The application process typically lasts 18 to 24 months.  Prospective members complete extensive questionnaires detailing their production history, the backgrounds of the individuals involved, plans for growth and succession, and more to make sure there is alignment of interests, Jonske says. "We go to their offices two or three times to examine how they conduct business. They come to our headquarters in Portland to see how we work."

Current members are also queried to make sure they have had no negative experiences with the prospective firm and that it is likely to fit the M culture.

Those invited to join have provisional status for two years during which they enjoy unfettered access to every M product but remain under the microscope. Nearly all accede to full membership.
Provisional members pay the organization $15,000 the first year for training and the right to use the M name. In year two the cost is $11,000. In addition, a capital contribution of $10,000 is required to purchase 1,000 shares of stock in M Financial Group, Inc.  After that, the annual membership fee is $6,000. Target production for full members is $600,000 of business placed through M annually.

"If you had a chance to join M, I don't know why you wouldn't," says David Byers, whose firm, Capital Strategies Group in Birmingham, Ala., joined M in early 2005. "I have never been part of an organization that under-promised and over-delivered the way M has-and I had high expectations when we came in."


Writing The Future
Three decades on, the story of M Financial Group continues to unfold.  One anticipated growth area is asset management. In 2006 M formally launched a wealth management platform that is currently utilized by perhaps one-quarter of the member firms. It doesn't feature any proprietary products. But like the insurance side of the house, it relies on M firms' access to the super-affluent to negotiate better prices and terms with investment-product manufacturers.

Regarding the insurance side, M's product development group, which Nease calls "a think-tank for the member firms" and which consists of representatives from five of them along with eight Portland staffers, is currently tackling underwriting initiatives. The goal: to make it easier for the affluent client to purchase life insurance.

Early successes can be reported. Several carrier partners recently began waiving some tests and other underwriting requirements for M buyers under certain circumstances.  Eliminating underwriting steps that provide little protective value-which M can clearly demonstrate with its vaunted experience database-not only reduces carrier costs without compromising the quality of the business placed, it can hasten the time it takes clients to purchase insurance. The three to six weeks that are typically required these days is too long, Nease says.

"This is one of the few businesses where you can't buy the product immediately. It's time for some things to change."