The employee benefits industry has officially arrived in a new era. I'm calling it the age of "coopetition." Think of it as cooperative competition. I didn't coin the phrase, but it aptly describes the predominant force at play in our field today. I can't give you the exact start date—although a line in the sand may have been drawn the day the Supreme Court upheld health care reform. Honestly, it doesn't matter. What is significant is that we are no longer doing business the way we did even one year ago.

Many of my days are spent talking with benefit advisors, carriers, technology firms and businesses about how they can work with our company to bolster their position in the marketplace. Other days, I'm in discussions with outside entities trying to set up agreements to leverage our mutual assets.

Either way, many of these conversations are with businesses that once might have been considered our competitors—or perceived us as their rival. In some cases, we are forging connections with parties who never have been on our radar.