No Small Goals for New AALU President

Any insurance professional who takes a leadership role in a major industry organization can anticipate devoting long hours and substantial travel to this "volunteer" commitment. New adventures in multitasking come with the job, too. That suits Michael Corry just fine. The new president of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU), Corry has an ambitious agenda that he itemized in an interview with LIS at AALU's 51st annual meeting in early May, in Washington, D.C.

The AALU has two basic missions, one internal, the other external. The internal mission is the same as in a number of other industry groups--the sharing of ideas, knowledge, and experience, to "help our members be better businesspeople and make more profit," as Corry put it. The external role is political activism, lobbying Congress on tax reform and other issues of interest to the life insurance industry. That's why the group always holds its annual meeting in Washington, so that attendees can spend a full afternoon visiting members of Congress and their staffs in their offices.

Both missions depend on strong, committed membership, and that's the focus for Corry and the AALU in 2008-09. "Expanding our membership is our number one priority right now," Corry said. "We have a very aggressive objective of 7% growth for the next three years. My task, over the next year, will be to make sure we have put in the tactical parts that support achieving that objective."

The organization has some momentum on that front already, because membership growth is a standing priority. "We're very proud that this past year, our membership efforts resulted in a positive increase in our membership," he said. "We know of no other organization in the industry that has had that result."

It's one thing to recruit new members--and something else to get them engaged in the dual mission. Corry has ambitions there as well. "By the end of my year as president, I hope to see a dramatic increase in the number of our members holding fundraising events in their homes for their U.S. congressmen and senators. I firmly believe that's the easiest thing that any life insurance producer can do and be really effective, both for himself and for the industry.

"What do we do best in our industry? Create relationships. This should be a natural for anybody in our business. We want to get that message out, that we've created the resources to help producers do that with these fundraisers; all they have to do is agree to open up their home and spend a little money. We will help get the event organized so that it's successful."

Corry, a partner with The Todd Organization in St. Louis, also recognizes that the membership pipeline must extend into the pools of the new recruits entering the industry. In fact, he believes most of AALU's new members will come from the existing outposts of the career agency system, such as at Northwestern Mutual, where he got his start nearly 30 years ago. "Most of us here (in AALU) came out of a career agency organization," he said. "We're working with the mutual companies and the other career agency companies to have a dialogue on how to make that happen."

Meanwhile, AALU will continue to maintain its many inroads on Capitol Hill, including its strong ties to such ranking Democratic legislators as Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Both men spoke at this year's meeting and acknowledged the importance of the life insurance industry in helping shape tax and fiscal policy.

With Mike Corry in charge, look for the AALU to keep its eye on the ball--especially during this election year--and a strong team on the field in its 52nd year.