2006 Annual Meeting Speakers

The International Forum has assembled the best and the brightest to speak on their areas of expertise. See the biographical sketches below. Speakers are subject to change.

 Christofer C. Ashby, Ph.D., is a co-founder and managing member of Premium Funding Group, LLC. He has more than 18 years of experience in financial and operational management, mergers & acquisitions and business development in the telecommunication, banking, shipping and insurance sectors. As an executive consultant with Ernst & Young's Privatization and Utilities Group in Central Eastern Europe, he led large-scale privatization engagements on behalf of The World Bank, Nomura Securities, Maersk Lines and General Electric among others. During his tenure with Deloitte & Touche, he specialized in mergers and acquisitions and private equity finance in emerging markets. Ashby is a licensed life and accident/health broker.
Kathleen R. Barrow, Esq., MBA, SPHR, is president and chief counsel for Millennium Marketing Group, LLC. Barrow is an Oklahoma and Texas-licensed attorney who has represented corporations, municipalities and other entities in the areas of healthcare employment, employee benefits and federal employment law. Barrow often authors articles, trains business managers and supervisors in ERISA/tax issues, federal labor and employment law compliance, workplace investigations and progressive discipline procedures. Barrow served as litigation defense counsel for various private corporate and public entities, including United Parcel Service, Halliburton Company and Seagate Technologies. Barrow earned her MBA from the Oklahoma City University and her JD from the University of Oklahoma, College of Law, both with high honors.

Jeff Blackman is a speaker, author, success coach, broadcast personality and lawyer.  He heads a results-producing business-growth firm in the Chicagoland area.  His clients call him, a "business-growth specialist."   For over two decades, Jeff has shared his positive and profit-producing messages with Fortune 500 companies, closely-held businesses and entrepreneurial-driven organizations.  Jeff is also a Contributing Editor to numerous magazines and newspapers, and he has authored several books, as well as, audio and video business-growth tools.
J. David Briggs is a native of New York state, graduated from the University of Denver and has been in the financial services and life insurance industries since 1974. In 1987, Briggs formed the Colorado Financial Group. Briggs' honors include life and qualifying status 25 times in the Million Dollar Round Table, Court of the Round Table qualifications since 1989 and Top of the Table qualifications since 1995. He has also qualified for The International Forum since 1991. Briggs received the Colorado Springs General Agents and Management Association Distinguished Life Underwriter Award. Briggs is a frequent speaker for industry organizations on the subject of business and estate planning.
Lawrence Brody is a partner of Bryan Cave LLP, an international law firm. Brody is the leader of its Private Client Service Group and is a member of its Entrepreneurial, Technology & Commercial Practice Client Service Group. He is an adjunct professor at Washington University School of Law, a visiting adjunct professor at the University of Miami Law School and is the author of numerous articles and books on the use of life insurance in estate planning. Brody is a member of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and The American College of Tax Counsel. He received the designation of Accredited Estate Planner by the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils, and was awarded its Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner designation in 2004.
Alan H. Buerger is co-founder and CEO of Coventry First, a leader in the secondary market for life insurance. Under Buerger’s leadership, Coventry First has transformed the life insurance industry by giving consumers the opportunity to sell unwanted or underperforming insurance products in a free market setting. Coventry’s efforts have enabled policy owners to receive more than $500 million over cash surrender value for their life insurance products that are underperforming or no longer needed. For more than 30 years Buerger has been in the forefront of the life insurance industry. Buerger is a regular speaker at top industry conferences and roundtables including the NYU Tax institute, the Conference and Consulting Actuaries, LIMRA, Top of the Table, AALU, The International Forum, NAILBA, The Federalist Society and the Manhattan Institute.
Thomas F. Commito, JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC, is senior tax advisor in Lincoln Financial Distributors' RSM/Advanced Sales Channel, where he works with producers to increase their existing business. Commito is a graduate of Cornell University (BA), Boston College Law School (JD) and Boston University Law School (LLM -Taxation). He is admitted to practice law in Vermont and Massachusetts. Since 2001, he has written annually the Life Insurance Section for NYU Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation published by Lexis/Nexis. Commito has published two books, Working with FLPs and LLCs: A Practitioners Guide and Comprehensive Buy-Sell Agreements. He has published more than 100 articles in journals such as Journal of American Society of Financial Society Professionals.
Dennis A. Cunning, CPA, retired, is founder and president of Pension Professionals of America, Inc., an NFP company. He is a member of Million Dollar Round Table, Court of the Table, Top of the Table, The International Forum and AALU. He specializes in retirement planning, asset protection and wealth transfer with an emphasis on exit strategies from qualified plans. Cunning has worked in the retirement and estate planning area for over 30 years. A CPA practicing public accounting in Oregon for over 25 years, Cunning retired his certificate from active public practice in 1996. He now focuses on retirement, estate and charitable gift planning for privately held businesses, high net-worth individuals and professionals. He works with accountants, investment advisors, life insurance agents, attorneys and other client advisors in designing and implementing pension plans and planned gift strategies.
Dean De Marco is co-founder and a managing member of Premium Funding Group LLC. Prior to joining PFG, De Marco was with American International Group, Inc. for 17 years in various management positions. Most recently, he was an executive vice president for A.I. Credit Corp., an AIG subsidiary responsible for making insurance premium and other insurance related commercial loans. De Marco headed up A.I. Credit’s Business Development, maintenance and management of its industry-leading life insurance premium financing program. De Marco began his career at Manufacturers Hanover Leasing Company as a staff accountant. He graduated from Dowling College with a BBA in accounting in 1984 and holds a diploma in financial management from New York University.
Jim Ferrell is managing director of The Arbinger Institute, a management consulting firm and scholarly consortium that is the world's pioneer in the area of "self-deception" and its relevance to organizations. Ferrell has degrees in economics and philosophy and is a graduate of Yale Law School. He is a member of the California Bar and joined Arbinger as managing director in 1996. He is a best-selling author and has written several books about Arbinger's material, including books about its application to business, leadership, peacemaking, intervention, teaching, counseling and family life. He has taught and consulted around these ideas with leaders of corporations, governments and organizations of all kinds throughout the world.
Alfred A. Gelfond is president of Alfred A. Gelfond & Co., an organization specializing in employee benefits, insurance and estate planning for 49 years. He is founder and member of Hemisphere Life and Group, an agent-owned re-insurance company that was acquired by National Financial Partners. Gelfond is a member of The International Forum and serves on the Board of Directors, as well as the Top of the Table. Gelfond is also past president of New England Life Leaders Association, Tri-County Estate Planning Council, Central New Jersey Life Underwriters Association and serves on the board of directors of several religious and charitable institutions. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri.
Hank George is invasive to underwriting. He created its journal, seminar program, world congress, four study groups and four associations; published 150 articles and papers, addressed Million Dollar Round Table three times and Top of the Table twice. All of these accomplishments were completed while writing publications, creating 35 Society of Actuaries events, educating globally and co-authoring two books.
Julius H. Giarmarco, Esq., is a partner in the law firm of Cox, Hodgman, & Giarmarco, P.C., in Troy, Mich., where he heads up the firm's 15-person Estate Planning Division. Giarmarco lectures on a national basis, including speeches before The International Forum, the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU) and numerous life insurance companies, brokerage firms and trade associations.
Joshua Gottlieb has been a licensed life insurance agent for over 30 years, specializing in the creation and development of financial products and services within executive compensation and benefit plans. Gottlieb has become an industry leader in devising proprietary products and marketing and sales techniques in the benefits finance arena. He owns and operates several companies that provide specialized services in this arena, which have underwritten permanent life insurance coverage of more than $3 billion, with more than $300 million of life insurance premiums. Gottlieb has been a member of the Cleveland and Ohio Association of Life Underwriters, AALU, NAIFA, the Million Dollar Round Table, the Court of the Table, the Top of the Table and The International Forum.
Lawrence L. Grypp is president and CEO of Columbus Life Insurance Company, a member of The Western & Southern Financial Group in Cincinnati. Prior to joining Columbus Life, he served for over 25 years in the financial services industry, most recently as president and CEO of Summit Financial Resources, Inc. in Parsippany, N.J. Grypp was associated with MassMutual Financial Group for over 20 years, concluding his tenure as executive vice president, leading the four core businesses at MassMutual. Grypp graduated from Western Illinois University and completed the executive program at Dartmouth College in 1994. Grypp is a member of LIMRA’s Strategic Marketing Issues Committee, a life member of the Million Dollar Round Table and a member of the World Presidents Organization (WPO).
Thomas J. Handler, JD, PC, is managing principal and chairman, Advanced Planning & Family Office Practice Group at Handler, Thayer & Duggan, LLC. His primary area of expertise involves the analysis and structuring of complex business enterprises and estate plans and handling the related tax planning issues. Such planning often involves the interplay of income tax, estate tax, executive benefits and financial matters. In this regard, Handler is particularly experienced in dealing with business owners, directors, executives, professional athletes, celebrities and family offices. He has extensive experience in analysis, design and implementation of domestic and international business planning, financial and estate planning and advanced tax planning strategies. Handler has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally at professional and family office educational conferences.
Kenneth R. Hartstein is president and chief operating officer of Economic Concepts, Inc. (ECI) in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hartstein earned his B.S. in finance from Long Island University. From 1968 to 1980, he was a partner in an east coast firm doing financial planning and pension plan consulting. In 1980, he moved to Phoenix as a principal in both investment and retirement systems and actuarial and administrative services (AAS). ECI is a product marketing and pension consulting firm formed in 1991. Hartstein’s principal area of expertise is in qualified plans, and over the years he has designed and successfully marketed tax advantaged programs used to assist clients in minimizing their business pretax profits. Hartstein is a member of MDRT's Top of the Table and is a member of and serves on the Board of Directors of The International Forum.
Charles D. Hollander is president of Applied Strategies & Counsel, Inc., creator of The Performance School and author of How to Escape from Alcatraz. The concepts that led to the formation of ASC and the creation of The Performance School have evolved over the course of an 18-year career in the industry. Most recently the company has grown from providing comprehensive client advice to providing practice management coaching to young advisors and enjoying the value of sharing expertise with other professionals. The ASC Group and The Performance School are the latest milestones in this progression.
Richard D. Landsberg, JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC, RFC, APM, AIF, is director of advanced sales with Nationwide Financial Services at its world headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Landsberg's expertise focuses on executive benefits, employee benefits and investment advisory services. He received both his BA and JD from the University of Tulsa. Landsberg is active in professional organizations such as the American Bar Association's Section of Labor & Employment Law. Academically, he has taught financial planning at Purdue University and ERISA & employee benefits at the University of Iowa College of Law. A writer and commentator on industry activities, Landsberg serves on numerous Editorial Boards, one being the Journal of Deferred Compensation. He is a political advocate for the financial services industry. He has served as a legislative liaison for ASPPA. Landsberg has lectured before state bar associations, accounting societies, banking organizations and life underwriter associations.
Patrick A. Lang, JD, CLU, ChFC, CFP, CFS, FLMI, is a vice president of advanced sales-case support. Lang began his career as a home office underwriter. After law school he served in several advanced marketing positions before joining Chubb Life in 1990 as director of advanced marketing. He was promoted to assistant vice president in 1991 and made vice president 1995. Now a part of Jefferson Pilot Financial, Lang's responsibilities include advanced market support for JP's producers in the areas of estate and business planning and charitable giving. Lang holds a bachelor of business administration degree (cum laude) from the University of Massachusetts, a MBA and JD from Western New England College.
Leon L. Levy, CLU, RHU, is celebrating his 50th year in the life insurance industry and has provided excellent service and quality products throughout his career. In 1972, Levy started his own agency, Leon L. Levy & Associates. In that same year, he joined the Phoenix Life Insurance Company and was awarded the distinctive rank of company leader. He has repeated that performance 23 times. In recognition of his work, Phoenix recently established the Leon L. Levy Award. In 2000, he was named agent of the decade. Levy is a generalist in the life and health insurance industry. He is sought after as a speaker in addition to teaching at seminars and sales congress. Memberships include the Million Dollar Round Table, Top of the Table and The International Forum.
Michael Lloyd is one of the founding partners of Williams Coulson and the head of its ERISA Department. Williams Coulson is a Pittsburgh-based firm which concentrates its practice in estate, business, tax and retirement planning services. After earning both a BA in political science and a JD from University of Pittsburgh, Lloyd graduated with distinction with a masters in laws of taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. Lloyd was a senior tax attorney for the office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C. At the IRS he worked primarily in the areas of executive compensation and qualified plans. He was the docket attorney of the Code Section 401 (a)(26) Regulations Project and a member of the group of attorneys responsible for drafting the Code Section 401 (a)(4) Nondiscrimination Regulations.
Michael L. Millman is the founder of Michael L. Millman, Ltd. Prior to founding his own company in 1994, Millman was principal in the firm of T.R. Paul, Inc. for 13 years. Over the past 30 years, he has assisted more than 70 public companies and institutions as well as hundreds of closely held businesses in developing supplemental and non-qualified programs. Millman is a 1968 graduate of the University of Rhode Island and earned his MBA from Pace University in 1973.
Maggie Mitchell, JD, CLU, ChFC, is vice president of advanced markets for ING, where she is responsible for development and delivery of advanced sales strategies for ING's National Sales Support Team. Mitchell received a BA from the University of San Diego and JD from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. She is member of the California and Arizona State bars, the LIMRA Advanced Sales Committee and also holds a Series 7 securities license. Mitchell has published numerous articles in national publications and is a frequent speaker at life insurance and financial services industry meetings, where she has a reputation for utilizing creativity, ingenuity and simplicity to explain complex planning strategies.

Richard A. Oshins Esq., is a shareholder of the Las Vegas law firm of Oshins & Associates where he concentrates in tax and estate planning with a substantial emphasis on multi-generational wealth planning. Oshins is regarded as one of America's top estate planning lawyers advising wealthy clients throughout the United States. Oshins is also an advisor and consultant to many of the largest financial institutions in the United States. He has been listed in both The Best Lawyers in America and Martindale-Hubbell's list of Preeminent Lawyers from their inception. Prior to coming to Nevada, Oshins served as a law clerk for the United States Court of Claims in Washington, D.C. and as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Tax Legislative Counsel, U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.
Albert W. Papa, CLU, ChFC, is chairman and chief executive officer of Cambridge Financial Services, Inc. Cambridge is a financial services firm specializing in estate and financial planning for high net-worth individuals and business continuation planning for institutional, public and privately held companies in the Midwest, New York, Florida and California. In 2003, Papa became the managing director of the Paramount Planning Group at AXA Equitable, a hybrid producer group, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Advisors, LLC. Papa has published several articles and given seminars on exit strategies, estate planning and developing a professional practice at conferences nationwide. He was the main platform speaker at the AALU. Alongside FOX News Networks' Stuart Vareny, Papa spoke about estate planning issues on a broadcast to the National Bar Association.

Robert B. Ritter Jr., chairman/CEO of InsMark, has been in life insurance sales and sales management for over four decades. A former general agent for Mass Mutual in New York City, Ritter formed InsMark, a company dedicated to producing transferable marketing techniques for a wider group of producers. The success of InsMark has been phenomenal as
150+ companies have sponsored InsMark products utilized by over 30,000 producers. Ritter is a life member of MART and was a qualifier for Top of the Table and The International Forum until the growth of InsMark required all of his time.
Michael T. Rodman, CFP, is president of Advanced Planning Services, Inc. (APS). APS offers value added consulting on the more complex advanced planning techniques that financial professionals consider using. Rodman graduated from the University of Notre Dame and is a member of The International Forum.
Stephen O. Rothschild CLU, ChFC, CRC, RFC, is a national expert in wealth accumulation and transfer, providing advanced estate planning and business continuity strategies for successful entrepreneurs and their professional advisors. Rothschild is president of Rothschild & Sale, a St. Louis wealth planning firm. Rothschild is president of the Million Dollar Round Table, a member of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriters and on the advisory board for Trusts & Estates magazine. He was past president of both Estate Planning Council Chapter and Financial Planning Association of St. Louis. A renowned international speaker, Rothschild is known for lectures to attorneys, accountants and financial service professionals about advanced and creative estate planning and business continuity strategies.
Albert J. "Bud" Schiff is chief executive officer of NYLEX Benefits LLC, a company specializing in the design, implementation, financing and ongoing administrative support of supplemental executive benefits programs. Prior to NYLEX, Schiff served as president and chief executive officer of Clark/Bardes Partners. Prior to that, he retired as senior executive vice president and a member of the board of trustees of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY). Schiff is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has earned the Pension Actuary (MSPA), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), and Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) professional designations. In addition, Schiff has served in numerous insurance industry leadership roles including, but not limited to, AALU and Million Dollar Round Table Top of the Table.
John J. "Jack" Scott is the chairman of the board of Comprehensive Integrated Planning, Inc (CIF). Scott has developed a very sophisticated and proprietary math modeling software system. This system helps families reduce their estate and income tax liabilities. Scott was past president and a charter member of RADA, a national organization of 47 independent employee benefit firms located in 27 states. He was recently a board member of The International Forum and has given seminars for more than 600 professional advisors, CPAs, attorneys and financial planners. He has been a Top of the Table member for 23 years and is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table. Scott has spoken extensively to MDRT, Top of the Table, The International Forum and AALU.
Egil Stigum, CLU, was born and primary school educated in Oslo, Norway. Stigum arrived in America on a student VISA and $90. Stigum earned his bachelor of arts in geography from Dartmouth College in 1956 along with earning All American in skiing and soccer. Stigum's MBA was earned at Amos Tuck School of Business Administration 1959. Stigum worked in public accounting 1959 through 1965 and received CPA designation in 1962. His career in life insurance began in 1965. His personal accomplishments include the Five Million Dollar Forum, Top of the Table, Director of the New England CLU conference board and earning the Mass Mutual Agent of the Year, twice.
John Stossel is co-anchor/correspondent for 20/20andanchor/correspondent for The John Stossel Specials. Stossel is an award-winning news correspondent and was named co-anchor of ABC News 20/20 in May 2003. He joined the highly acclaimed newsmagazine in 1981.Stossel is featured in a weekly segment entitled Give Me a Break. These short commentaries take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, from pop culture controversies to censorship and government regulations. Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards. He has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club and won the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award. In his early years at ABC, Stossel was consumer editor at Good Morning America. Prior to that, he was a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City. Stossel began as a researcher for KGW-TV in Portland, Ore. Stossel is a 1969 graduate of Princeton University, with a bachelor of arts in psychology.
Robert K. Strauss, JD, is the founder and CEO of Emerging Money Corporation. He is an honors graduate of the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and the Boston University School of Law. Strauss is admitted to practice law in New York and Connecticut.
Dan Sullivan is the founder and president of The Strategic Coach Inc. and the creator of The Strategic Coach® program. Since its inception in 1988, this lifetime focusing program has helped accomplished entrepreneurs to reach new heights of success and happiness. Sullivan has over 30 years of experience as a highly regarded speaker, consultant, strategic planner and coach to entrepreneurial individuals and groups. Over the past 16 years, The Strategic Coach has helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs in 60 different industries to simplify their lives, focus their unique ability, develop their organizations and expand their success in the marketplace. A sought-after speaker, Sullivan is the author of over 40 publications, with a reading and listening audience of over 100,000 individuals.
Sharon M. Theall is president of Strategic Management Advisors, Inc. Theall assists independent marketing organizations and financial service companies in strategic growth initiatives, operations and project management. She served as the senior advisor to the Board of Directors for The Hemisphere Group (1999-2000), served as executive director, leading the organization’s negotiated acquisition by National Financial Partners and its subsequent management transition. Theall also worked with BancBoston Executive Benefits, LLC in joint venture with William J. Lynch and Associates as managing director. During this time the firm achieved $46 million of new premiums.

Henry Whiffen, chairman and founder of The Estate Advisory Group, is a wealth preservation strategist with more than 40 years of experience. His current focus is on consulting with charities and attorneys, CPAs, banks, insurance and financial advisors to assist them in providing advanced estate planning for their high net-worth clients. As a result of Whiffen's planning recommendations, his clients have donated or made plans to donate more than $1.5 billion to charities. He has a bachelor's degree in business and accounting and a masters degree in financial services. He has also completed post-graduate studies in tax, estate planning, business finance and economics.

Andrew J. Willms is the founding shareholder of Willms Anderson, S.C. Willms practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, corporate law and taxation law. He has assisted his clients with all aspects of estate and retirement planning, including estate tax planning, insurance and retirement planning, corporate succession, the use of living trusts, protecting assets from creditor claims, probate and probate-related litigation. Willms is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and Florida. He received his bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Business in 1984, and both his juris doctorate, cum laude, and master of laws degree in estate planning from the University of Miami College of Law in 1985. Willms is the author of numerous publications on estate planning, retirement planning and martial property law.

Teague Wright is highly regarded throughout the independent life distribution industry for her unparalleled effectiveness, based on a high level of integrity, persistence and expertise. Currently focused on strengthening BISYS Insurance Services' Potomac platform in the high-net-worth marketplace, she is developing new business using her unique ability in the underwriting arena. She is committed to providing insurance agents with a distinct competitive edge. Throughout her career, Teague has cultivated the trust of leading carriers, while demonstrating an in-depth understanding of the specific challenges that producers face. Wright held the position of executive vice president with Ash Brokerage and before that a pivotal role in her career as the vice president of underwriting with a heavy emphasis on business development for National Financial Partners, where she built NFP's underwriting advocacy program. She also worked for BISYS for six years, where she served as Director of the Major Case division. Wright received her bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University.
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