Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Patrick McNulty, Structured Settlement Specialist at Atlas Settlement Group

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

Patrick is a structured settlement specialist in tune with the requests of his various clients using his dedication and knowledge of the business. After graduating from Arizona State, Patrick worked in the back office at Symetra Financial and assisted structured settlement brokers with different problems and questions. Through his work with Symetra, Patrick worked first-hand with different Non-Qualified annuity products integral to structured settlement brokers and their clients. As a result of this work, Patrick has a strong aptitude for such products and services. Shortly thereafter, Patrick joined the Berkshire Hathaway structured settlement marketing and sales team as a senior account manager and serviced structured settlement brokers for over 10 years. Patrick brings a strong work ethic and drive with him in addition to his strong background in the structured settlements field.Patrick has a passion for media and sports.Learn more: https://patrickfarber.com/Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-patrick-mcnulty-structured-settlement-specialist-at-atlas-settlement-group

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of influential entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have with us Patrick McNulty, who's a structured settlement specialist at Atlas Settlement Group. Patrick, welcome to the program. Hey, thank you so much, Mike. It's great to be here. Yeah, I'm excited to talk with you because I love your approach to business and the unique way that you serve your clients. But before we get into what you do and how you do it, what's your story? What's your background? And how did you get into this specialized arm of financial services? Yeah. So I went ahead and was working for Symmetra Financial in Seattle for a good amount of time. And that was when I actually was working in the back office with structured settlements. And, So that's kind of the way that I got started with that particular, you know, industry.

And then over time, I went ahead and did some different jobs within Symmetra. And about two or three years down the road, the person who actually ran the structured settlements unit at Symmetra went ahead and said, hey, you know, is this something that you'd like to do in terms of, you know, the sales side of things, you know, because I was always on the admin side up until then. So I said to him, absolutely. You know, I think that that would be a great opportunity for me to broaden my horizons and see what else is out there. So at that point in time, I went ahead and accepted the job as a structured settlement advisor, if you will, for Smetra because it was on the life company side of things.

At that point in time, we were kind of a smaller organization. and at that point in time, Berkshire Hathaway took some interest in our particular structured settlement unit. At that point in time, Berkshire Hathaway went ahead and said, okay, let's go ahead and have you guys be our sales team. And then so when Symmetra actually shut down operations of their structured settlement unit, that's what we went in full time with Berkshire Hathaway. So I did that for about 10 years. It's a great 10 years, of course, you know, learning from some of best in the industry. And I actually had a lot of different backgrounds as far as, you know, the brokers that I met and things of that nature. So it was a good primer for what I do now.

So around February is when we went ahead and closed down the Berkshire Hathaway Structured Settlement Sales Division. At that point in time, Pat Farber, a very well-known, respected 40 years in the business, structured settlement broker, went ahead and hired me on, and I can't begin to, you know, thank him for that opportunity. So that's kind of my background opportunities. And, you know, so that's kind of my background as far as how I got to where I am today, if you will. Yeah, the Berkshire is quite the strategic alliance to learn from, huh, because they've got a wonderful, wonderful reputation. So that's a great place. And then you just build from there. And, you know, being a structured settlement specialist means that you specialize in this.

And before we get into what that means, actually, what actually is a structured settlement? Let's define that in the first place. Yeah, absolutely. So what it is is it's essentially an annuity for an injured party for them to, in some ways or others, to, you know, make sure that they get what they need from, you know, the money that comes out of their settlement. So, for example, if somebody got in a car accident, they would receive a certain amount of money from the life insurance company or from the defense, if you will. And so they would say, okay, how much money do you need? And then they negotiate that through mediation and things of that nature. And at that point in time, they say, okay, well, you know, just for example, they say, okay, we have 500.

thousand dollars and so the attorney comes to us and says hey you know we actually have 500,000 what can you do for us in order to make sure that this particular client is whole you know over time. So then what we do is we come up with some plans for what they can do with their structured settlement. So essentially a structured settlement is a vehicle for somebody that is injured in order to kind of become whole again, if you will. So if I'm thinking correctly, if someone was injured and their settlement from the court or whatnot is, in your example, their 500,000, they might not want or request 500,000 cash. They might want that payments over time. Well, the attorney that is handling that is not going to stroke a check for X number dollars every

month, every year. They are going to come to you guys as the in-between broker liaison and say, here's 500,000, how can we put together something that benefits this client over time? And then you guys are putting something together so that the client gets the funds. The attorney places it into some type of an account with that you guys arrange. And then the attorney's out of it. You guys are managing it through this account. And then the client is getting then payments over time. Yeah, that's perfect.

That's a perfect representation. Yeah, I think that you hit right on the head there. And so then that makes me think of. this, you're facilitating what's in the best interest of that client because using that example of 500,000, you could put that into many different types of options. So you could show them option, you know, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, you know, and then you've got to figure out, well, this option here is good if you want this outcome and this option is good if you want that outcome. what are some of those considerations that you mentioned to the client to consider to use with that money?

Yeah, I think that's a great point. So what we can do is we say, okay, so you know, you have this money that we're going to put into a structure settlement for you. And the qualifications are that you can do lifetime income. You can go ahead and do lump sums for your children. you can do like an annual four-year payment for college for the children that you may may not have. So I think that there's just so much flexibility with structures in terms of, you know, the different types of payment streams that we offer.

So we go ahead and tell them, hey, you know what, here's the different types of options that we have available to you, which one is the most attractive to you? And we leave it up to that injured individual to, you know, consult with their a client or attorney, and then they come up with what they want to do with us. And then based on what they say, then you start looking at products and financial instruments to make recommendations for it. But they have to first go, well, I would like it to give me this in this kind of a time frame. So you're kind of going 30,000 foot view first.

And then when they give you that clarification, then you're going, okay, because you want it this way, here's this kind of a product, here's this kind of a setup. and then you're kind of dialing it in a little bit tighter, right? Yeah, exactly right, Mike. We went ahead and start with that very wide view. And then once we narrow it down, that it's when we get very detailed and organized with that particular plan.

So what are some ideas for these opportunities, whether it's qualified or non-qualified? I'm sure that there's ramifications for taxes that are factored in that you're making recommendations on because I'm confident that this is the case. There is, you can lay out a menu of options for these clients and none of them benefit you more or less than the other. You're just saying, because you want this, here's some things to consider, but you are putting

together. Hey, now this one, you're going to have some tax consequence or this one we're going to be able to mitigate taxes a little bit better. What are some examples of that? Well, the great thing about structured settlements, Mike, is that they are tax-free. So that is one of the things that is a huge selling. point for us is the fact that, you know, these injured clients, you know, through no halt, like, you know, part of their own is that they were injured in some kind of accident of some

sorts, that they go ahead and get those tax-free payments over time. Now, when somebody takes constructive receipt of the money, which means that they take the money from the life insurance company or from the defense, you know, if the client is, you know, takes the check or something and takes receipt of that money, that's when it becomes non-qualified money. And then that's when the taxable implications can rise. And that's when we come in them and we say, you know what, we can go ahead and do a deferred annuity over time. We can defer those tax, you know, consequences for you for, you know, however long these particular payments last. So that's kind of where we come up with what we're trying to do in terms of the tax mitigation. And I would also suspect that there's

even could be a hybrid type of a need where maybe they would say, look, I need X number of dollars for this thing now, but let's put the rest of it into this structured long-term, you know, annuity type thing. Do you have it set up where you can give them a chunk now plus then structured moving forward? Yeah, absolutely, Mike. You know, we went ahead and set up the upfront cash for the clients so that they can get what they need up front. And, you know, So we realize that there's a lot of different fees and things of that nature that they need to take care of up front. So that's part of the settlement. So the defense would go ahead and say, you know, here's $250,000 up front.

And then the attorney would say, well, you know, you still have this X number of dollars left. Let's go ahead and put that into a structured settlement where you get the tax-free money over time instead of taking the full thing at once. you know, and then and then maybe blowing all the money on something. So it's just more, it's safe. It's a safer option. So your main client at first is the attorney that you are working for to then serve their, you know, client, the recipient of the funds. When you're working with these attorneys, what are some of the value propositions and values

that you bring to that attorney that they feel confident in that you and Pat Farber's, you know, organization you're bringing to them because I venture to say that you're not the only one doing this out there in the whole world. So these attorneys have a choice. But when they choose you, what are they appreciating that you guys are doing with them and for their clients? Yeah, you know, I think that's a great point. I think first of all, you know, Pat Farber has been in the industry for over 40 years. You know, he brings this level of trust, integrity that cannot be questioned. And I think that for me, you know, learning from him has been such a, such a great opportunity and it's only been a short time but but i can tell you know that everybody trusts

and appreciates what he has to bring to the table and you know i think that like when you have somebody who's trustworthy like that then you know when when they make recommendations they know the lay of the land so i think that that's a great opportunity you know to see that the client is you know getting the best opportunity from pat for ever and from myself and from anybody else part of the organization that, you know, we basically are there for their support. We go ahead and cooperate with them and help them out whatever they need. You know, we're always there. And I think that that's also something to be recognized is the fact that we're always

there for them, you know. And so I think that that's really what differentiates us is the integrity, the fact that we're always there and the trust. Yeah, being very communicative. to all parties, the client and the attorney just raises that level of trust when you show your expertise by explaining options to both client and attorney. They feel like they're part of the process. And I would suspect from the outside looking in here, listening to this, boy, that attorney, they're concerned about their reputation. And if they have someone like yourselves

working with the client and it goes south, that's a negative ding on them. So when they're bringing people to you and you're shining and bringing wonderful solutions and the client is thrilled and even writing testimonial letters, that really shines brightly back on the attorney and that's what they need. Absolutely. I agree if you might 100%. I think that it's incredibly important for us to make sure that the client is very comfortable and happy with what they get from us and that the attorney is also very happy what they receive from us as well. I think that's just spectacular. And in this world of, you know, this is not just a matter of, hey, the best place to get an oil change is, you know, this is a big sensitive topic.

You know, it's in some cases, in some cases, it's, you know, more than their life savings in some of these settlements. So this is a big decision and it involves many different people. And when you can bring that level of trust and credibility to the equation and serving your clients, I think that just really spectacular. So what are some final thoughts on things people should consider? And then what's the best way that they can learn more and reach out and connect with you? Yeah, you know, I think that taking a step back when you get the structured settlement or when you get the settlement money, you know, I think that what can happen is clients think, oh, you know, let me take all the money up front.

You know, I want to, I want to, you know, do all these different things. I think they need to just take a step back, realize that it's not, that it's, you know, money over time that could be tax-free. And I think that that's very important is the tax-free. And so I think that they need to just keep that in mind and make sure that they make a decision that's right for them and that will benefit them in their family over time. And we're here for them if they need that. I love it. Well, Patrick, thank you so much for coming on today. It's been a real pleasure talking with you. What's the best website that they can reach out and connect with you on?

Yeah. So the best website is Patrickfarber.com. And then they can look at articles and have a contact button to reach out and connect with you and then that would be the best way. Excellent. Absolutely. That's 100% right. So hopefully we can connect soon. Mike, it was a real pleasure speaking with you today. Thank you so much for your time. Excellent. Thank you so much.

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