This month, our CEO, Jay Judas, talks to Seth Wasserman, CEO & President, Three Points Insurance Design, LLC. The pair chat about Seth's journey through the life insurance industry to starting his own business, infinite banking, and Seth's super fun hobby. Read on to learn more!
JAY: Seth, you founded an increasingly popular illustration and case design firm, Three Points Insurance Design, LLC, six years ago this month and I find what you bring to the life insurance industry is incredibly valuable. Back in the '90s, when I was with a M Financial Group firm, a box of computer discs would arrive each month and I would have to spend just over a day updating the 100-plus life insurance products on my computer. This was in addition to spending most of the rest of my time trying to optimally illustrate split-dollar or deferred compensation arrangements. It left little time for selling or prospecting. We will talk about how you give time back to your clients but, first, let’s hear more about Three Points Insurance Design, LLC.
SETH: Thank you for including me in the Tier One Interview Series. I look forward to reading it each month! Three Points Insurance Design is a boutique firm that specializes in life insurance and long-term care case design. We create sophisticated designs for which we highlight product anomalies and put together presentations for our clients that are transparent and easy to understand, and, in turn, help tell a story for their clients. We pride ourselves in maintaining a client centric approach matching the fact patterns of a case that we get from the advisor to the correct carrier and product that will deliver on a client’s planning goals.
JAY: Most of our Tier One Interviewees have a fascinating back story and you are no different. You grew up on the East Coast but then moved West to play Division I Football. Tell me about your upbringing and your path to the life insurance industry. Am I right that you tried your hand at acting and being a model?
SETH: (chuckling) Yes, I graduated from a small high school in Enfield, CT and made my way out west to play football for San Jose State University. After I graduated, I continued to work hard training for a potential run at professional football only to hurt my back in the process. I did try my hands in acting and modeling while I was training in the LA area. Through acting, modeling and training, I met my eventual manager, Ron Bertke, who brought me into the business as a New York Life agent. Ron is now a Penn Mutual wholesaler in Southern California.
After being a producer at New York Life, I helped establish a life insurance platform for a small broker-dealer in Calabasas, CA. Then, I went to work for Crump Insurance Services in the firm’s Sacramento office as a sales manager working on sophisticated life insurance and premium finance cases for hundreds of producers.
After a few years, I left Crump and joined Transamerica as an RVP where I found a passion in creating IUL designs for accumulation and, again, helping producers with sophisticated sales concepts and their designs. This led me to a FVP position with Pacific Life back home in the Northeast where I was introduced to the producer group world. There, I met a producer who was looking for a case designer. We hit it off and he mentioned that he knew at least five other offices that needed case design support and the rest is history – I decided to start my own company to offer that support. That was 6 years ago this month!
JAY: When you and I spoke a few weeks ago, you talked about your greatest contribution to the life insurance industry being that you save your client’s time. How do you do that and what benefits are your clients seeing from your work?
SETH: Our team at Three Points Insurance Design like to be the “quarterback” for our clients by offering them a single solution to help them put together life insurance portfolios for their clients. By being the quarterback, we save our clients a ton of time that they can use to book more appointments with clients and their centers of influence. On average, some of the clients we work with have seen an upwards of 35% ROI because of our efforts.
JAY: When I mentioned having to update just over 100 products each month, I think I was getting off easy compared to the number of life and long-term care products that exist today. Is it fair to say that Three Points Insurance Design has access to just about every product? What does that mean for the producers with whom you work?
SETH: It was no easy task, but we have access to every carrier and every product in the life insurance and long-term care markets and partner with some of the best professionals in the industry that help fill the void with disability insurance, PPLI and a few other bespoke products. That allows our clients to have confidence that they will never be backdoored by competition that is showing a product that they may not have access to…because they do have access through us.
JAY: Anytime I have posed a product question to you, I am always impressed how you seem to have instant recall with the answer. Let me switch topics to a debate where the answer can be proven through illustrative modeling – infinite banking using whole life insurance. I believe we are on the same page with this nonsense, and I would love it if you could share your thoughts on this scheme that is all over social media.
SETH: Concepts are so important for our industry. They help paint a picture for clients to see where life insurance can be implemented to help them. Some of these concepts are simply made up to sound appealing even though they are not disseminated through marketing at the carrier level. “Infinite Banking” is one of those concepts that, honestly, is misleading and falsified just to make a sale.
At the end of the day, it is nothing more than abusing the benefits of whole life insurance by borrowing against the cash value. My issue with this scheme is that it is not “infinite,” and, in a lot of cases, the designs are not run correctly and may come as a shock to the client down the road when they over-loan the policy which could create a need for more premiums, or even put the policy in a position to lapse.
I do love seeing policies appropriately accessed for cash value life when there is a rough idea of when that might happen and for how much money so the policy can initially be designed accordingly. This is not the case with infinite banking.
JAY: Last December, at an event in Charlotte, I discovered that you have a second passion in addition to being a life insurance carrier, product, and design expert. You officiate college football and I understand you are very good at it. How did this happen and what goes into being an official at the collegiate level? Also, where does this lead?
SETH: Yes, it is my passion and I love it so much! It stems from my past as a football player and wanting to give back to the sport that means a lot to me. I work very hard at it by studying the rules, watching films and spending hours in the gym to stay in shape so I can keep up with these college athletes. I would venture to say I spend anywhere between 15 to 20 hours a week in the offseason and even more during the season to be the best I can be! Every Saturday on the field I feel so fortunate and give 100% to keep the integrity of the game at the highest level. I am not sure where it may lead in the future, but my goal is to work hard to try and make it to the highest level possible.
JAY: Besides running your company and playing a role in college football, how do you spend your free time? Here, you should definitely mention your wife, Mara, because I already let you talk about coaching and if you do not bring-up Mara, we are both in big trouble!
SETH: You’re absolutely right, Jay! My free time outside of work and football is spent with my family. I have been married to the most amazing person in the world, Mara. She has been with me through everything, and I would say she is my ride or die as we approach our 23rd wedding anniversary. Together, we have two amazing kids, Zach, who is 19 and a rising Junior at Bucknell and Chloe who is 16 a rising Junior in high school.
JAY: You did a great job with the interview, Seth, and you have made it to the restaurant question. Without naming a steakhouse or a steak dish, tell me about some of your favorite spots to eat and what you recommend ordering.
SETH: The is no question that my family and I share a love for Sushi! As big Sushi connoisseurs, our favorite local Sushi spot is Meadow Asian Cuisine in Simsbury, Connecticut and our go to rolls are the Kobe, Red Lion, Snow Mountain and Angry Dragon rolls. I recently heard OKO in Westport, Connecticut is the best around so my family will be verifying that claim soon – you and Pete are invited, of course.
Since its inception, Life Insurance Strategies Group has solely focused on the individual high net worth life insurance market. We do not sell products. This allows us to offer unbiased, pragmatic advice. Visit us at www.lifeinsurancestrategiesgroup.com.
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