CEO Mehran Assadi announced the appointment this week of Matt Frazee as Senior Vice President of Independent Distribution. And Executive Vice President Vesta Bovair announced that Nimesh Mehta will assume responsibility for the Customer Service Center. Here are each of their messages.
Our 2020 Vision is ambitious – in top and bottom line results and in its core goal of 1 million delighted customers. We will only get there by continued muscle building of our team.
It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Matt Frazee to Senior Vice President of Independent Distribution, joining Louis Puglisi as the co-heads of independent distribution.
Matt brings a unique skillset to his new distribution role because of his deep knowledge of our enterprise business model and diverse responsibilities since his arrival at National Life in 2011, heading up Treasury, Controller and financial planning functions. In 2016 he made the brave move into operations to lead the creation of our Customer Service Center, driving many changes to new frontiers in processes, technology, talent acquisition, retention and development, and reporting.
In his new role Matt will leverage his knowledge of our distribution partners coupled with his strong relationships in our home office to continue to simplify ways of doing business with all of our customers.
Reporting to Matt will be field leaders David Gilmore, Eric Lopez, Jay Bugg, Rush Wilbanks, as well as Marie Lemieux, head of L&A Sales Desk and Field Leadership Development Program (FLDP), and Joyce LaRosa, head of Distribution Finance.
In conjunction with Matt’s appointment to the Distribution Leadership team, Joyce and the Distribution Finance team will now report to Matt. Joyce is the Vice President of Distribution Finance and the financial leader for both Independent and Career Distribution. She leads a team of financial professionals who are responsible for field leadership compensation, financial analysis and sales, incentives and recognition reporting for all of distribution. This team focuses on top line reporting as well as bottom line results, as well as collaborating closely with many areas throughout the company such as FMG, L&A Solutions and all of Life and Annuity.
By this appointment, I believe we have the industry’s best Distribution Leadership team in Pam Blalock, Louis and Matt. Please join me in wishing Matt all the best on this exciting new adventure.
— Mehran Assadi
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Mehran announced earlier today that Matt Frazee has been appointed SVP in Independent Distribution, working alongside Louis Puglisi, effective January 2, 2018. We are delighted for Matt! He has had a significant impact on the Customer Service Center this year, driving many changes in reporting, processes, technology and people development. As much as we will feel the loss of his infectious positive energy and data-driven mindset, we will gain a strong Distribution partner – one who understands the limitations of our technology and can help us brainstorm alternative approaches, and one who will advocate forcefully for simpler and easier ways of doing business with all of our customers.
Nimesh Mehta will assume responsibility for the Customer Service Center, except for the Underwriting team which will report to me as we continue the search for senior leadership and implement the new Underwriting Engine. Reporting to Nimesh will be Kristin Cook (New Business and Transfers), Damian Woodard (Field Services, which includes Commissions, Contracting and Licensing), Tre Vollet (Customer Service, which includes Contact Center, Claims, Conservation and Contracts), Oran Blumenfeld (Business Optimization, Document Management Services, Quality, Analysis), Mark Farrell (Payments, Billing and Disbursements), and Patrick Meany (Business Informatics Team). We are really excited about his leadership of the Customer Service Center, propelling us on the journey to build a transformative customer experience which is scalable and digitally enabled.
Nimesh recently rejoined National Life to support me with Customer Innovation Group strategy and was appointed Strategic Execution Lead for the Scalability program. These roles blend well with his additional responsibility. Nimesh will continue to be based in Dallas, working from both campuses.
Many of you got to know Nimesh well during his 9 years with National Life Group in his role as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. He is a strategic thinker who has demonstrated his ability to lead large transformational projects. I have heard many stories over the past few weeks about his ability to help us reimagine the possible: thinking through process and technology changes, balanced with adding customer value. And he made sure those changes happened.
Please reach out to wish both of our teammates success in their new roles. They will be working closely to ensure a smooth transition over the next several months. If there is anything in particular on your mind, we would welcome your feedback.