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NAIFA - Syracuse • 606 State Tower Bldg. • Syracuse, NY 13202 • Phone/Fax: 474-6775 • www.naifanet.com/syracuse/
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NAIFA-SYRACUSE JANUARY 2018 BREAKFAST MEETING
January Meeting ProgramTopic: “Creating Your 2018 Business and Marketing Plan”
Speaker: Stephanie A. Rivas, ChFC, CLU, LUTCF Managing Director Prudential’s New York Financial Group
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2018 Place:
Justin’s Tuscan Grill Time: 8:00 – 9:30 A.M. 6400 Yorktown Circle, E. Syracuse, NY
Cost: $10.00 - Breakfast Buffet/Program Free - Season Ticketholders
Schedule: 8:00 AM Breakfast 8:05 AM Business Meeting & Announcements 8:20 AM Presentation of 2018 Young/Murphy Award to BERNARD J. deJESUS 8:30-9:30 AM Speaker Presentation
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REGISTER ONLINE AT www.naifanet.com/syracuse/ OR FAX OR E-MAIL YOUR RESERVATION TO THE NAIFA-SYRACUSE OFFICE (FAX #474-6775) or E-MAIL to: [email protected] NO LATER THAN THE RESERVATION DEADLINE. NO PHONE RESERVATIONS PLEASE.
RESERVATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018
Thank You to our January Meeting Sponsor: Prudential Financial
STEPHANIE A. RIVAS, ChFC, CLU, LUTCF Each year, NAIFA members and state and local associations from around the country submit their nominees for the Four Under Forty Award, the prestigious Advisor Today honor that recognizes the top four most promising NAIFA members under the age of 40. It isn’t enough to have a large client portfolio. Candidates must demonstrate an array of exceptional qualities and a dedication to the industry and consumers they serve. This year, NAIFA has bestowed a Four Under Forty award on one of New York’s own. Stephanie A. Rivas, ChFC, CLU, LUTCF got her first taste of the business when she was just a child, visiting her father’s Prudential office while he called existing and potential clients. Today she is Managing Director of Prudential Insurance Company’s New York Financial Group, with more than 100 financial professionals split between main offices in midtown Manhattan and White Plains. She is the third generation of her family to work for the insurer—and she also happens to be NAIFA-‐NYS’s 2017-‐2019 Secretary. Climbing the Ladder Fresh out of high school, Stephanie enthusiastically signed on as an entry-‐level receptionist at a Prudential firm. Within a few weeks, she says, “It was obvious that the financial professionals really cared for their clients and that the work they did had a significant impact,” and she wanted to make that kind of difference too. In 2006, Stephanie became a Manager of Agency Training at Prudential Advisors and never looked back. She was recognized as Prudential’s top Director of Operations and Controls in 2012 and was voted her firm’s MVP three times. When the Managing Director was ill and out of the office for a while, Stephanie became deeply involved in running all aspects of the firm—and it became clear what her ultimate goal should be. She has been in her current position as Managing Director of the New York Financial Group since June 2015. One year later, her firm earned a President’s Citation as the #3 Prudential firm in the country. She was voted the #1 Managing Director in 2016, based on a national survey of Prudential advisors and managers, and her firm maintains a nearly unheard-‐of two-‐year retention rate of more than 85 percent. It can take much time to list all her honors and achievements, but Stephanie makes clear that her success doesn’t take place in a vacuum. “It has never been about me,” she comments. “It has always been about the people I work with. There is no way that I could be successful if I didn’t have an outstanding team behind me, and the best way to get everyone working towards the same goal is to build extremely strong relationships and share the vision.” Her Playbook Stephanie has specific objectives for her firm. At its kickoff meeting in January 2016, she told those in her office that they would win a citation (they did)—and explained how they would get there. She does business planning with all of her financial professionals to ensure that they have strong goals and are taking the steps to realize them. She believes in understanding how compensation works and in knowing all the recognitions a company offers, what it takes to achieve them, and what resources can help along the way. And in five years? Stephanie sees herself in her current position, except with substantial growth—and acknowledgment, of course, as the #1 Prudential firm in the country.
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Why NAIFA? Stephanie knows that NAIFA fights to protect our business both on Capitol Hill and in local communities and is concerned that advisors are not utilizing all that the association offers, including educational workshops, online tools, local meetings, mentoring opportunities, and business discounts. Being on the NAIFA-‐NYS Board of Directors, she says, has had a huge impact on her career, allowing her to connect with strong industry leaders she otherwise would not have met, becoming more educated on legislative issues, and having opportunities to speak directly with lawmakers. In Service Despite the pressures of a young family (and a compunction to run between 20 and 30 miles each week), Stephanie is committed to service. She is a long-‐standing volunteer member of Prudential’s Diversity and Inclusion Council and the founder of two women’s study groups, not to mention a member of the Financial Services Roundtable and the Women in Financial Services. “So many people have helped me along the way in my career that I actively look for ways to return the favor,” she explains. “We are better together then when we are alone.” If you’re a young woman in the New York financial services market, you can face a particularly difficult climb to the top. For Stephanie, though, dedication, enthusiasm, hard work, and a belief in helping others has made the difference. “I just love telling our story,” she says. “There’s no better career than being a financial professional.” Stephanie’s Insights Have a vision for your practice. Write it down, keep it in front of you. Don’t lose sight of where you want to go. Become more involved—whether it’s building stronger relationships with your clients, getting connected to a study group, joining more associations, or simply being a more active participant in NAIFA, your business and life will be positively impacted, and you won’t regret it. Go all in—we are so fortunate to be in this business. So many people need our help and guidance. Have passion around getting in front of as many people as possible. They need you! Don’t let them or yourself down by not putting in as much effort as possible to build your business or take your practice to levels you haven’t achieved before.
President’s Page
“Although no one can go back and make a brand-‐new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-‐new ending” – Carl Bard
Never does this quote ring truer, than on January 1st each year, and there are few industries that can identify with this as much as we all can. 2017 is in the books, and there are changes to our industry, our tax code, and I’m certain many more aspects of our daily lives just on the horizon.
For NAIFA, there will also be some changes in 2018 that could either be small or far reaching. A vote that was set for this past September has been rescheduled to this coming May, which could lead to the consolidation and elimination of many local NAIFA associations, as well as an increased level of accountability for State and surviving local associations. For over a year, our local Board has been working with other locals and the NY State Board to do some consolidating of our own. There are currently 14 local associations in NY, but several of them have fewer than 20 members with no active Board of Directors or regular meetings. Through several meetings, conference calls, and a very active email chain, the State Board, along with the help from Park Strategies, submitted a proposal to each of the local President’s to bring back to our Board and our members. This Proposed reconfiguration of local associations is included in this Newsletter and shows a reduction from 14 to 9 local associations.
NAIFA Syracuse has traditionally consisted of Onondaga, Oswego and Madison Counties. As you can see under the new proposal, we would also include Cayuga, Cortland, Tompkins, Schuyler, Chemung, and Tioga Counties. Christen Gibbons, President of the Ithaca chapter, suggested this realignment and the SAIFA Board voted on it at our last Board meeting. There was a unanimous decision to accept the proposed changes and include the additional 6 counties into our Local. For us, this would mean more members, which would lead to more ideas, and larger pool of people to fill our Board and our Directors positions.
We’re still in the process of working out the details of when this would be effective and what changes would be made to our By-‐laws, but we are looking to move forward with this change. In addition, because we are greatly increasing our geographical footprint, we also voted to “re-‐brand”
ourselves as NAIFA-‐CNY. Keep an eye out for announcements of these changes coming to fruition.
Along with the re-‐branding effort, we are in the midst of updating (overhauling) our Website and aligning with the Web provider used by our State Board. Full details will come in a separate announcement, but we are very happy and excited with what we’ve seen so far. This will greatly help with our communication with our members, and the general organization of our Board and our association as a whole.
I know these are significant changes, so please contact me or another Board member if you have any hesitation or reservations to moving forward with this proposal. As always, I’m happy to discuss these with every one of you.
Professionally Yours,
Samuel Chavarria, CLU
Dear NAIFA-Syracuse Members: The support of our benefactors has made a difference! I want to thank every one of you who has contributed in the past, as well everyone who has continued your membership. We would like to invite you to join the 2017-2018 NAIFA-Syracuse Benefactors Program. As a benefactor, your donation dollars go directly to NAIFA-Syracuse and will be used to benefit the membership, i.e. programs, meetings, new member engagement, etc. There are four levels of membership. The first level is the Visionary Level and is for anyone who contributes $500 or more. The next level is the Advocate's Level and is for anyone who would like to donate in the $250 - $499 range. The third level is the Sustainers Level and is for anyone who would like to contribute at least $100. The fourth level is the Associate's Level for anyone who contributes anything under $100. It is important to remember that 100% of the money contributed via the Benefactors Program stays with NAIFA-Syracuse and will be used to benefit the membership. Once you become a member, we will publicize it in our Online Directory, Monthly Newsletter, and at our Membership Meetings. To become a member, please send your check made payable to NAIFA-Syracuse for one of the levels and send it to NAIFA-Syracuse ℅ Charlotte Crandall, 606 State Tower Bldg., 109 S. Warren St., Syracuse, NY 13202. Sincerely, Samuel E. Chavarria, CLU 2017-2018 President
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What drives you is what drives us.Your passion fuels your success. And we’re as dedicated to you as you are to your business. MassMutual will listen to your needs, seek solutions to your financial challenges and help you plan for what’s ahead.
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THIS ADVERTISING SPACEMAY BE AVAILABLE
CALL474-6775
2017-‐18 NAIFA-‐Syracuse Advertising Program
___ $1,000 Premier Sponsorship – This includes a meeting sponsorship, a full page ad in our monthly newsletter, and a website ad with a link to your home page.
___ $500 Meeting Sponsor – You will be featured on our monthly newsletter as the sponsor, will have 5-‐10 minutes in front of audience for extended elevator speech, handouts at each table, and a separate table for you to have more information/handouts.
___ $500 Full page ad in our monthly newsletter for 1 year. Distributed to 150+ Financial Advisors and Insurance agents in our area. Can also sponsor monthly at $60 per issue.
___ $250 Website Ad – You will be listed as a sponsor on our website with a hyperlink to your webpage.
___ $100 Business Card Ad (1/8th page) in our monthly newsletter for 1 year
Note: Our newsletter is not published in July and August.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT SAM CHAVARRIA AT 315-‐350-‐2123
TO: NAIFA-‐SYRACUSE, 606 State Tower Bldg., 109 S. Warren St., Syracuse, NY 13202
PHONE and FAX: 315-‐474-‐6775 E-‐MAIL: [email protected]
NAME: ____________________________________________________________________
COMPANY: ____________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
PHONE: ___________________________ FAX: ___________________________
E-‐MAIL: ____________________________________________________________________
ATTACHED IS A CHECK, PAYABLE TO NAIFA-‐SYRACUSE, IN THE AMOUNT OF $____________.
SIGNATURE: ___________________________________ DATE: __________________
The following applicants have been provisionally elected to membership by our Board of Directors. In accordance with the By-Laws, you have five (5) days from the receipt of this notice to register, in writing, with any officer, any objection you may have to final acceptance of any individual applicant: PROPOSED MEMBER COMPANY SPONSOR Brian S. Conboy MassMutual Reinstatement Marikay P. Flemming Financial Partners of Upstate NY S. Chavarria Donald A. Karlik Financial Partners of Upstate NY S. Chavarria Nicole Wall New York Life B. Dufrane
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Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Forbes S. Tuttle, CLU, ChFC, our Emeritus member and former President, who passed away recently. He was a retired associate of the Northwestern Mutual.
* * * Our 2017-18 “Build A Package” advertising options have been revised and reduced in price. You can participate at any time during the year and still receive a full year of benefits. For more information, see the flyer in this newsletter or contact Sam Chavarria at [email protected] or Charlotte Crandall at [email protected].
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Get involved with your Association! We are always looking for volunteers to serve on our Board, committees and/or projects. If you are interested or need more information, please contact the NAIFA-Syracuse office at [email protected] or call 474-6775. We welcome your participation.
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ADVERTISING POLICY NAIFA-Syracuse realizes that its members are fully aware of their individual contractual and moral obligations. We publish limited advertising in our newsletter from various companies and agencies to keep our entire membership informed. Our advertisers are fully aware that an agent’s own company agency is his/her primary source, and that serving his/her clients is the agent’s primary responsibility. Our advertising policy reflects this awareness.
HappyNew Year!
