“It may be a cliché,” says Stu Weinstein, chair of the Group Insurance Trust Claims and Plan Design Committee, “but I have gotten a lot out of my relationship with CalCPA as member, and so serving as a trustee, and finding products and services that benefit members, is a great way to give  back.” To this he adds, “Its enjoyable to be associated with something as successful as the Group Insurance Trust has been.”

In addition to his spirit of service, Weinstein also embodies a broad range of professional experience that helps him understand the circumstances of different members. Having graduated with a degree in accounting from the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1960s, Weinstein started his career with a large regional accounting firm where he served until receiving his license. From there he moved to a consulting firm and then to a job as controller in McKesson Corporation’s International Division.

He comments that this experience was a unique opportunity

“to observe the  inside of a business from the client’s perspective, something that many CPAs don’t get a chance to do.”

He was fascinated to see how an enterprise is built, how people are responsible for the bottom line, and how they report to others. He was also engaged by the process of building appropriate controls. At the end of the day, however, he found the work repetitive, and he turned back to public accounting with renewed interest.

He joined his father, who had been working as a solo CPA, in forming Weinstein & Company, where he stayed until 1999. At that point he found himself ready for a more corporate structure and moved to Rooney, Ida, Nolt and Ahern, which had just opened a San Francisco office. He liked the fact that they had separate departments with specialties and that clients were shared.

This structure also meant that his clients had a place to stay as he transitioned into retirement during the years from 2005 to 2007. Currently he still provides occasional services as a consultant and also continues as a director of CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company.

As far as the GIT is concerned, however, he is very much engaged by the challenge of providing price competitive insurance services that most public sector members couldn’t get on their own.

“There is excitement,” he says, “in working on flexible plan designs that work well for small as well as large firms. The test is to create plans that people can afford while providing as many options  as possible.”

He is proud of the high level of service members receive and pleased at the broad geographic coverage provided by Anthem Blue Cross. The fact that the GIT’s only stakeholders are its member-employers makes it easier to achieve these goals.

As chair of the Claims and Plan Design Committee he is concerned with the marketing of the entire program as well as the details of its many plans, and he has advocated the addition of more marketing and sales options for ProtectPlus, including the use of a general agency and its associated brokers.

“This option allows us to reach more potential members than simply using the direct distribution option that has been used since the Trust was founded. In a profession with an aging population, one way to continue to keep costs down, is to reach out to more members so that our overhead  costs are shared over a broader base.”

For the future, he hopes to see more member firms enroll in ProtectPlus.

“Most firms who take the time to explore the GIT options find that it is a very competitive program, frequently better than what they have in place.”

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