If you happen to find yourself on a school playground during recess and Kareim Cade challenges you to a friendly game of four square, think carefully before you accept.

“We generally don't keep score,” says his friend Angela Rogensues. “But Kareim is pretty good.”

As it happens, Cade also brings a strong game to the benefits table.

The founder and president of Great Lakes Benefit Group in Southfield, Michigan, Cade specializes in creating innovative benefits packages for his clients. Great Lakes' sweet spot is the public sector, where 85 percent of its clients can be found. Labor unions are an important component, as well.

“Those organizations have a fiduciary responsibility to look at all the options,” he says. “If they don't, they can be held liable. That gives us the opportunity to discuss a plan redesign that will save them money and still offer their plan members solid coverage.”

➤➤ Join us for the official Broker of the Year announcement and a discussion panel, April 3 at 10:15 a.m. at the 2019 BenefitsPRO Broker Expo.

As with so many advisors, Cade grew up in a broker household. When he was 12, his mother left corporate America and went into the insurance business.

“She really enjoyed it. I was doing folders for her seminars, things like that. She had no idea I was reading these.”

He graduated college with a degree in insurance and risk management and went to work for his mother. But that didn't last long. She fired him, telling him he needed to go learn what hard work was.

He taught school for two years, but by 1998, he was back, selling voluntary benefits. During those years in the classroom, Cade learned an important skill: How to listen. He taught special education at the elementary school level, and he found the less he said, the more he learned.

“I used to believe sales was all about talking. But I learned how to listen, to evaluate what people were saying. That ability is so important in today's business world. We have clients who we know would save a zillion dollars if they did certain things, but they don't want to write more than one check. You have to hear that, and find a way to make it happen.”

Shortly after his return to the benefits world, Cade landed a client—a charter school—that showed him the real possibilities open to the innovative broker. “They told me, 'I want a broker who can do everything for me. I will sign this letter and you figure out all the pieces that go there.'”

Cade launched Great Lakes in 2006 and shortly thereafter, the recession came. He pulled through it by meeting the increased demand for voluntary products to bolster benefits plans. When health care reform emerged a few years later, he jumped at the opportunity.

“When the ACA came along, everyone said the sky was falling. I was not concerned because we were still selling something that people needed. The ACA was the equalizer. The older brokers who rested on their laurels were getting out left and right. For us, it was a new ground floor.”

Today, Cade is proud of his firm's reputation as a disruptive brokerage. But he takes equal pride in Great Lakes' philanthropic side—that's where four square comes in. He was looking for a way to give back to the community, and learned about an organization—Playworks—that was revitalizing recess periods at public schools.

“Kareim was a huge support for me when I transitioned from program director to executive director,” says Rogensues, Playworks executive director. “He's my mentor. Any time I need guidance, he is there for me.”

And any time she needs a game of four square, Cade is happy to oblige.

Instant Insights /

2019 Broker of the Year finalist: Kareim Cade

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