Last year, we changed how we did things and named fiveBroker of the Year finalists. We then crowned Jim Davidson thewinner at Benefits Selling Expo in Austin. The entire productionturned into such a hit that we decided to do it again. I mean, whoknew editorial, advertising and marketing could work so welltogether?

But, jokes aside, we figured there's never been a more criticaltime for leadership to emerge. And for us to recognize, encourageand honor it. Jesse Jackson once said, “Leadership has a harder jobto do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.”

Right now, we're seeing a distinct lack of leadership on bothsides of the aisle. So it's ultimately up to us.
Readers had no trouble responding. Once again, the number ofnominations that poured into our office far outstripped lastyear's. And, once again, our editorial board struggled to narrowthat list down to these five finalists, but somehow we managed.

The five brokers that appear on the following pages (two fromthe same firm) represent the industry's leaders. They've alreadyearned the respect and admiration of their own peers. So, I guessyou could say that all of them have already won.

Jani De La Rosa
Senior Vice President, Heffernan Insurance Brokers
San Francisco
Let's set aside for a second that Heffernan Insurance Brokersconsistently ranks as one of the best places to work in theinsurance business – and the Bay Area. Just ask any of thecompany's roughly 400 employees. In fact, just a few months agoBusiness Insurance called the brokerage the best place to work inthe insurance business in the mid-sized broker category.

And never mind that the independent brokerage house, foundedback in 1988, is a Bay Area leader in philanthropy, according tothe San Francisco Bay Times, which reported the company donatedmore than half a million dollars in cash to area charities. And,yes, let's forget for a second that last year, while stimuluspackages did very little stimulating and jobs dried up quicker thanyour neighborhood banks, this is a company that posted its biggestprofit ever.

No, what we're concerned about is the booming employee benefitsdivision Jani De La Rosa started at the company back in 1993. Infact, when CEO Mike Heffernan brought her aboard to get thedivision up and running, she was the entire department. Now, lessthan 10 years later, the employee benefits arm employs 45 whilebringing in about $5 million annually.

But it was a slow start early on, and despite De La Rosa'shands-on experience – both on the carrier and broker sides of thebusiness – it took about three years to get the business up andrunning profitably.
“And that was when Mike told me it was time for me to decidewhether I wanted to manage or I wanted to sell,” De La Rosarecalls. “And my heart and soul is in sales; so I chose sales.”

Heffernan's a brokerage house built on niche business. It'squite literally the secret to their success. De La Rosa's noexception. The core of her book of business is nonprofits, a nicheshe couldn't be more proud to represent. She remains very involvedwith her clients and has even been known to give large chunks ofher commission back to the very nonprofits she represents.

Brian Hassan
Founder, BayPoint Benefits
San Francisco
Brian Hassan's career includes stints with Silicon Valley start-upsto multinational corporations. To say he's got experience on alllevels of benefits management and compliance would be anunderstatement.
Hassan's background also includes “corporate riskmodeling/forecasting, payroll and benefits administration, healthcare claims consulting, hospital and managed care contractconsulting and HRIS implementation.”"As a benefits adviser, I findthat it is critical to develop well thought-out strategies thatcompliment the goals and growth of my clients.

I collaborate with my clients and teach them to see benefits asan investment in sustainable business success. It is important toteach them to effectively utilize the resources available to meettheir employees' needs. The key is leveraging benefits as a tool toretain and secure the best talent while maximizing every dollarspent so that there is meaningful return to the bottom line. Thisis becoming of greater importance in today's economy wherebusinesses have to accomplish more with less, putting even greateremphasis on the effective and efficient use of its humancapital.

The health reform legislation provides a unique opportunity forbenefits advisers to enhance their value to clients. Companiesalready are wrestling with the problems of a deep recession. Thenalong comes complex health reform legislation with broad impact yetvague in its application. Employers appear to be unanimous in theexpectation that health reform means higher costs and with thiscomes a myriad of regulations involving adjustments and choices.Benefits advisers are an ideal resource for interpreting the shortand long-term impact of the legislation. Because of the extent ofthe legislation and the legal issues that have surfaced, as well ofthe phasing in of its provisions, benefits advisers will have quitea challenge to service clients. This challenge is, at the sametime, an opportunity.”

Justin Roberts
Managing Director, BayPoint Benefits
San Francisco
Justin Roberts is all outside-the-box strategy with hands-on clientattention. This philosophy “drives both his love for tacklingchallenges and his adherence to the promise of accessibility andresponsiveness.”
The managing director at BayPoint Benefits boasts experienceworking in the professional employer organizations, employeeleasing industry, as well as international HR policy formulation,professional and facility claims analysis, payroll systemsintegration, and benefit administration.

But it's not the past. It's what lies ahead, that concerns thisBroker of the Year finalist: “The health care reform landscape isstill taking shape and those advisers who anticipate andproactively prepare for the post-reform marketplace will obviouslyhave significant advantages. Whether you believe the health carereform is the biggest hurdle over come in the last decade or youfeel that this is a large box of new taxes wrapped up and stampedhealth care reform, the answer really doesn't matter.

The reality is that the rate of health care spending hasoutpaced income growth over the past several years. Rising healthcare costs are a major concern, to the degree that health carecosts are soaring not because of better care but because the systemlacks incentives to cut costs. Health care reform is much too bigof an issue to slip by the American people. No matter where youfall on the utilization scale of our health care system, each oneof us will be responsible for a portion of the bill. The confusionstems from the lack of transparency and understanding.

My thoughts and hopes about health care reform are at times ateach end of the spectrum. My hope is that with this change comesinnovation and advancement from the way health care is delivered tohow it is administered. Let's face it: this is the biggest changethat the broker community has seen in years but it is just thebeginning. The days of the 'insurance agent' have passed. Meaning,delivering that 150-page rate book to your clients and expecting toreceive a 5 percent to 7 percent monthly residual income willultimately result in a diminishing book of business. Those that are'Benefits Advisers' – individuals that think strategicly and teachclients how to effectively leverage benefits as multi-purposetools–will be the professionals retaining their clients andcapitalizing on less innovative competitors.”

David Shore
Vice President & Underwriting Practice Leader, The ProtectorGroup Insurance Agency Inc.
Worcester, Mass.
If there's anything you take away from a conversation with DavidShore, it's that brokers need to learn (pretty quickly) thatthey're going to have to start doing a lot more work without beingable to charge more.
See, Shore, vice president and underwriting practice leader at TheProtector Group Insurance Agency Inc. in Worcester, Mass., knows alittle something about health care reform. He's living the dream(nightmare?) already in Massachusetts. And has been since day oneof that state's historic experiment with universal coverage.

More importantly, though, Shore is a crusader. In fact, what hehas to say is far more important that anything I have to add: “AsRonald Reagan famously said, 'The nine most terrifying words in theEnglish language are: I'm from the government and I'm here tohelp.' By way of background, the Massachusetts insurance exchange,'The Connector,' which is principally run by former insuranceexecutives, undoubtedly understood the role of the broker whenimplementing state reform in 2006. Operating in a state with alooming fiscal crisis, they relied heavily on the broker communityas non-compensated messengers of reform. Today, that relationshipis strained, as The Connector spends tax payer money duplicatingthe private sector distribution channel with no material addedvalue for small businesses.

With respect to the financial consequences of health care reform[here], I'm disappointed to say that both the cost of care andsubsequent cost for coverage continues to rise at a record pace inour state. Facing a tough re-election bid, our governor has takenunprecedented action and all but ignored the findings of theMassachusetts Attorney General and Department of Health CareFinance & Policy on the true premium cost drivers inMassachusetts. As a coincidentally timed April 1 announcement, thegovernor rejected the small business health insurance rateincreases filed by our local, nonprofit HMOs for April, May andJune effective dates. These increases reflected the cost of amature health care reform bill that chose to address access withoutproperly addressing cost. Sadly, I feel that the federallegislation does much the same.

Regardless of which side of The Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act fence you sit on, the passage of this landmarklegislation presents at least one immutable truth for health andwelfare brokers: Our clients trust and rely on our expertise andadvice; they will turn to us for help. To be successful, we must domore for our clients. We must reinvest our existing commissionrevenues into resources that help our clients understand, comply,and communicate these changes.”

Lorraine Strickland
President/CEO, Fringe Benefits Management Co.
Tallahassee, Fla.
Lorraine Strickland knows what she's talking about, even if shemight swim against the current. President and chief executiveofficer of Fringe Benefits Management Co., Strickland has been inthe employee benefits business for almost 30 years now. She's alsoa public speaker, author, and is very active.

But perhaps most importantly, Strickland disagrees – strongly –that the health care reform we now face is the end of the world.Change is hard, she concedes, but not changing can be harder: “Yes,it has been a long, painful process, but one which we shouldcelebrate as our American constitutional right and privilege to actupon principles of commitment to the well-being of all. The healthcare crisis as evidenced by uncontrollable rising costs has notbeen a bipartisan issue; we all have agreed for some time that aproblem threatening our future economic survival must be solved. Ofcourse the specific manner in which the crisis is attacked will bedebated but the question of needed reform has been courageouslyanswered.

We cannot expect to evolve into a meaningful and successfulsociety when our basic biological and physiological needs (Maslow'sHierarchy of Needs: air, food, shelter) including health andwellness cannot be met. This concept can be misconstrued associalism when in fact it is basic economics. Remember: there is nofree lunch. In other words, we will pay for our uninsured andunhealthy one way or another. Anyone who thinks business owners donot already shoulder the burden of cost is misguided. If employerscontinue to be expected to provide access to health care as we donow (versus the government) then the cost eventually will be paidby all consumers of goods and services as prices increase to coverthe inefficiency of the current systems.

Take a look at Jackson Health Systems in Miami, once one of thetop-rated hospitals in the country now facing bankruptcy andinsolvency primarily because the rate of uninsured coverageprovided is simply too great. The cost will only shift if thehospital closes, not disappear. Unless we are willing to be asociety that can literally turn our back on the sick and dying thenwe must change.

As King Whitney Jr., executive director for the National UrbanLeague from 1961-71, said, 'Change has a considerable psychologicalimpact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening becauseit means things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouragingbecause things might get better. To the confident it is inspiringbecause the challenge exists to make things better.' We have theopportunity and the responsibility in our profession to make thingsbetter.”