Month: May 2020

National Life (NL) Indexed Annuities Now eligible for eSign Through DocuSign!

May 26, 2020

ESI is continuously working with our top vendors to discuss eSignature acceptance. As a result of these conversations and the lessons learned through a pilot phase, effective immediately, National Life (NL) Indexed Annuities that are required to be submitted through ESI are now eligible for eSignature through Docupace/DocuSign.

Although validations are not normally available on vendor applications, with the expansion of eSign allowance for additional annuity vendors, we will be adding validations to the ‘Signed At’ sections of the annuity application (i.e. City and/or State where the application was signed). It is important to remember to complete these fields as cases without this information result in a NIGO (not in good order) reach out.

To view the full list of approved eSign vendors, click here.

If you have any questions, please call 800-344-7437 or email DocupaceSupport@nationallife.com.

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Check Image Display in Wealthscape℠ & Wealthscape Investor℠

May 26, 2020

Beginning with the April release of the Wealthscape and Wealthscape Investor portal, users are now able to view and print/save images of checks for certain types of deposits and contributions. This functionality can be accessed via the Transaction Details page for relevant transactions on the Client and Account History (aka “Activity”) applications. A hyperlink labeled View Check will display when a check image is available.

Click Here for Further Information and Instructional Screenshots

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Upcoming Training

May 26, 2020
Presented by ESI
Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 4:00pm EST

Docupace – Using Starting Point with Electronic & Wet Signature

Click here to register.
Presented by ESI
Thursday, June 4, 2020 at 4:00pm EST

Docupace/Wealthscape Integration – New Account Opening

Click here to register.
Presented by ESI
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 4:00pm EST

Save the Date! ESI will lead another rep panel discussion featuring Travis Ramsdell and Nick Pontilena.

More Details to Follow

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Prudential FlexGuard Variable Annuity – Approved for Sale

May 26, 2020

ESI is happy to announce that the Prudential FlexGuard, indexed variable annuity has been approved for sale.  FlexGuard indexed variable annuity offers a choice of levels of downside protection and the opportunity to capitalize on market growth. It also offers the opportunity to select from various index crediting strategies and variable subaccounts, as well as different index segment durations.

If you have questions about FlexGuard, please contact Prudential at 800-513-0805.

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Lance Reihl to Retire

May 20, 2020

CEO Mehran Assadi announced a transition at Equity Services, Inc.

It is with mixed emotion that I announce the retirement of ESI President & CEO Lance Reihl at the end of July.

It is hard for me to imagine our broker dealer without Lance at the helm. In 2008, he began his journey with me here at National Life. Over the past 12 years Lance has stabilized and reinvented ESI, turning it into a top-notch broker dealer. Lance has been much more than my head of the broker dealer; he has been my teammate, my dear special friend and close adviser. He will be missed.

Lance looks forward to spending more time with his family — especially with his son Alexander — after many years of commuting to Vermont from New Jersey. Please join me in congratulating Lance on a distinguished career and wishing him all the best in his well-deserved retirement. His National Life legacy will live on.

I did not have to look far to find a worthy successor. I have asked Ata Azarshahi to take on the additional role of ESI President and CEO. As part of our continued focus on creating a complete and seamless experience for our distribution, ESI will become part of our Distribution organization reporting into Matt Frazee. By uniting ESI with Distribution we will be able to capitalize on Ata’s knowledge of distribution and his familiarity of our field organization.

Ata is a seasoned professional with a proven track record in distribution and registered products—a veteran of our industry with over 30 years of experience. Prior to joining National Life, ­­­­­­­­­­­­­Ata was CEO of ING Variable Annuities Europe in The Netherlands, where he was tasked with expansion of ING’s insurance footprint in continental Europe, and later in Eurasia.

Ata has built a skilled and capable team in L&A Solutions and will continue his role as their leader reporting to Achim Schwetlick. I am excited to have Ata lead both ESI and L&A Solutions, creating the synergies that will benefit our buying and selling customers, as well as our colleagues on both campuses. 

Ata has built a skilled and capable team in L&A Solutions and will continue his role as their leader reporting to Achim Schwetlick. I am excited to have Ata lead both ESI and L&A Solutions, creating the synergies that will benefit our buying and selling customers, as well as our colleagues on both campuses. 

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Congratulations to ESI’s Award Winners!

May 19, 2020

ESI’s top producers for 2019 were honored during National Life’s first ever virtual ceremony last week.

Presented by ESI CEO and President, Lance Reihl, the awards honored ESI’s top 3 individual producers and top 3 agencies, based on 2019 GDC.

Individual Producer Awards

Platinum Individual Producer
Steve Simon, Beverly Hills
$1.1+ million in GDC
In the 25 years that ESI’s Platinum Award Winner has been with ESI, he has been the #1 producer an amazing 9 times. Steve Simon has qualified for Chairman’s Club 13 times, President’s Club 20 times, finished in the top 25 in life production 3 times, and been a consistent member of ESI’s Circle of Excellence.

Gold Individual Producer
Dan Streeter, N. New England
$791,000+ in GDC
Dan Streeter joined ESI in 2006. A lifetime member of President’s Club and multi-year ESI Circle of Excellence member, Dan joins ESI’s top three with an impressive average increase of 50% over the past couple of years.

Silver Individual Producer Rich Kelly, Pacific Northwest
$750,000+ in GDC
Rich Kelly has been with ESI since 1990. A multi-year member of ESI’s Circle of Excellence, Rich has qualified for Chairman’s Club three times and is a Lifetime Member of President’s Club.

Agency Awards

Platinum Agency Award
Victor Muro and
Jim Ortenzio

New York/New Jersey
$8.5+ million in GDC

ESI’s top agency award winners were honored for several awards. Victor Muro and Jim Ortenzio were honored with not just ESI’s Platinum Agency Award, but also with National Life’s President’s Award and Chairman’s Award. In addition, they were voted by their peers as National Life’s Pride Agency.

Gold Agency Award
Randy Raner, N. New England
$7.9+ million in GDC
ESI’s Gold Agency award winner has been a general agent with National Life since 2002. Randy Raner has been a consistent presence in ESI’s Top 3 agencies, and has received multiple National Life awards.

Silver Agency Award
Jay Goodman, Long Island
$4.9+ million in GDC
Jay Goodman joins the ESI Top 3 for the first time in 2019 as our Silver Agency Award winner.  This year he also took home National Life’s Gold Chairman’s Trophy and Gold President’s Winner.

Congratulations and thank you to all our winners!

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Updates from Fidelity Clearing and Custody Solutions Updates

May 19, 2020
  • Revisions to 4311 Welcome Letter, New Account Profile and Revise Account Profile Letters Important Notice 20-59
    As of May 12, new 4311 Welcome Letter, NAP letter and RAP letters will begin on May 15, 2020. Read the announcement here.
  • Availability of Negative Yields on BondTraderPro
    Due to the current low yield environment and client requests, on Friday, May 15, 2020, BondTraderPro (BTP) will be modified to allow orders with negative yields to be entered. Read the announcement here.

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Upcoming Training Opportunities

May 19, 2020

Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 3:00pm EST
Annuities in Estate Planning and Strategies for Today’s Environment
Presented by Jackson

Equity Services will be partnering with Jackson to discuss the role of annuities in estate planning, as well as current investment strategies for today’s environment.  This call will feature Chris Bogren and Jackson wholesaler Joel Beck.

Click here to join.
Password: 478727
Phone: (646) 558-8656, 92662456468#

Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 4:30pm EST
ESI Leadership Field Update
Presented by ESI

Please join ESI’s Executive Leadership Team for the second installment of our Field Update series. In this session, we’ll update you on the Firm’s ongoing virtual work environment, sales, platform enhancements, and an outlook on what you can expect from ESI in the coming months.

 We also want to take this opportunity to hear from you and answer any questions you may have for ESI’s Leadership Team. Please take this opportunity to help us plan the meeting by submitting your questions to ESIBusinessDevelopment@nationallife.com. The deadline for submissions will be Thursday, May 21st.           

Click here to REGISTER.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 2:00pm EST
Goldman Sachs Select: A Liquidity Solution for Your Clients
Presented by Goldman Sachs

Securities-based lines of credit, (SBLOC) allow borrowers to access cash without liquidating their investment portfolios. The portfolio serves as collateral—qualified equities, bonds or funds that are already owned. Principal can be re-paid at any time during the life of the loan—only interest is due monthly. SBLOC may be used for bridge financing, business investments, capital calls, general liquidity, home renovations, real estate, start up funding, tax obligations and tuition.  Do you want to learn more?  Register below to join the webinar.

Click here to REGISTER.

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