AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Jan 28, 2014) -  Lion Street announced they have launched the Multi-Life Design Center (MLDC) to support multi-life insurance sales for both executive benefit firms and traditional life insurance professionals. Industry veteran Bill Thurston will head up the MLDC as President.

"Lion Street has had tremendous growth over the past three years, and we now have over 75 Owner-firms and over 110 shareholders. Many of our Owner-firms specialize in Executive Benefits and Business Insurance Planning. The MLDC provides the internal and external resources independent firms need to win and retain clients," states Thurston.

MLDC has created a bolt-on capabilities offering with American Financial Systems (AFS) to deliver a leading technology platform for both Non-Qualified Deferred Comp and After Tax Supplemental Retirement Plans. This unique offering creates financial fairness for Owner-firms as they only pay for the case specific resources. Lion Street's MLDC will launch OVATION, the industry's first multi carrier web-based communication and enrollment system for Highly Compensated Executives and Professionals, in the first quarter of 2014.

"Becoming a Lion Street Owner-firm allows us to better serve our clients. The MLDC provides a wide range of professional and IT resources that complement our in-house capabilities with respect to the design, implementation and management of executive benefit programs. And of great importance to us as an independent firm, it provides those resources through a national platform in which we have an ownership interest," states Chris Rich, one of the Principals of Executive Benefit Solutions, an independent consulting firm focused on executive benefits in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Lion Street has further added to their expertise by hiring Christi Crump, former COO of Clark Consulting, as the Vice President of MLDC operations and Peter Sullivan, JD, former Vice President of non-qualified deferred comp and retirement services with Guardian and Transamerica, as Vice President of Multi-life insurance sales.

"Lion Street's new MLDC is a marketplace differentiator and will add significant value to our Owner-firms," said Bob Carter, CEO and Founder of Lion Street. 

About Lion Street, Inc.
Lion Street, Inc. is a privately held financial services distribution company based in Austin, Texas. Lion Street provides elite independent life insurance producers access to the financial products, intellectual capital, and specialized resources they need to meet the sophisticated needs of their high-net-worth and corporate clients. Lion Street is a portfolio company of Austin Ventures, a venture capital firm with $3.9 billion of assets under management. To learn more about Lion Street, visit www.lionstreet.com.