NAIFA has redesigned and relaunched the Life Underwriting Training Council Fellow (LUTCF®) program, a three-course training series for one of the most sought-after designations in the insurance industry. Since 1984, NAIFA’s LUTCF has prepared more than 70,000 insurance and financial professionals to excel in the industry and is often the first designation successful agents and advisors earn.

The LUTCF course of study is ideal for financial professionals in their first five years in the business and offers valuable instruction on prospecting, selling, and practice-management. It also provides program graduates with a working knowledge of insurance and investment products available to help clients manage risk.

As a NAIFA Leader, you are ideally positioned to help NAIFA spread the word about this exciting development of the LUTCF program. If you are able to work with an LUTCF candidate to help them get a leg-up in the profession, mentorship opportunities are available. 

Over the past year, NAIFA has completely reworked and modernized the LUTCF curriculum to make the best use of advances in technology and reflect current insurance industry conditions. The new LUTCF is specifically designed for early-career financial professionals and those who have entered the business via mid-career changes. Course content consists of a series of educational modules presented as self-paced micro-learns. Each module can be accessed online by students and contains both audio and video elements.

To receive the LUTCF designation, candidates must:

• Successfully complete three courses in the LUTCF education program, including fieldwork assignments and student-learner guides completed with the input of a mentor from the industry.
• Pass the end-of-program LUTCF examination.
• Complete the designation application, which requires applicants to be NAIFA members in good standing who agree to abide by NAIFA’s Code of Ethics.

The new LUTCF program emphasizes the value of mentors in the insurance and financial services profession. Fieldwork guides include course-related questions to be discussed with the students’ mentors. Students are encouraged to choose mentors they know within the profession. However, NAIFA will provide a NAIFA member mentor who has earned the LUTCF as necessary.

LUTCF designation holders must renew their designation authorization every three years by completing a renewal application and earning three approved continuing education credits in the subject area of ethics within the three-year authorization period.

Registration for NAIFA’s LUTCF program is now open. Candidates who complete the educational courses and fulfill the other designation requirements generally earn the LUTCF within one year of beginning the program.