American Council of Life Insurance - Explained

What is the American Council of Life Insurance?

Updated at April 8th, 2023

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What is the American Council Of Life Insurance?

The American Council of Life Insurance refers to a national trade association of the American life insurance careers. ACLI came into existence in 1976, with its headquarters in Washington D.C. Its membership has about 300 companies that operate in the United States and abroad. The companies account for 95% of the total assets of the industry in the United States. The ACLI advocates in state, federal, and international forums for public policy.

What Does the American Council Of Life Insurance Do?

Generally, most workers find it hard to accumulate their savings for retirement and how to manage it so that it can serve them throughout retirement. ACLI provides tangible solutions to such problems. It provides ways through which workers can save and then turn those savings into a stable income that can maintain them for life. Policymakers have developed an interest in the role that annuities play in using retirement savings to create a lifetime income. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the United States Department of Treasury in 2014, made it easier for Americans to access guaranteed options related to lifetime income. The idea was followed by the release of new rules to encourage Americans to embrace longevity annuities. These are products that protect those individuals with a long-term plan, whereby it provides payments at a later age. ACLI has rallied its support behind the Lifetime Income Disclosure Act, which requires defined contribution plan sponsors to provide workers with a plan on how they can translate their retirement savings into guaranteed income payments after they retire. ACLI generally supports the families and industry marketplace that rely on products of life insurers for retirement and financial security. ACLI members offer products such as annuities, life insurance, retirement plans, disability income insurance, long-term care, and reinsurance. The ACLI represents fraternal benefit societies and legal reserve life insurance that operates in the United States before the following:

Federal and state policymakers
Insurance departments
The courts

ACLI lobbied behind the Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014, where it bought advertisements in a number of Washington D.C. newspapers. The following institutions unanimously agreed that life insurers not to be subject to capital standards that are more suited for the banking business:

The Obama administration
The House of Representatives and the Senate
State and federal regulators
Private industry

What Does ACLI Do?

The American Council of Life Insurance performs the following functions:

It is in charge of life insurance related information that streams to the public.
It acts as an advocate of its member companies located across the United States who provide services as well as products that contribute to the financial and retirement security of consumers
It provides financial protection to 90 million American families
It helps the American families to prepare for their retirement by creating a safe and secure retirement plan for them
It works with policymakers to ensure that it advances solutions that are balanced to expand accessibility and increase savings
It fully rallies its support behind proposals that bring more choices for workers and employers, to encourage participation in plans to do with workplace
It issues regulatory guidance that promotes the used of annuities to guarantee lifetime income through appropriate retirement plans

About ACLI Insurance Leadership

The American Council of Life Insurers picked Susan Neely to be its president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the ACLI in May 2018. Before the appointment, she was serving in the same capacity at the American Beverage Association (ABA). As the president and CEO of ABA, Susan Neely served in the non-alcohol beverage industry for thirteen years in the capacity of policy and public education advocates. Before this role, she worked as a special assistant to President George W. Bush between 2001 and 2002. She was the architect of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Neely has worked in several senior governments a well as public affairs roles in the course of her career, including at the Health Insurance Association of America and American Medical Colleges. She was able to create and oversee various national initiatives and national award-winning advocacy programs. Neely took over from Governor Dorl Kempthorne. Kempthorne had served as the president and CEO at ACLI from November 2010. Before that, Kempthorne had served in public service as governor and senator. Neely works with 10 committee members who form the APLI Board of Directors.

The Bottom Line

ACLI has continued to rally its support behind education-related initiatives. It educates citizens on the role annuities can play to help them save and guarantee lifetime income when they retire. The move is important, especially to those individuals without access to workplace retirement plans. It's the policymakers' duty to continue exploring ways of encouraging Americans to embrace a lifetime income retirement plan.

Related Topics

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