Tradewind Financial | (((REDACTED – VIOLATION OF TERMS OF SERVICE – INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY)))

Reefpoint Business Services is the rebranding of Tradewind Settlements.  It is the same business managed by the same people who owned and operated Tradewind Settlements.

The owner/VP of Tradewind Settlements, Thomas J. Smith served 8 years in prison for a 100 Million Dollar life settlement scam. Mr. Smith was the President/owner of Trade Partners in Grand Rapid, MI where this crime was committed.

Mr. Smith was released from prison in 2012, and started Tradewind Settlements.  Mr. Smith’s criminal background was exposed in December, 2015. An announcement was made by the company that Mr. Smith no longer worked for Tradewind, and a new VP was appointed, Brad Raney.  Brad Raney worked for Tradewind as the Marketing Director.  The effort to appoint Mr. Raney as VP was in an attempt to hid Mr. Smith’s criminal background and involvement with the company.  Mr. Raney has no previous experience in the life settlement industry.

It was announced in April, 2016 that Tradewind has closed, and the company is now called Reefpoint Business Services.  The rebranding and renaming of the company is in an attempt to hid and minimalize the damages done by the exposure of Mr. Smith’s past criminal background and incarceration.

It has also been reported the President of Reefpoint Business Services, Jay Nault of Atlanta, GA is the owner of an adult sex toy and video shop called Inserection. Reefpoint Business Services and Inserection share the same physical address in Atlanta, GA.  Mr. Nault has no prior experience in the life settlement industry as he has an IT background. 

If you are interested in getting into the life settlement industry, you do not have to pay $24,950 to get into the business.  The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), the governing body of the life settlement industry offers a life settlement training program at a nominal fee. 

It is important to note life settlement transactions are very difficult to find and settle.  There are very narrow parameters for a policy to actually settle.  Approximate 3,000 policies are settled on an annual basis. 

Do not be lured into promises of 6 figure commissions paid on one transaction.  The truth is, very few policies have actually been settled by Tradewind Settlements or Reefpoint Business Services.

Do not be fooled by Mr. Raney’s flowery and tricky wording on company announcements and materials.  They are just empty words with empty promises.

Save your $24,950. You do not need Reefpoint Business Services to settle your policies for you.  You can contact a reputable Life Settlement Broker who is familiar with the competitive bidding process to settle your policies for you.  You will make more money on your transactions, as Reefpoint Business Services is essentially the middle man between you and the broker.  They will take a percentage of the commissions from your transaction.

The life settlement program offered through LISA is your best bet of how to get involved in the life settlement industry.

Tradewind Settlements, Jacksonville, FL is a Fraud.  Their corporate office is actually an Adult Toy Store located at 1739 Cheshire Bridge Rd, Atlanta, GA  30324. 

Tradewind's VP, Thomas J. Smith was involved in a 100 Millionn Life Settlement Scam and served a 6 1/2 year prison sentence for this crime.  He was released from prison and started Tradewind Settlements in 2012 in Jacksonville, FL.

There are 3 individuals who own Tradewind Settlements:  Jay Nault, Michael Morrison & Thomas J. Smith.

Now that Mr. Smith's criminal past has been exposed, the company appointmented Brad Raney as the VP. Mr. Smith is still involved with the company from behind the scenes.

Do not spend money on this Business Opportunity.  You do not need them to find, source or settle a life settlement. 

Any "Licensed" Life Settlement Broker can help you with this transaction.

Despite significant hurdles, such as a national drug war, worldwide recession, and a decline in oil production investments in Mexico have continued to rise. In 2007 Mexico was only ranked 19th as an appealing foreign market to invest in, yet by 2010 it had sky rocketed to an impressive number 8.

Mexico indeed has it's issues. However, the country still attracts commerce from American companies seeking to lower operating costs. Additionally, as the world economy improves more investments is expected. The United States is the leader when it comes to making investments in Mexico, having increased by 400% over the last fifteen years.

Certainly, China has become a popular place for American investments, yet Mexico has that closeness attached to it. In other words, Mexico is right on our doorstep. NAFTA and other trade agreements have served to increase commerce and investments in Mexico. Services have overtaken manufacturing in FDI, foreign direct investments in Mexico, and an incredible increase for the lodging sector is expected.

An example of increased commerce into Mexico is when General Motors announced in January, 2011 an investment of $540,000,000 to make its new 4 cylinder engines. Mexico will also profit from the expected 500 employees that will be hired. Naturally, GM can conduct business anywhere on the earth, yet they have selected Mexico for their commerce. This action adds credibility to Mexico and it's work force.

Mexico is actively seeking a lot more Chinese investment and commerce. Their rationale being, their close proximity to the American market can eliminate long shipping delays that frequently occur between the United States and China. In a sense, Mexico is looking to act as a go-between, between China and the United States.

As an added advantage, Mexico can bypass California as China's entry point to the American market, and drive their products by truck. Plus, Mexico has many free trade agreements, enabling China a tariff free environment to conduct commerce. While China and Mexico do have agreements in place; Mexico continues to pitch in exclusive physical closeness to the American market to Chinese companies.

Mexico, despite considerable struggles with the worldwide recession and an ugly drug war has managed to steadily increase the foreign investment it receives. Even GM has announced a new investment to build new 4 cylinder engines for it's cars. Mexico would profit from 500 new jobs. NAFTA has helped to increase investment and business into Mexico.

ProMexico is the Mexican Government institution in charge of strengthening Mexico's participation in the international trade (comercio). With this objective in mind, the institution supports the export activity of companies established in the country and co-ordinates actions to attract foreign direct investment to national territory. ProMexico was established on June 13, 2007, as a sectoral public trust under the Ministry of the Economy, and operates through a network of 25 offices throughout Mexico and more than 27 offices abroad.

Selling to high-level decision makers is challenging at the best of times. However, it can be easier if you understand a few business principles.

C-level decision makers are paid to improve their business results. Regardless of how the media portrays these executives, their primary concern is to improve their business. This includes increasing sales, market share, customer loyalty; reducing costs, errors, or employee turnover; improving productivity, employee engagement, customer service, etc.

How does your product, service or solution address one of these issues?

C-level decision makers deal with changing priorities. Improving customer engagement may be a top priority today but tomorrow that executive may be faced with cutting $250,000 in expenses. That means they sometimes go cold after expressing initial interest in your solution.

Do you have a strategy in place to keep your solution current?

C-level decision makersare extremely busy. The average executive arrives early in the morning and stays late into the evening. They get dozens of calls every day, receive too many emails, and attend too many meetings. This means that you need to maximize every minute you have when you connect with them. This applies to telephone conversations and face-to-face meetings.

Do you know EXACTLY what to say when you connect with these individuals?

C-level decision makersrely on others. Contrary to popular belief, these high-ranking big-wigs seldom make decisions on their own. They often defer to other people on their team and ask for feedback from peers and/or subordinates. This means you need to involve these people in your conversations and include them in the decision making process.

Do you have the ability to finesse this?

C-level decision makers don't like to make mistakes. A major mistake can affect an executive's reputation in their company. This affects the decision-making process which means you need to uncover their risk factor during your conversations.

How will you reduce your prospect's risk factor?

C-level decision makers have big egos. Most executives have a healthy ego which is one of the things that helped them achieve their status in the company. This means that you need to be very confident in your own abilities when selling to these individuals. Don't back down when you're challenged. In fact, doing so could cost you the business because C-level execs want to deal with people who believe in what they do.

Are you confident enough to deal directly with C-level executives?

C-level decision makers spend the bulk of their day in meetings.The next time you're in the office, watch an executive. Chances are you will see them dashing from meeting to meeting. Your prospects are in the same position. They aren't sitting at their desk waiting for you to call them.

Are you persistent in your efforts to connect with these individuals?

C-level decision makers have at least 40 hours of work on their desk at any given time. Several executives I know have expressed these sentiment, "I will never get caught up" or "Just when I think I can't get busier, I do" or "I never call a sales person back because I already have too much on my plate." you need to give these individual's an extremely good reason to meet with you or take your call.

Is your approach effective?

C-level decision makers receive upwards of 150 emails every day. Many sales people use email as their major form of correspondence and it can be ineffective because most C-level decision makers simply don't have time to respond to every email. A Managing Director once told me that he prefers telephone correspondence because he simply can't get to every email, even when he wants to.

Do you use a variety of strategies to connect with C-level decision makers?

C-level decision makers think big picture.Stop focusing on your product or your company and start looking at the big picture of your prospect's business. Most C-level execs don't get bogged down in the little details of their business they pay others to take care of the details. I once met with the President of a $125 million company and made the mistake of asking her questions about front-line execution instead of top-level strategic issues.

Can you see and discuss the big picture?

Think about your responses to each question and adapt your approach accordingly.

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Tradewind Settlements is an excellent company. I have been pleased with their services. They offer such a complete package and the new content and tutorials are always coming. There are other companies in the space that are ripoffs but this isn't one of them