The Boomers

The Boomers
Jackson’s corporate band, The Boomers, was formed in early 2006 to compete in the Fortune Magazine Battle of the Corporate Bands. The Boomers play various charitable and corporate events and live to prove that a band with three accountants, two actuaries and a lawyer can still rock and have fun despite having spent so many years trapped in a maze of corporate cubicles.

Jackson National Life Insurance Company (Jackson) is a leading annuity company - one of the country's largest financial services companies with over $82 billion in assets. Jackson is the North American hub for Prudential plc, a global insurance and financial services leader.

Members of The Boomers include:

Andy Hopping (founder) – Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Andy founded the band with the ulterior motive of having a way to continue pursuing his life long love of music while also doing a positive thing for Jackson National and the mid-Michigan community in terms of charitable fundraising. Andy played in a rock band in high school and put himself through school playing acoustic guitar and singing in restaurants and nightclubs. Growing up in the era of some of the greatest singer/songwriters led him to believe he too could be rich, famous and unencumbered if he could manage to write a few hit songs of his own. Fortunately, his back up plan of a financial business career has worked out a lot better than his dreams of writing hit songs in the hills of Malibu. Andy is happy to say he now has the best of both worlds and continues to write, record and perform without having to travel or starve. Andy has released four CD’s on his own CFO Records label and is most famous for his MSU basketball theme song “It’s All About Heart”.

Andy is a CPA with an accounting degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from UCLA. Andy also serves as the Treasurer for Ele’s Place, a local charity for grieving children, and is on the board of the Capital Region Community Foundation. Andy is also a past president of Michigan State University’s Broad Graduate School of Management and College of Business alumni board.

Jim Binder – Senior Vice President & Treasurer
After ending a recent 15-year musical sabbatical, Jim’s musical batteries are recharged and he is ready to rock. Jim was originally a percussion music major in college, but also succumbed to the exciting field of accounting as a safer path to at least a middle class lifestyle. Jim played numerous wedding and bar band gigs in his early years and is happy to be back buying vast amounts of new equipment and playing again purely for the fun of it.

Jim is a CPA and earned his business degree from Aquinas College.

Dave Zyble – Assistant Vice President, Government Relations
Dave began his music career in grade school on trumpet but quickly discovered that guitar was more fun and way cooler. Growing up in the 80s, he learned to play the guitar and formed a band in Northern Michigan. His band has long since dis-banded, but he continues to stay active in his home studio, playing rhythm guitar and singing with local bands, and, of course, rocking with The Boomers. The Boomers have yet to find a big 80’s rock hit that Dave can’t instantly play.

David is a 1996 graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Ab Manning – Assistant Vice President, Actuarial Department
Ab grew up with music – playing the lead guitar in a rock band as a teen, along with the trumpet and French horn for his high school band. His days of performing publicly were suspended for almost 30 years, save for a four-year stint as a violinist in a community orchestra. Ab is thrilled to be back in the music scene and playing popular music as a bassist for The Boomers.

Ab is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries with a degree in mathematics from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State University. He also spent some very enjoyable years at Virginia Tech as a grad student and full-time instructor. Ab is one of two actuarial math geeks in the band and clearly over qualified to keep us on the beat.

Chet Czubko – Director, Risk Management
Chet has played various keyboard instruments since grade school, starting as a church organist beginning in the seventh grade and is still going strong 40 years later. Chet has also led his own family based band for over 30 years. In 2005, the Michigan Polka Music Hall of Fame recognized him for his support of the polka genre. The Boomers have yet to agree to play any polkas but we are confident that we can rock one out if necessary. Chet is also famous for having risked his own life pulling a man from a fiery car crash. We figure anyone who would do that will definitely show up for practice on time.

Chet is a CPA, CFE and CIE and also obtained his accounting degree from Michigan State University.

Ryan Mellott – Senior Actuarial Analyst, Actuarial Department
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