The Millennials Are Getting Older: Jerry Blair

Jerry Blair wants to see consumers who are young today get life insurance today.

Blair is president of the Sammons Life Insurance Group, the life insurance arm of Sammons Financial Group.

He entered the world of financial services through a job in a men’s clothing store more than 30 years ago, by selling a suit. The buyer turned out to be a new Prudential district manager. He called the store a few days and asked Blair to meet with a Prudential sales manager.

“I’m grateful I took that call,” Blair says.

Blair went on to work in life insurance sales, and to earn the Chartered Life Underwriter and LIMRA Leadership Institute Fellow professional designations.

He spent about eight years as a marketing executive at Transamerica, then, in 2005, joined Midland National Life Insurance Company, a Sammons division, as a distribution and sales executive.

Blair became head of the Sammons life group earlier this year.

He answered questions via email about the challenges he’s faced in the past year, and how he sees the future of life insurance distribution.

The answers to the questions in this interview have been edited.

THINKADVISOR: What took up the most time and energy last year, and what did you learn from that?

JERRY BLAIR: What I appreciate most about this position and opportunity is the diversity in the projects that require attention. In 2022, I spent much of my time assessing opportunities and closing gaps on the financial, reinsurance and human resources sides of the business.

Those projects can range from growing our distribution opportunities to understanding the market, and the need and opportunities for new product development.

My other primary focus areas this year have been to build and develop the Sammons Life Insurance Group team and assess new technology and capabilities.

What are you focusing on the most right now?

While there are many items that demand attention, diversifying our distribution and updating our technology stack are demanding the most time and effort right now.