MDRT - Center for Field Leadership

The MDRT Culture of Excellence Awards recognize the best of the best across six specific areas of agency management. The awards honor leadership contributions to the overall success of each team and set a new global standard for achievement in financial services leadership.

The MDRT Center for Field Leadership will help guide your journey to excellence through resources and content on how to improve in the six key benchmarks for the award.

Qualification Criteria

MDRT Center members can qualify for the MDRT Culture of
Excellence Awards by submitting agency data related to:

Production
Retention
Recruitment
Persistency
Whole Person
MDRT/MDRT Academy Membership

*Award qualifiers must be 2024 MDRT Center members (joining no later than April 1, 2024) and must also be 2025 MDRT Center members.

The following criteria for the MDRT Culture of Excellence Awards set a global standard of excellence. Leaders who achieve them embody the top-tier model of successful agency leadership.

Members Earn the Award on One of Three Levels

3 out of 6 criteria met
4 out of 6 criteria met
5 out of 6 criteria met

Application Deadline

Award applications may be submitted for qualifying members from January 6, 2025 to March 14, 2025. Winners will be announced by April 30, 2025, and honored at an award ceremony at the MDRT Annual Meeting and MDRT Global Conference.

The following criteria for the MDRT Culture of Excellence Awards set a global standard. Leaders who achieve them embody the top-tier model of successful agency leadership.

Have a question on any of the criteria? Head over to our FAQs.

Criteria	Requirement	Criteria Definition
1. Production	The agency must increase its annual production over the previous year by at least 25%.	Production is defined as MDRT-eligible production paid to your agency. The production period is the calendar year, January 1 through December 31. Commissions/premiums should be expressed in USD using the MDRT conversion factor. Gross Dealer Concession (GDC) is accepted as premium.
2. Retention	The agency must have at least a 75% annual agent retention rate.	Retention is defined by a 1:1 assessment. For example, if your agency had 100 agents at the end of 2023, at least 75 of those same agents are still in your agency at the end of 2024. Note: Any agents maintained within the company but moved into another agency due to “spin off” may be counted toward a leader’s annual agent retention. The agency must have at least a 20% annual agency recruitment rate.
3. Recruitment	The agency must have at least a 20% annual agency recruitment rate.	Agency recruitment is defined by an increase in the number of new agents recruited to an agency when compared to the previous year’s total agency size (total number of agents). For example, if your agency was comprised of 100 total agents at the end of 2023, your agency would need to recruit a minimum of 20 new agents at the end of 2024 to satisfy 20% annual agency recruitment.
4. Persistency (13^th month)	The agency must have at least a 90% 13^th month persistency rate.	Persistency is measured as the percentage of first-year policies that renew at the 13^th month. For example, if your agency had 1,000 first year policies in 2023 due for renewal in 2024, 900 would need to be renewed in order to have a 90% persistency rate.
5. Whole Person	Must complete both in current year: Agencywide community/charity involvement to support your local community. Learning Engagement Score (Complete 1 out of the 3): Meeting attendance. Attend MDRT’s Annual Meeting or Global Conference in the current year. Masterclass attendance. Attend two live masterclasses in the current year. Complete assigned modules in Harvard ManageMentor^® for the current year.	Community/Charity Involvement proof of completion: Photo, media/press article or attestation by member of the service activity. Proof must include the member’s name, agency name, date of service and details of community impact. This should be an agencywide effort in community service. For example, your entire agency volunteered to serve a meal to those in need in your community. Learning Engagement: Simply check the applicable box and the MDRT Center will verify this criteria. No need to provide proof of engagement.
6. MDRT/MDRT Academy Membership	75% of agents in your agency must be either current members of MDRT (if eligible) or the MDRT Academy, for countries/territories where the MDRT Academy is available.	To satisfy this criteria, the MDRT Center member must provide a list of all of their agents with their corresponding MDRT ID numbers for their MDRT or MDRT Academy membership.