In an effort to meet rising customer demands for its products and services here, Northwestern Mutual-Inland Northwest expects to add 30 new advisers and 30 interns this year across its nine regional offices, managing partner Paul Hanson says.

“Consumer demand is very high for our products,” says the 44-year-old Hanson, who replaced Brian Hubbell when Hubbell retired last August after 20 years with the company. “Customers are looking to us for our financial expertise and guidance. There’s never been a greater need for more resources, advice, and solutions to help people plan and achieve financial security.”

Hanson says the company is specifically recruiting millennials, military veterans seeking a career path that enables them to transfer their leadership skills, veteran professionals who believe they may have reached an occupational ceiling, and college students looking for internships.

The Spokane-based Northwestern Mutual region has six offices in Washington—located in Spokane, Pullman, Kennewick, Yakima, Walla Walla, and Wenatchee—and three in Idaho—in Coeur d’Alene, Moscow, and Lewiston. 

Altogether, the organization has approximately 131 financial representatives and staff. Just less than 70 are exclusively financial advisers, Hanson says.

The Spokane headquarters at 705 W. Seventh, in the Marycliff Center on the lower South Hill, is home to 23 financial advisers. Hanson anticipates Northwestern Mutual’s workforce to grow beyond the Marycliff Center’s ability to accommodate all of its personnel within the next five years.

In June 2012, Hubbell told the Journal that Northwestern Mutual here managed $750 million in diversified investments. Hansen says that figure today stands at $1.3 billion.

Hanson is a Moscow native and has spent all his life in that community. He’s not related to John C. Hanson, a former Northwestern Mutual financial adviser in Spokane who is scheduled to plead guilty next month to operating a Ponzi scheme and stealing nearly $2.5 million from his clients.

The new managing partner cites a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report from 2015 that says 70 percent of Americans reaching age 65 will need assistance with everyday living activities at some point in their lives, either because of a debilitating injury or chronic illness, such as Alzheimer’s, stroke, heart attack, or diabetes.

“Retirement responsibility is being shifted from government and corporations to families,” Hanson says. “A financial professional can help you see the big picture. This includes prioritizing your goals, mitigating the challenges to retirement, and understanding how the potential need for long-term care could impact your assets, your family, and your future.”

Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual celebrated its 159th anniversary on March 2. The company has more than 330 offices across the U.S. It manages $230 billion in assets and generates $27 billion in revenue annually. Nearly $2 trillion worth of life insurance protection provided by the company is in force with almost 4 million people insured in more than 5.6 million policies, says Northwestern Mutual’s website.

“We started as a life insurance company. Today, we’re a comprehensive financial planning firm specializing in financial security,” Hanson says.  “We interview people first and find out what they want to accomplish before trying to sell them life insurance.”

Through subsidiaries Northwestern Mutual Investment Services and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co., the company offers mutual funds, individual securities, personal trust and brokerage services, retirement plans, variable annuities, fixed income management, cash management, variable life insurance and discretionary investment management, the company says on its website.

Northwestern Mutual Inland Northwest’s insurance policies still remain a strong contributor to the agency’s bottom line. The agency has $11 billion worth of policies in force now, up from $9.5 billion in 2012 and $8 billion in 2008, Hanson says.

As for Hanson, he’s worked for the company for 26 years. 

“I started looking at Northwestern Mutual as an employer when I was in my teens,” he says. “My father was a stockbroker, and our neighbor was an insurance agent. They shared a jet boat on Hells Canyon. When it came down to it, the neighbor had more flexibility in his schedule than my dad and was on the boat more. So that’s when I started pursuing reputable companies in the insurance field.”

Since taking over, Hanson and his leadership team consisting of Carmela Merchant, David Parsons, and Jeff Severs have worked to strengthen the agency’s internship program and enhance continued training for veteran advisers.

Severs is Northwestern Mutual’s chief development officer here, and in that capacity his and Hanson’s interactions are similar to those of business partners.

“We’ve already hired five people to train, develop, and coach our financial advisers,” Hanson says.

Hanson says in the last decade he has come to learn of the importance of relying on the expertise of those around him and delegating authority.

“Historically, many organizations like this were led by one person. Now, we offer so many products it just isn’t in the best interest of our customers to have everything controlled by one person,” Hanson says. “We have to grow and evolve as an organization.”