Jackson appoints Richard White as senior vice president, Government Relations
Richard White has been appointed senior vice president of Government Relations for Jackson National Life Insurance Company, responsible for the strategy and direction of the company’s government relations efforts at the local, state and federal levels.
Based in Washington, D.C., White will report to Barry Stowe, chairman and chief executive officer of the North American Business Unit of Prudential plc, Jackson’s parent company, as well as Chad Myers, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Jackson, who has general responsibility for the company’s overall government relations efforts.
White will lead Jackson’s engagement with local, state and federal legislative and regulatory organizations and agencies, including collaborating with industry leaders and key members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).
Most recently, White served as a partner at Thorn Run Partners, a leading federal lobbying and policy consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Before joining Thorn Run Partners in 2014, White helped to found and manage several boutique federal government relations firms and has represented a broad array of clients from Fortune 50 to small innovative medical technology companies.
Prior to his time in the private sector, White worked in the White House under former President George H.W. Bush and in the United States Senate for the late Senator John H. Chafee of Rhode Island. He earned a BA in government from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. and a JD from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
eMoney adds web marketing tool to its advisor platform
Many advisors are only just now realizing what early-adopters learned a decade ago: The need to master online marketing. What’s different today is that, with API technology, prospecting functions have gotten easier to add to existing advisor platforms.
Case in point: eMoney has added “Lead Capture,” a plug-in designed to help advisors “attract, engage and qualify leads online” and deliver “an automated, digital financial planning experience” to its wealth management platform at no added cost to current users, the Fidelity unit announced this week.
Lead Capture gives advisors a custom link that, when clicked on emails, social media posts or websites, will send prospects to a landing page where they can enter basic financial information and request a personal consultation. The system alerts the advisor to new hits and automatically adds the leads to the advisor’s eMoney dashboard.
For more information about Lead Capture, visit the eMoney blog.
A new report from Spectrem Group, Using Social Media and Mobile Technology in Financial Decisions, asserts that “the vast majority of investors now use smartphones to read articles and blogs, watch videos and learn about new investment products and services, underscoring the need for advisors to cater to these mobile preferences.”
Key findings in the report include:
- Two-thirds of Mass Affluent investors (those with a net worth under $1 million) who use Facebook check it at least once a day, with 44% checking it at least twice a day. More than half of Twitter and Instagram users check those sites at least once a day. Users try to connect with their advisors, especially on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- Among Millionaire investors (with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million), 32% watch videos on financial topics, and that climbs to 58% of Millennial Millionaires. Younger investors look for videos on stock tips or investment products. Older Millionaires look for videos on stock market updates or economic news.
- Those Ultra High Net Worth investors (with a net worth between $5 million and $25 million) who want to communicate with their advisor do so in a variety of ways. Thirty-six percent of UHNW investors under the age of 53 have texted their advisor and 20 percent have communicated with their advisor via Twitter. The interest in being able to text an advisor is growing, even among the oldest investors.
For an extra 15 bps, Betterment offers unlimited smartphone calls to live CFP advisors
Betterment, the $9.7 billion digital advisory firm, now offers an app that enables anyone with a Betterment account and mobile app to send any financial question to the team of licensed financial experts, and expect to receive a response in about one business day.
Experts can recommend which funds to move to Betterment, and help individuals set goals, choose the right risk level, and decide how much to invest in what type of account.
Anyone with a Betterment account can download the free app at no additional cost, regardless of plan or account balance. To get unlimited calls with Betterment’s Certified Financial Planner advisors, they have to pay 0.40% per year. A basic Betterment Digital robo-advice account costs 0.25% per year.
Betterment currently serves more than 280,000 customers. They can learn more about the new messaging feature and download the Betterment iOS or Android app at https://www.betterment.com/financial-experts/.
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