I recently attended the 2020 M Financial National Advisors Conference (NAC) held at the Boca Raton Resort and Beach Club in Florida. M Financial firms are encouraged to invite advisors with whom we work (most often tax, legal, trust and investment advisors) to participate in a relaxed, educational and collaborative environment. This allows our advisors to learn what M is doing globally in estate, business and tax planning, to become acquainted with other professionals, and to enjoy a few days at an excellent resort in a warm climate.
The meeting opened with Wes Thompson, President of M, and John Barry, Chairman, discussing M’s extensive transition enterprise-wide to elevate the M client experience and value to a level even greater than it is today. They discussed M’s focused efforts to create new technology, build outstanding educational tools for our advisors and joint venture partners, and to establish processes to identify and recruit top talent… all aligning with our mission to further raise the bar with regard to what we deliver to the market and our plans for diversification.
Wes and John spoke of M’s industry leadership which emanates from our exceptional high net worth clientele, our ownership of M Reinsurance, lower actual mortality experience, and an average policy size that is ten times and policy persistency three times that of the rest of the industry. The result: lower expenses, lower costs, better underwriting offers, and enhanced advocacy for our clients.
Breakout sessions included 2025, A New Planning Frontier, Business Succession, Extended Family – HNW International Families, The Power of Purpose in Financial Planning and In Trusts We Trust. Main platform sessions included Private Placement: a Journey from Consumer to Advisor, a very popular topic with affluent families and family offices, and The Washington Update, a regular feature at our meetings and at AALU (The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting) meetings.
On the main platform, two very meaningful presentations were extremely well received. Professor Jeffrey Morton from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) spoke on the timely topic of China and the US: Trade and Geopolitics. Jeff, a personal friend, has received many accolades for his work both at FAU and at its Lifelong Learning Center. He was awarded the prestigious Foreign Policy Medal by the New York-based Foreign Policy Association.
To close, we were blessed to have Dan Rather join us. His personal comments highlighting his career and his many close relationships with international leaders made this an emotional experience for the entire audience. He remained after to sign copies of his books and spoke with us individually.
Lastly, I had the pleasure of hosting a small private dinner Monday for my advisor guests, a joint venture partner and a senior M colleague from Portland. The afternoons are reserved for golf and/or optional activities – with weather in the 80’s, this is certainly desirable! The closing dinner was capped with a surprising illusionist who stunned everyone with his amazing and unusual ability to weave mathematical and word skills into his performance. What an exciting way to end two event-filled days! One priority for us has always been to focus on staying abreast of industry updates, trends, and changes most relevant to our advisors and clients. Attending the annual M conference was a tremendous event that energized our kick off for this year.