With a heritage of over 159 years, TASBO Strategic Partner AXA understands the challenges in preparing for retirement and is committed to helping individuals through every stage of life.
We talked with Steve Scanlon, Managing Director and Head of Group Retirement at AXA, about his company's initiatives, his interactions with TASBO members, and their sponsorship with TASBO.
What are hot topics in your industry going into 2019-20?
It's a great question. I think one of the things we have to do is get away from talking about product and the different ways that our products work and get back to what teachers and officials really care about. They want to know things like, “How are you going to help our schools or organization? What kinds of things are you going to do for us that are not about you?”
As an example, look at an organization like SADD, which used to mean Students Against Drunk Driving. It made a big impact on me as a high school student. They've expanded their platform and they are now Students Against Destructive Decisions. We are proud to be affiliated with them and appreciate the things that they do for our high school students.
Then we look at other things like teacher education. One of our big initiatives, and I think one of the big initiatives in the industry, is you've got a lot of young teachers that are just absolutely straddled with student loan debt. They need to understand that they can get that loan forgiven by the student loan forgiveness program. So, we've created a lot of material around that to help our younger teachers get out of that debt.
What are key initiatives for AXA?
Again, we’re thinking what teachers and administrators really care about. And one of those for us would be our production of “semester strategies,” which is the first ever asset allocation model built for teachers. It’s very specifically designed for what teachers have to think about in retirement. We launched it in January and it’s a big initiative for us.
What do you appreciate about TASBO members?
It’s personal for me because as a son of a school administrator in Kansas City, I grew up watching her be an advocate for teachers in Kansas City. She’s my hero in so many ways and I had a chance to watch her in action. So, I have an appreciation of what everybody here does.
I'm also a father of three kids, so I'm constantly amazed at what educators do for my three kids on a daily basis. Anything that we can do to join up with an organization that's helping educators, we're a hundred percent onboard.
What are the benefits of your relationship with TASBO and the Strategic Partner sponsorship?
Well, they are the absolute cornerstone of our mission, which is to help teachers retire with dignity.
Thank you Steve and thank you AXA for your support for public education!
