John C. Watson, III*
CLU, ChFC, AEP, RFC
John C. Watson, III has over 46 years' experience in the financial services industry, affiliating with Provident Mutual on April 1, 1979. In 2007 he affiliated with The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company and its wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary, Hornor Townsend and Kent, Inc. (HTK).
He is life insurance licensed in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas insurance license #239311, California insurance license #OB04901, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Through his company, 221B Advisory Services, LLC., he specializes in utilizing the varied strategic uses of life insurance to meet his client's individual financial needs and objectives. He works in a collaborative manner by partnering with a client's legal, accounting and financial professionals, to tailor his services to best serve his clients. John works closely with and for high-net-worth individuals, families and their advisors throughout the wealth transfer process.
He helps guide companies through executive benefit and succession planning, specializing in the ERISA Exempt Deferred Compensation arena by helping the sponsoring companies recruit, retain and reward mission-critical employees. He has a strategic association with The Pangburn Group, a nationally recognized third-party administrator that allows for the non-qualified plan documentation, reporting and regulatory disclosure requirements, as well as accounting and legal oversight for a client's plan needs. In addition, he has numerous strategic affiliations with specialists throughout the country. His practice focuses on the unique planning objectives of the physician marketplace, on business/corporate insurance strategies, and the family wealth transfer marketplace.
John joined Boy Scout Troop 203 in Greensboro, NC in 1966. He earned the God and Country Award in 1968, was a member of the Order of the Arrow and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1969. He remained associated with the troop for 55 years until it disbanded in 2021.
He holds the designations of Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®), Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®), Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®), Registered Financial Consultant® (RFC®) and he is an Investment Advisor Representative with HTK. He holds Series 6, Series 63, Series 65 and Series 7 securities registrations. In addition, John is a member of the Financial Service Advisors Council, Finseca [formerly the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU)], The International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP), The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), The National Association of Estate Planners and Councils (NAEPC). He is a past president of the Greensboro Estate Planning Council. He served on the Board of Directors for Finseca (AALU) 2013 – 2018 and continues to serve on the Estate Tax Working Group and the Non-Qualified COLI/BOLI Working Group committees.
John has been a featured speaker within the financial and advisory services industry and is a contributor to and author of numerous articles within industry publications. He is contributing author of the following books: Ways & Means: Maximize the Value of your Retirement Savings; 21st Century Wealth: Essential Financial Planning Principles; Love, Money, Control: Reinventing Estate Planning.
John was a member for 13 years of the Nationwide Financial Network (formerly Nationwide Provident/Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company) Presidents Club (established in 1994). He qualified for the Premier Club and Sales Conference (formerly Top-50 and the Provident Mutual Leaders Association [PMLA]) each year from 1981 – 2007. He served on the Agent's Advisory Council from 1988 – 2007, serving as president from 1990 – 1992 and from 2000 until retiring from the position in 2007. He was the recipient of Provident Mutual's 2001 Boris Todorovich award (the last year that the award was given), the 2004 Nationwide Provident Presidents Prestige Award and was the 2004, 2005, 2006 Nationwide Financial Network leading producer/advisor.
For the calendar years of 2008 and 2009, John was recognized as the leading producer for Penn Mutual's Career Agency System, being awarded the prestigious Gold Medal each year. For 2010, 2011 and 2024, he was awarded with Penn Mutual's Silver Medal. For 2015 he was awarded Penn Mutual's Bronze Medal. In March 2011, he was named Penn Mutual's Financial Professional of the Year. In June 2018, he received Penn Mutual's Walter J. Scott Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves as president on the executive board of Penn Mutual's National Advisory Council, Board of Directors. He is a member of the Penn Mutual STAR Study Group. In 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 John was recognized by Forbes – Shook Research as a Best in State financial security professional.
John is married to his wife of 42 years, Laurie. They have a son, John, IV (wife Tracy and daughter Ridley) and a daughter, Madison (husband Austin), along with their two rescue dogs Wilson & Marvin.
