AALU and GAMA Members Approve Combination

The members of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU) and GAMA International have voted to approve the organizations’ proposed combination, the groups announced today.

Resources

• A copy of AALU-GAMA membership vote announcement is available here.
• An earlier article about the AALU-GAMA combination is available here.

The groups did not release vote tallies, but Marc Cadin, AALU’s president, said in a written comment that the groups received an “overhwelming amount of yes votes.”

Cadin said the vote for the AALU-GAMA International combination shows that there is strong support for unifying the financial security profession.

“It is time to change the status quo, and now we can officially get started,” Cadin said.

Bonnie Godsman, GAMA International’s chief executive officer, said that “the members have spoken.”

“There is no doubt that creating this new organization is what our profession needs,” Godsman said.

AALU is a Washington-based group for life insurance and retirement planning professionals that was founded in 1957. It has been active in working to shape financial services policymaking in Washington.

GAMA International — a group formerly known as the General Agents and Managers Association — is a Falls Church, Virginia-based provider of education and networking opportunities for field managers at life insurance companies and investment companies. It was founded about 85 years ago.

The groups announced plans to combine their operations in July.