Washington, DC, May 17, 2001 — The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting, an organization of approximately 2000 life insurance professionals who are committed to preserving advanced uses of life insurance through political involvement, is pleased to announce the election of Campbell T. Gerrish as president.

Gerrish, principal and a founder of Winged Keel Group, a member firm of the M Financial Group, has more than 25 years experience and is a recognized leader in the financial services industry. Previously the Chair of the Business Insurance and Estate Planning Committee and the Political Involvement Committee of AALU, he has been active in protecting the future of business by strengthening political relationships and building new liaisons and partnerships.

Gerrish noted that AALU currently faces tremendous challenges in the legislative and regulatory environment, with legislation addressing the federal estate tax and Notice 2001-10 affecting split dollar life insurance, respectively. "AALU, in close cooperation with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers (NAIFA) and the 100,000 financial professionals it represents, has been playing a critically important role on both of these key issues. We are working hard to achieve estate tax reform that benefits our clients, and to preserve split dollar life insurance as a terrific planning and compensation tool for thousands of small and large businesses."

One of Gerrish’s goals as AALU President is to expand AALU’s political mission and for AALU to become even more proactive. "To be effective, we must support our friends in Congress all the time — not just during times of crisis. To gain steady political support, we must offer steady support in return," said Gerrish.

AALU monitors bills, regulations and court cases that affect insurance clients, businesses, and the profession. Their members develop individual relationships with their member of Congress and Senators and help ensure that our voice is heard by the nation’s lawmakers.

"I look forward to continuing to work closely with the AALU membership as we strive to influence the decisions of the 107^th Congress," commented Gerrish on his new position.

Beyond the political sphere, Gerrish identified a number of other goals for the year ahead. "We want to continue to attract the top practitioners in the fields of business insurance, estate planning, charitable planning and nonqualified and qualified retirement planning, and expand what we have to offer to them. We will be looking at every opportunity to provide even more in advanced sales ideas, continuing education, networking opportunities and access to the latest information on trends and developments. Technological advances will enable us to make great strides in what and how we can communicate."