On the sales and marketing support side, when you need illustrations or sales support with Ameritas, you can reach out to myself, Steve Clemens, as well as Matt Alina, who many of you know and who has been with URL for over 20 years, and Jason Collins. On the case management side, we have Rosemary Evans, who has been with the company for 25 years as a new business case manager in the Life Department, and Rachel, who has been with us for over 16 years handling new business case management. When you work with URL, you have experienced professionals supporting your business from submission through commission and beyond.

Our commitment to you is to partner with top-quality companies that offer competitive products and strong service for your clients. That is exactly what you get with Ameritas. We’re very excited about the new products and offerings that are coming, which will enhance the portfolio available to you and your clients. If you’re not currently contracted with Ameritas, or if you are but haven’t fully embraced them yet, now is a great time to take another look.

Ameritas is a financially stable, A-plus rated mutual company, and Dylan will share more about that shortly. They have a strong indexed universal life portfolio with living benefits, which is something we’re very passionate about here at URL. There are also new term and whole life plans coming, along with customizable life insurance solutions that we’re excited to bring to you.

With that, I’d like to introduce Dylan Kring, Regional Vice President at Ameritas. Dylan, thank you for being with us and for sharing these updates.

Thank you, Steve, and thank you everyone for joining us today. We know you have many choices for how to spend your time, and we appreciate you being here. Today’s presentation will include a refresher on what you may already know about Ameritas, as well as an overview of the transition we’re currently going through and the new products that will soon be available to you. These additions will significantly expand the portfolio and offer very competitive solutions across multiple categories.

As Steve mentioned, our slogan at Ameritas is “Fulfill Life,” and we strive to do that through the products we offer, the services we provide, and our long-term strategy. To start with an overview, Ameritas is a mutual company, meaning we are owned by our policyholders. This directly influences how we design our products and how we approach long-term planning. We currently have over $123 billion of life insurance in force, strong financial ratings, and more than six million life insurance customers as of the end of 2023. With your partnership at URL, we look forward to growing that number even further.

When it comes to long-term strategy, our goal is to build value not just for today’s customers, but for future customers and those who have been with us for many years. Mutual companies have a different outlook compared to stock companies. We are not focused on short-term quarterly returns or shareholder profits. Instead, we focus on the long-term best interests of policyholders and on delivering reliable outcomes over time.

One area where this philosophy shows up clearly is in the indexed universal life market. When you illustrate IUL products from different carriers, you’ll notice that illustrated rates vary widely. At Ameritas, our goal is to provide clear and realistic illustrations. We use a benchmark index, the S&P 500, to determine our maximum illustrated rate, which is currently 5.79 percent. Some carriers illustrate higher rates using proprietary or volatility-controlled indexes. While we also offer those types of indexes, we believe it’s more transparent to use a conservative benchmark and aim to underpromise and overdeliver.

I recently spoke with an agent who illustrated a policy eight years ago showing an expected account value of about $50,000. When we reviewed the actual policy, the account value was over $58,000. That’s the kind of outcome we want our agents to experience. We would rather exceed expectations than fall short.

Beyond illustrated rates, long-term cap rate management is critical. At Ameritas, cap rate management reflects our mutual company values. For example, our IUL product from 2011 still has an S&P 500 cap rate around 8.5 percent, while our current accumulation IUL has a 9 percent cap. These are consistent and competitive. Some carriers introduce new products with very high caps and later reduce caps on older policies, which disadvantages long-term policyholders. We strive to maintain cap rate integrity over the life of the policy.

This same philosophy applies to dividends on our whole life products. For 2024, we declared a 5 percent dividend across the board for all policyholders, regardless of when the policy was issued. Some companies offer higher dividends only to new policies while reducing dividends for existing clients. We believe long-term fairness matters.

From here, Dylan continued through Ameritas’ underwriting process, highlighting non-medical underwriting up to certain limits, accelerated underwriting options, direct access to underwriters, and a strong focus on quick decision-making and transparency. He explained how living benefits are included across products, the difference between discount and lien approaches, and how Ameritas’ permanent products uniquely preserve account values after living benefit claims.

He also reviewed the FLX Term and FLX IUL products, premium discounts, lifetime income riders, and examples demonstrating tax-free retirement income strategies. Dylan outlined the upcoming expansion of the product portfolio, including new IUL, whole life, term, disability, and annuity products, all supported by a unified application platform and a new agent mobile app.

The presentation concluded with a deep dive into Ameritas’ whole life portfolio, including value-focused, early cash value, and long-term accumulation options. Dylan discussed infinite banking strategies, strong guaranteed cash values, competitive dividends, and flexible loan options that allow both direct and non-direct recognition over the life of the policy.

To close, Dylan emphasized the breadth and strength of Ameritas’ expanding portfolio and encouraged agents to re-engage with the company. He thanked URL for the opportunity and expressed enthusiasm for future growth together.

Steve wrapped up by thanking Dylan for the thorough overview and highlighting how excited URL is about the expanded Ameritas lineup, particularly the whole life options and flexible loan features. He reminded agents to reach out for quotes or illustrations and noted that additional updates would be shared as new products officially roll out.

The session concluded with thanks to all attendees and well wishes for the rest of the day.