Page B8
SEPTEMBER 2015
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on B
Physicians Mutual Announces a New
Way to Protect Funeral Home Owners
Against Inflation
Unity Financial Life Insurance Company and Jay
Hardy Named As C-Suite Awards Finalist
Foreverence Builds Replica Space
Shuttle Urn for Former NASA Engineer
MINNEAPOLIS,MN—
Coping with the
loss of a loved one can be a heartrending
experience—while discussing how to pre-
pare for a funeral or memorial can be even
harder.
Foreverence
is changing the land-
scape of this hard-to-have conversation by
offering individuals a new option for buri-
al arrangements. Using 3D printing tech-
nology, Foreverence captures the spirit and
life of an individual by creating a one-of-a-
kind, 3D printed ceramic urn.
In the winter of 2014, the Herrera fam-
ily contacted Foreverence to build a repli-
ca of the Space Shuttle Columbia for their
94-year-old grandfather,
Felipe Herrera
for-
mer NASA engineer, who worked on the
space shuttle program. Herrera’s experi-
ence with NASA was a major part of his
life, and a legacy the family wanted to cel-
ebrate for generations to come.
“Before our father passed, we wanted to
share in the memorial process with him,”
states Yvette Wilson, daughter of Herrera.
“We all sat in silence, blown away by such
an amazing completed work of art that so
perfectly encapsulates our dad and grand-
father.We were thrilled to share the unveil-
ing of the urn with him.”
Whether working from a conversation,
sketch, intimate item or photograph, For-
everence collaborates with loved ones in
conceptualizing the perfect tribute. The
outcome is an exceptional, individually
crafted 3D printed work of art to carry
through the decades.
“Cremation is growing in popularity as
an end-of-life choice,” states
Pete Saari,
founder of Foreverence. “Families who
choose cremation deserve and demand the
same attention to legacy and focus on per-
sonalization as burial customers.”
The Herrera family story is just one of
the many stories that Foreverence has had
the pleasure of being a part of. In January
2014, Foreverence worked with the fam-
ily of late
Robert “Bob” Casale,
guitarist and
keyboardist for the band
Devo,
to replicate
The Energy Dome, Devo’s famous hat, to
accommodate his final resting place.
“Our goal with Foreverence is to bring
Felipe Herrera’s Space Shuttle Columbia Urn
positivity and joy to those families experi-
encing the heartache of a loss,” says Saari.
“We’ve seen the delight a memorial keep-
sake like ours has brought to them—
through concept, design and execution—
and these families have been thrilled with
the end result, a memento of the person
they so dearly loved.”
The options available at death are numer-
ous. Foreverence believes that the best time
to be making arrangements is in advance.
Pre-planning allows individuals to carefully
choose specific items that they want with-
out burdening their family with the hard
choices later.
Founded in 2013, Foreverence sought to
reimagine custom urns and deliver excep-
tional quality to the cremation market. For-
everence’s one-of-a-kind tributes are craft-
ed with family members and friends, in a
three-step process that ensures an individ-
ual’s personality is accurately portrayed.
OMAHA,NE—
Funer-
al home owners can
now protect themselves
against low interest rates,
thanks to a new pre-need
product from
Physicians
Mutual.
Cornerstone In-
dex Advantage allows fu-
neral homes to earn eq-
uity index-driven growth
rates instead of a fixed
rate set at the discretion
of the carrier.
“Physicians Mutual is
in a unique position to
launch a product like
this,” says
Brice Ballard,
vice president of prod-
uct management. “We
have been marketing eq-
uity-indexed
annuities
for nearly twenty years,
almost since their incep-
tion. We are using our
investment expertise to
drive more growth poten-
tial than fixed rate prod-
ucts can while eliminat-
ing any risk of policies
losing money.”
Cornerstone Index Ad-
vantage features include
a fixed growth rate, start-
ing day one, for the first
policy year; equity index-
driven growth rate after
the first year; and growth
compounded and credit-
ed daily.
Historically low inter-
est rates are an industry-
wide challenge. Funeral
home owners need to be
able to maximize growth
while still being protect-
ed from inevitable mar-
ket corrections. “Funeral
home owners consistent-
ly ask pre-need carriers
for more inflation pro-
tection,” says
Tim Reed,
vice president of pre-
need.
“The Outlook
Group
and our adviso-
ry board of funeral home
owners helped us develop
Cornerstone Index Ad-
vantage so our customers
can choose an option that
does just that. The early
response has been very
encouraging.”
“Most appealing is dai-
ly growth crediting be-
ginning day one and the
opportunity to earn high-
er growth in the second
year and beyond, without
the risk of losing princi-
pal,” says both
Dan Fose
and
Carey Cress-Fose
of
Cress Funeral & Crema-
tion Service,
Madison,
WI.
Another bonus: funer-
al homes can add the In-
flation Guard enhance-
ment to The Cornerstone
Index Advantage Plan.
This is the same innova-
tive feature available on
other Cornerstone prod-
ucts from Physicians Mu-
tual. “Our last innova-
tion, Inflation Guard,
will account for 40 per-
cent of our volume in
2015. Clearly, it’s been
well received and provid-
ing long-term protection
against inflation,” says
Ballard.
As with all Physicians
Mutual pre-need prod-
ucts, Cornerstone Index
Advantage will be exclu-
sively marketed by The
Outlook Group. “Prod-
ucts like this are only
possible because of the
collaboration and big
ears Physicians Mutu-
al has when it comes to
listening to our funeral
home partners,” said
Ty-
ler Anderson,
president
and CEO of The Out-
look Group. “Physicians
Mutual’s ability to create
innovative product de-
signs shows how impor-
tant it is to have a carrier
and marketing organiza-
tion so closely aligned.”
The Outlook Group
and the Physicians Mu-
tual family teamed up to
create a pre-need fund-
ing program designed by
funeral home owners for
funeral home owners.
This collaboration be-
tween a marketing lead-
er in the funeral service
profession and a strong,
secure insurance compa-
ny blends expertise and
trusted service to deliver
innovative, customized
pre-need funding solu-
tions.
The Outlook Group,
based in Franklin, OH
has long leveraged their
personal experience as fu-
neral home owners to suc-
cessfully provide a broad
range of pre-need, train-
ing and lead generation
services to funeral home
owners. The company
has recorded 30 years of
improved pre-need sales
and training performance
in the industry; a record
regarded as unmatched in
the profession.
The Physicians Mutual
family, headquartered in
Omaha, NE is a premier
provider of health, life
and retirement products.
Composed of
Physicians
Mutual Insurance Com-
pany
and
Physicians
Life Insurance Compa-
ny,
it has been in business
for more than 113 years.
With total combined as-
sets reaching more than
$3 billion, the Physicians
Mutual family continues
to earn the highest finan-
cial strength ratings in the
nation from independent
industry analysts, includ-
ing A.M. Best Company
(A Excellent) and Weiss
Ratings (Physicians Mu-
tual A+ Excellent; Physi-
cians Life A- Excellent).
CINCINNATI,OH—
Jay Hardy,
pres-
ident and chief operating officer of
Unity Financial Life Insurance
Company,
has been named as a final-
ist for the 2015
Cincinnati Business
Courier
Inaugural C-Suite Awards.
The Courier honors top executives in
Greater Cincinnati whose skills and
leadership have helped shape success
for their companies.
A total of 37 finalists were named
in five categories, which include
chief executive officer, chief finan-
cial officer, chief operating officer,
chief marketing officer and chief
legal officer.
Jay C. Hardy, FLMI, was named
a finalist in the Chief Operating
Officer category. The finalists were
honored at a gala awards program
on Thursday, August 27, 2015 at
historic Cincinnati Music Hall.
Family owned and operated, Uni-
ty Financial Life is focused on de-
livering quality and secure funer-
al funding products that provide
exceptional value for consumers.
