Cornerstone Insurance Group Joins Benefit Advisors Network

CLEVELAND, OH (9/29/09) --- Cornerstone Insurance Group, Inc. successfully has passed the stringent screening process to become a member of Benefit Advisors Network (BAN).

BAN is the premier national network of independent benefit advisory and consulting companies. Members are selected specifically for their industry knowledge, ethics, and vision. To be accepted into membership is a prestigious validation that a firm has been recognized as the “best of the best” in its particular market.

“Membership in BAN provides selected firms with the ability to compete on a national scale with the capabilities and leverage of a national organization, which, in turn, enhances their focus and flexibility as a local partner and neighbor,” says BAN Director Deane Elek.

Unlike large national firms, though, Cornerstone and other members of BAN are unencumbered by stockholder expectations. “Our member firms offer clients the best of both worlds,” explains Elek. “Through the many resources BAN offers, clients of Cornerstone and our other member firms can expect the highest caliber of expertise that a national firm can promise, delivered with the care and consideration of an interested local partner that understands what local employers need and want.”

“BAN provides Cornerstone with exposure to a group of like-minded companies that are both forward-thinking and highly ethical,” says Cornerstone Owner Joe Carter. “BAN membership allows my firm to stay current on market developments, maintain our reputation as an innovator in our market, and share resources that I wouldn’t be able to offer or justify on my own.”

Cornerstone Insurance Group is a boutique firm that specializes in partially self-funded plans, CDHC plans, and wellness. Transparency and fee-based consulting are both core to the agency’s work. The firm works primarily with companies based in Arkansas that employ between 100 and 4,000 workers.

Before launching Cornerstone in 2005, Carter worked on the carrier side for Guardian as a Group Representative and for Delta Dental of Arkansas as Vice President of Marketing. He also taught employee benefits for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was named one of five finalists for Executive of the Year in 2009.