Forty Under 40: Raymond Raphael Jr.

Theres a story Raymond Raphael Jr., 35, likes to tell. Its about a truck driver who falls off his back porch while hes trying to feed his dog. He cracks his ankle and is unable to drive his rig. So Raphael gets disability insurance for him. It was Raphaels first disability claim, and the story illustrates that sometimes freak accidents are covered by insurance.

Raphael is a benefit analyst for Benetek Inc., an employee benefits brokerage firm.

He grew up in Little Rock and earned two business degrees from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway a bachelors in finance in 1991 and an M.B.A. in 1992.

After school, he moved to Northwest Arkansas without a job and was hired at Worthen Bank in Springdale (now Bank of America). From 1992-95, he was an investment broker with Worthen. In 1995, he went to work for Morgan Stanley doing the same job.

In 1997, Raphael started with Benetek. Bob and Cindy Borden, the owners of Benetek, had been clients of Raphaels at Morgan Stanley for a year.

Raphael holds the professional designations of Registered Health Underwriter and Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (of which there are only about 1,000 in the United States).