When determining who should serve as a trustee, there's much to take into consideration. The person designated as such must be able to manage trust assets in an honorable, trustworthy manner. This person is also legally considered a fiduciary and will be held accountable to ethical and legal standards accordingly. To further understand those standards and possible ramifications if any duties are breached, download our latest case study. 

Comprehensive insurance advisory firm leverages technology to automate policy performance monitoring and reporting

Thanks to the advancement of technology, consumers have increased expectations for the products and service providers they use. This is no different for life insurance clients. They expect that when they purchase a policy, that policy will continue to meet their needs throughout the life of the contract and perform as expected, and it's up to you as the service provider to ensure that happens. See how automating policy performance monitoring through Proformex can help. 

In a perfect world, your clients would proactively notify you anytime a life circumstance changes for them so that you could make any necessary adjustments to their life insurance policy. But since life insurance isn't likely to be top-of-mind for clients in most cases, an annual policy review is recommended to catch any changes. To learn more about how Proformex supports policy reviews, download our latest white paper.

From assessing your needs to understanding the multitude of product types within the life insurance realm, there's a lot of information that policy owners need to know. In our latest white paper, we offer a high-level overview of everything you should know about life insurance. Download it below.

When was the last time you reviewed your clients' existing life insurance policies?

During the 53rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, we had the opportunity to chat with David Sterling, Principal of Sterling Capital Resources. In this video, he discusses the importance of helping clients achieve the best outcomes possible. Hear more of his insights by watching the video below.

The truth may surprise you.

There is a tremendous amount of responsibility tied to fiduciaries when it comes to irrevocable life insurance trusts. From ongoing trust management to ongoing policy management, a fiduciary is responsible for handling premium gifts, managing Crummey letters, filing tax returns, tracking policy performance, monitoring client circumstances, reviewing product alternatives, evaluating carrier strength and more. This puts the fiduciary at risk for liability exposure if all these responsibilities aren't consistently met. An automated solution for ongoing policy management like Proformex can help reduce that fiduciary risk. To see how, download our latest case study. 

Jamie Mendelsohn, EVP of Ashar Group, shares her insights with us regarding the accessibility of important policy information and an established review process. Both are crucial to being thoroughly informed on behalf of the client. To hear more of Jamie’s insights, watch the video below.

Lion Street recognized a need for consolidated inforce policy management, but understood that it would take far too much time, money and resources to build one themselves. They chose instead to partner with Proformex and are now delivering a better, more consistent client experience. Read more below:

As new technologies begin to surface within the marketplace, it's becoming increasingly important for agencies to identify and explore ways to implement these tools and resources for the benefit of their agents. Agents are shifting their focus from commission plans to relationships with their clients, so the most successful agencies will be the ones who adopt cutting-edge technology that can support their agents and ultimately provide the best experience possible for clients. To learn more, check out our latest white paper.

In our Thought Leadership interview session with Jon Mendelsohn, CEO & Founder of the Ashar Group, he discusses the need for increased specialization within the industry as well as the importance of proactively monitoring the performance of a policy for its entire lifetime. Hear more of Jon’s insights by watching the video below.

As the insurance industry ages, it's important for independent insurance agents and brokers to consider their plans for their practices upon their retirement. The techniques used to measure and value life insurance practices are very straightforward and dependent upon detailed company history in three areas: assets, earning value, and market value. By implementing a technology that stores all this relevant information for you, you're able to clearly define the success of your practice and get the best possible value for it when it comes time to sell. To learn more, read our latest white paper below. 

Even though most non-professional trustees are designated based on their personal relationships rather than life insurance experience, they are still legally held to the same standards as fiduciaries. Without industry knowledge and experience, some non-professional trustees may not fully understand the scope of their responsibilities and the potential for liability exposure that they face if they are not establishing a process for ILIT management. To learn more about these responsibilities, check out our latest white paper below. 

Marty Jensen, Chairman of PMI Advisors, discusses some of the unique instances he sees within his business working with family offices for comprehensive wealth management. For him, it’s crucial not only to maintain insurance policy performance, but to continuously maintain client expectations through frequent, transparent communication. To hear more of Marty’s insight, watch the video below.

Since most non-professional trustees don't have insurance industry experience, many of them may be unaware of all the responsibilities entrusted to them as well as the potential for liability exposure. In this video, we outline what exactly is required of non-professional trustees. To learn more about how Proformex supports non-professional trustees, watch the video below and visit our website.

Fiduciary duty is both a duty of loyalty and a duty of care. Since it's one of the highest obligations imposed by law, the potential consequences of failing to uphold this standard of care can be severe. 

Zaverl & Associates, Inc. has been around for nearly four decades. As a result, it quickly became impossible for them to manage life insurance policy performance across their entire book of business. See how Proformex helped to automate inforce policy management for them and help identify new business opportunities. 

During the 53rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, we had the opportunity to interview Michael Seltzer, Founding Member & Principal of Verite Group. In this video, he discusses the importance of maintaining credibility and always doing the right thing for his clients to ensure their satisfaction. Watch the full-length video below to hear more from Michael.

In this video, we review the responsibilities of a fiduciary and define who can legally be considered a fiduciary. Furthermore, we explore the high standards to which fiduciaries are held and the potential consequences that may arise when a fiduciary falls short of said standards. To learn more about how our inforce policy management platform helps to minimize fiduciary risk, watch the video below.

Richard Harris, Owner of Richard Harris LLC, discusses the ways in which he protects his client’s policies from lapsing. As a consultant, it’s important for him to be able to provide his clients with detailed analytics and extensive information regarding their life insurance policy and products so that they’re armed with enough education to make the right choices when it comes to their contracts. To hear more of Richard’s insight, watch the video below.

Trustees are legally considered fiduciaries and are thus held to strict fiduciary duties. Managing trusts can be complicated and time-consuming enough as it is, with various investments and assets of considerable worth. And on top of that, you have to make sure you're following industry best practices and helping trust beneficiaries achieve best possible outcomes.

It sounds overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. Our team has created a handy guide to help you understand exactly what is required of you and how to best approach managing the trust.

Thomas Bishop, Owner of The Bishop Company LLC, shares his thoughts with us regarding the life insurance industry and the importance of a proactive approach to policy management. It’s much better to be aware of changes that can negatively impact the way a policy performs before those changes happen. For more of Tom’s insight, watch the video below.

Fiduciaries are obligated to always act in the best interest of their clients. The possibility of a fiduciary failing to do so is referred to as fiduciary risk. Watch this video to learn more about how Proformex helps fiduciaries avoid that risk.

In our Thought Leadership interview session with Bill Boersma, Owner of the OC Consulting Group, Bill emphasizes the importance of ongoing policy management. Without a system in place for monitoring policies, it can be very easy for something to slip through the cracks and cause irreparable damage. For Bill, it’s important not to let that happen. Hear more of his insight at the video below.

Annual policy reviews are time-consuming and costly. Imagine how you could reallocate your time and resources and put them to better use if you had a way to automate the policy review process. 

In order for succession planning to be seamless, life insurance agents must have an established process that addresses the biggest concerns for potential buyers of their practice. They must provide visibility to continued policyowner loyalty and future revenue potential among a multitude of other key components of the practice’s business. Proformex digitizes your entire book of business and helps agents give potential buyers the data they need. Learn more about how Proformex helps with succession planning in the video below.

Financial services group automates policy performance monitoring with Proformex

During the 53rd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, we had the chance to catch up with Nick Bowman, Advanced Market Specialist of Lion Street, and gather some of his insights about some of the bigger issues facing the industry today. From his perspective, he feels that a lack of transparency and a lack of second and third-generation producers coming in are two of the biggest challenges that the industry needs to overcome. To hear more, watch the video below.

 Are you missing out on new business opportunities with your current clients? Don’t wait until your annual reviews with your clients to find potential sales. Learn more about how Proformex can help you quickly identify these opportunities for easy sales.

Wondering how you can better attract and retain sales as a general agent? Our platform can help. With changes in state insurance regulations and increased product performance concerns, inforce policy management is becoming a major issue for the life insurance industry. GAs who have implemented automated inforce policy monitoring systems are benefiting not only in recruiting new producers, but also in increased production. Watch our latest video to learn more about how you can do the same.

Experienced entrepreneur and marketing executive brings strategy and vision

Whether you're a professional or non-professional trustee, you are held to strict fiduciary standards. Proformex can help you avoid unintended breach of those fiduciary duties. Did you know Proformex can help to establish processes to ensure that you're exceeding the standards to which you are held as a trustee? To demonstrate how Proformex supports ILIT management, we created the following video. Check it out to learn more about how we can help!

Annual policy reviews are essential to ensuring that policyowners' expectations are met. But they're both time consuming and costly. Did you know you that Proformex automates the policy review process and can even generate client-ready reports? By doing so, you'll save yourself time and money, and deliver a more consistent and comprehensive reporting experience to your clients. Watch our latest video to learn more about how Proformex helps with policy reviews.

A local foundation was gifted a $5M life insurance policy. When its premium payments increased 400% unexpectedly, Proformex quickly identified the problem and helped the foundation explore all their options to resolve this problem.

Proformex designed a new platform for increased user-friendliness and navigability

Toward the end of 2018, we shared with you a quick overview of the legislative changes made in New York regarding the “best interest” standard for fiduciaries that included a guide to help you determine what steps to take to prepare for said changes. Since then, Nevada state legislators have passed a law that requires all brokers and advisors to be held accountable to a strict fiduciary standard.

‘Tis the season of giving! Corporate philanthropy is engrained in so many company’s cultures, and our culture at Proformex is no different. One of our core values is being “purpose-driven” in every sense of the word. In addition to being ambitious professionally, our team is always seeking out opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others both in our work and our community outreach efforts.

Financial planning firm invests in advanced technology for in force policy management.

The process of researching, purchasing and maintaining a life insurance policy can be quite tedious and complex, but you don’t have to tackle it alone. Take a look at this handy guide put together by our friends at Forbes that walks you through the next steps.

Monitoring inforce life insurance performance relative to the original performance expectations can be a difficult task for agents, advisors, trustees and fiduciaries trying to protect their clients’ interests. Proformex was created to make InForce Policy Management easy. Our intuitive platform helps you monitor, analyze and manage the performance of your clients’ life insurance policies in a single, distribution-agnostic platform.

The Crisis

Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal published an article, “Universal Life Insurance, a 1980s Sensation, Has Backfired”. The author, Leslie Scism, dives deeply into the ongoing crisis faced by many aging policyowners: a long decline in interest rates has caused their premiums to rise exponentially.

In our Thought Leadership interview session with Jon J. Pinney, Managing Partner of Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz, we discuss the state of the life insurance industry and the growing need for technologies that will help to automate cumbersome tasks and improve efficiencies. The Proformex inforce policy management platform is one of those technologies helping to advance the life insurance industry into a new era, and Mr. Pinney enjoys that the platform provides better transparency to his clients with detailed analytics and reporting. Hear more of his insights in the video below.

Change is coming from coast to coast following the precedent set by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) in July. Are you prepared for the inevitable ripple effect throughout the rest of the US?

Marc Byrnes, Chairman of Oswald Companies, discussed all the ways in which he believes the life insurance industry can improve in this Influencer Interview session. Adopting better technology is one thing he would like to see the industry do more of in coming years. That’s why his company uses Proformex. Our inforce policy management platform helps Oswald Companies to ensure they’re providing the best service to their policyowners while also reducing their fiduciary risk. Listen to more of his expert advice in the video below.

Life Insurance Technology Company Relocates to Larger Office Space

CLEVELAND, Ohio – November 27, 2018 – Proformex, creator of a proactive life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance agents, advisors and fiduciaries better oversight and visibility into the performance of in force life insurance policies, today announced that will relocate to Downtown Cleveland.

Tyler Horning and his firm, TDC Life, use Proformex to help mitigate fiduciary risk. In an age where regulations continue to become more stringent, it was important for Mr. Horning and his team to implement a comprehensive, consolidated solution for inforce policy management. Using Proformex to monitor performance on all their clients’ policies gives Horning and his firm peace of mind and helps to create new business opportunities. Learn more about why TDC Life chose Proformex in the video below.

Lindsey Smith of Cavitch, Familio & Durkin Co. was all too familiar with the anxieties that are often associated with life insurance policy management. Because he didn’t have a centralized location with well-organized data for all the policies entrusted to his company, he was not confident that policy performance was being properly supervised. Mr. Smith discovered Proformex and can now rest easy knowing that the Proformex inforce policy management platform is keeping close watch of all his clients’ policies and that he will be immediately notified if something falls off track. See how Proformex improves the firm’s operations through automation in the video below.

Earlier this month, our team had the pleasure of attending this year’s NAILBA conference, held in Orlando, FL. In addition to soaking up some sun, we had the opportunity to engage with industry peers and discuss some current hot topics of the life insurance world.

New professional platform designed specifically for fiduciaries

WESTLAKE, Ohio – November 15, 2018 – Proformex, creator of a proactive life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance agents, advisors and trustees better oversight and visibility into the performance of in force life insurance policies, today announced that its new professional platform will help ensure compliance with the New York State Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) new regulations for “best interest” standards.   

When a policyowner’s premium payment was not appropriately applied to his account, his life insurance policy became subject to lapse. Discover how Proformex helped keep the $2.5M policy in force.

Want to know what features you'll enjoy with the Proformex inforce policy management platform? Check out our new video to learn about what we offer from policy reporting and monitoring to a secure database for all your important documents.

 This past week, Proformex was featured in an article both in the Plain Dealer and on cleveland.com. The article, titled "Proformex of Westlake looking to move offices downtown", reads as follows:

One of the accounting firm’s clients made a material change to his policy, which nearly resulted in a loss of 30 years of coverage. Fortunately, Proformex helped the firm and the client avoid this potential catastrophe. Read more to learn how.

Two policyowners nearly lost seven years of coverage on their $250,000 life insurance policy after the carrier had been spun off and suffered significant reduction in their company ratings. See how Proformex helped keep the policy from lapsing by identifying this issue in a coverage assessment report of the policy.

A local community foundation received a $5M life insurance policy as a donation, but shortly after receiving this gift, the policy became subject to lapse. See how Proformex helped keep the policy inforce.

Beck Brings Proven Record Leading Technology Companies

WESTLAKE, Ohio – October 30, 2018 – Proformex, creator of a proactive life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance agents, advisors and fiduciaries better oversight and visibility into the performance of in force life insurance policies, today announced that its board of directors has appointed Kris Beck as chief executive officer.

A client at this law firm had a life insurance policy that he was ready to surrender. Find out how Proformex intervened and gave him some more preferable alternatives to explore.

An article written by Proformex Founder and President Mike Pepe was featured in the September/October 2018 issue of the Probate Law Journal of Ohio. His article, titled “Proactive Life Insurance Policy Management Mitigates Risk for Fiduciaries”, can be found on pages 300-301. The full-length article reads as follows:

When agent Ben Rainey’s client began undergoing treatments for her recent cancer diagnosis, she missed a premium payment amidst all the chaos. Discover how Proformex helped him keep this client’s policy from lapsing.

Last week, our team had the pleasure of participating in ACORD Connect 2018, held in New Orleans, LA. This annual event is a great opportunity to network, discuss shifts and advancements in the industry and learn more about new marketplace solutions.

Insured gets $130k in settlement for a policy they were planning to surrender

WESTLAKE, Ohio – October 16, 2018 – Proformex, creator of a proactive life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance agents, advisors, fiduciaries and trustees better oversight and visibility into the performance of inforce life insurance policies, today announced one of its customer success stories. Wegman, Hessler & Vanderburg, a Cleveland-based law firm specializing in Business and Commercial Law, Creditors’ Rights and Estate Planning, used Proformex to help educate a policyowner on all his options when he decided he no longer needed to keep his life insurance policy inforce.

It’s not uncommon for a policyowner to find themselves no longer needing a life insurance policy. But what can you do with it? One option is a life settlement. A life settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy to a third party for a value in excess of the policy’s cash surrender value, but less than its face value, or death benefit. Check out the video below to learn more about life settlements and whether it’s a viable option for you.

When you’re looking to implement a life insurance policy, there are tons of options you’ll need to consider, from choosing which carrier you’ll get the policy from and which type of policy will best suit your needs. But the choices don’t end there. Did you know you have the option to finance your life insurance premiums? It’s a good option if you’re looking for alternatives to pay for those costly premiums. We finance just about everything else in our lives, so why not explore premium financing as another option? Watch this video to learn more about why this could be the right move for you.

A well respected law firm with a significant trust practice had no comprehensive process for policy review. Learn how Proformex solved their reactive problem and created real differentiation from their competitors.

WESTLAKE, Ohio, – October 4, 2018 – Proformex, creator of a proactive life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance agents, advisors, fiduciaries and trustees better oversight and visibility into the performance of inforce life insurance policies, today announced that it has officially closed on $3.1M in funding from the summer seed round.  Investments were collected from several strategic investors who have connections into the life insurance industry and ancillary verticals.

Last week, our team had the opportunity to attend this year’s Insurance News Net Super Conference. Insurance News Net is the source for breaking news and relevant information on the Life insurance, Health insurance, Property and Casualty industries. Every year, professionals from all these industries and more gather at the Super Conference to exchange insights and hear from top-notch keynote speakers.

Find out how one advisor transformed his practice utilizing the Proformex system to ensure his clients' needs were met while creating new opportunities within his current book of business.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal published an article, “Universal Life Insurance, a 1980s Sensation, Has Backfired”. The author dives deeply into the ongoing crisis faced by many aging policyowners: a long decline in interest rates has caused their premiums to rise exponentially.

Have you noticed anything different about us lately? By now, you should have! But if you didn’t yet, don’t worry; we promise not to engage in a weeks-long passive aggressive standoff with you over it.

WESTLAKE, Ohio – September 18, 2018 – Proformex, creator of an all-encompassing life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance agents, advisors, trustees and fiduciaries better oversight and control of their client’s life insurance policies, today announced one of its customer’s success stories. Life Asset Partners, a leading life insurance and financial services firm located in Denver, leveraged the power of Proformex to prevent a client’s policy from lapsing while she was undergoing treatment for stage four cancer.

Last week, our team had the great pleasure of attending the Plug and Play Tech Center Summit in Sunnyvale, CA. Plug and Play Tech Center is “the ultimate innovation platform connecting the best startups and the largest corporations”. Mike Pepe, CEO and Founder of Proformex, and Chad Neifer, SVP of Key Accounts and Integration, had a great time networking with other entrepreneurial professionals in both related and unrelated industries.

Technology Expert Brings Experience to Proformex Team

Life Insurance Internal Changes and Their Impact on Policy Owners

Chief Technology Officer Brings Product Development Experience to Proformex Team

WESTLAKE, Ohio – August 21, 2018 – Proformex, creator of an all-encompassing life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance brokerages and agents, fiduciaries and financial planners better oversight and visibility into the performance of inforce life insurance policies, today announced that Chris Sullivan has been chosen as the company’s chief technology officer. Sullivan brings more than a decade of experience in the software development field, having previously held executive positions at a number of companies.

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive when speaking with advisors is, “How do I identify life settlements cases?” Financial professionals and fiduciaries want to know how to best serve their clients but aren’t sure what situations are a good fit for a life settlement.

As a fiduciary, you’re keenly aware that life insurance can often be the worst-performing asset of your clients’ financial portfolios, simply because they are so costly, complex and time-consuming to properly manage. Now more than ever, this industry is in desperate need of a fiduciary-oriented management process to resolve this pain point we’ve been facing for decades.

Insurance Industry Vet Brings Expertise to Proformex Team

WESTLAKE, Ohio – August 7, 2018 – Proformex, creator of an all-encompassing life insurance policy monitoring platform designed to give insurance brokerages and agents, fiduciaries and financial planners better oversight and visibility into the performance of in force life insurance policies, today announced that Marc Byrnes has joined its Board of Directors. As an industry insider with extensive experience and expertise, Byrnes understands and validates the ongoing need for proactive life insurance policy management through powerful software that optimizes the process.

Buying a life insurance policy undoubtedly provides your beneficiaries with financial security when your life ends, but did you know you could also unknowingly leave them with exorbitant estate taxes?

For many insurance advisors, learning about life settlements can seem overwhelming. It’s a relatively new industry with comprehensive regulations. There are countless other concerns taking up their time and energy. And, because many seniors aren’t aware of the life settlement option, insurance advisors may not see much demand for the information.

New Chief Operating Officer Brings Rapid Growth Strategy Experience to Proformex Team

Executive Chairman Brings Financial and Growth Acumen to Proformex Team and Board 

Transferring wealth to future generations is most successful when the values of the generation who built the wealth are transferred as well. Wealthmanagement.com’s Steven Abernathy explains why helping families identify a shared purpose can serve as the foundation for helping wealth flourish for generations to come.

Read full article: Discovering a Family’s Purpose Can Save the Family A Fortune

Creating instant capital via life insurance helps to solve a number of different problems families and business may face. Here’s a well put together list of six such problems that can be solved using life insurance.

Read full article: 6 Problems Solved By Life Insurance

To help further our mission of helping advisors and fiduciaries proactively manage life insurance policies for the benefits of their clients and their families, Proformex was honored to donate its TOLI accounting system Campbell University’s new First Citizen’s Wealth Management Center at the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business. The 7,250 square foot center center will serve as a learning lab, simulating an investment firm environment, a trading room, and a trust center.

Read more/Read the full article: Financial Lab Prepares Students with AV Upgrades

From the very beginning, our policy management system was conceived and built to change the way policies are managed. Before we solidified our name Proformex, and our mission to protect, inform, and exceed, our system went by the name of the TOLI Vault. Wealthmanagement.com’s Donald Kelly, evaluates and scores our system andits ability to proactively manage life insurance policies.

Read more/ Read the full article: TOLI Vault – Storing and analyzing information on life insurance policies and their backgrounds