Kuo served as Chair of the NRPW Coalition. Bill Dwyer, President, National Sales and Marketing, participated in the Media Event in Stephanie Brown, General Counsel, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Secured two US News & World Report online by-lined pieces by top LPL advisors that discussed NRPW. New York Life Tom Johnson, SVP, Retirement Income Security, participated in the Media Event in Elizabeth Varley, VP, Federal Affairs, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS MetLife Melissa Kahn, VP, Government Relations was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Jacqui Philips, UK Director, Government Relations, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS ING Individual Retirement Lynne Ford, CEO, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Nationwide Financial John Carter, President, NFS Distributors, Inc., was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS John Hancock Tom Mullen, Chief Marketing Officer, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Advisor Group
Kevin Keefe, SVP, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS PIMCO Michael Cogswell, SVP, Project Manager for Retirement Solutions, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Sun Life Financial Sent out emails promoting the week to approximately 30,000 financial advisors. Issued press releases in support of daily themes. Integrated messaging on Sun Life s media relations and annuities web pages. Janney Montgomery Scott Steve Manley, VP, Wealth Management / Financial Advisor, participated in the Media Event in Southwest Securities Included the agenda for the week, including the webcasts, in their April newsletter that was sent to all of their advisors. Promoted the events out in the field. Encouraged the wholesalers who call on their representatives to talk about the week, and to tie in any events their company was participating in into the conversation. Securian Cetera UBS Posted the majority of IRI's Facebook posts to their corporate Facebook Linked to the NRPW dedicated website from our various advisor websites, as well as their advisor newsletter. Posted the details on their three broker-dealers' rep websites. Published a notice in their monthly e-newsletter regarding the webinars and available resources. Promoted the two webinars to their 6,000+ financial advisors. Peter Rowan, Federal Affairs Manager, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Pershing Distributed a press release.
BNY Mellon Ann Costello, Managing Director, Global Government Affairs, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Wells Fargo Anita Eoloff, Federal Director, Government Relations, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS The Hartford Tim Benedict co-chaired the development and execution of the risk panel media event in Steve Kluever, VP Annuity Product & Marketing, participated in the media Fidelity Investments Doug Fisher, SVP, Retirement Policy Group, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Putnam Investments Leonard Glynn, Managing Director, Policy, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Jennison Associates Provided venue for the risk management media event in Mathew Greenwald & Associates ACLI Brian Perlman, Partner, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Distributed a press release. Alane Dent, VP, Federal Relations, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS James Szostek, Director, Pensions, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS The Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security Promoted and hosted the financial security Financial Services Forum Executed Twitter and social media campaign.
Financial Services Roundtable Steve Bartlett, President and CEO, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS Americans for a Secure Retirement Issued a press release on NRPW featuring quotes from three of our coalition partners: o Hector Barreto, Chairman of the Latino Coalition o Cindy Hounsell, President of the Women s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) o Gus West, Board Chair and President for The Hispanic Institute Executed week-long social media blitz via Facebook and Twitter. Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) Developed and implemented the NRPW social media plan for Twitter and Facebook. Issued a press release in support of the week. Dallas Salisbury participated in the first webinar of the week. Ken McDonnell was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS All EBRI member and ASEC partner contacts received multiple email alerts regarding the social media campaign, webinar, and other NRPW events. The American College Created the five consumer videos that were posted on YouTube and Retire On Your Terms website. Created five days of advisor education highlighting National Retirement Week with one video being featured each day at the College s Wealth Channel. NAFA Distributed a press release to all NAFA members and affiliates (over 5000 carriers, IMOs and producers) and their carrier members pushed it to their agents. Posted Twitter and LinkedIn messaging. Kim O Brien, Executive Director, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS NICSA Created a special page on their website where we posted retirement planning materials from NICSA and from NICSA members. Promoted the week as part of their new social media effort through a press release and through posts on NICSA s blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Theresa Hamacher, President, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS
WISER Cindy Hounsell, President, was a discussant at The Aspen Institute IFS