Nick Gerhart, vice president of compliance and regulatory affairs for Midland National Life Insurance Co. in Sioux Falls, S.D., received the National Underwriters’ Elite Award for Regulatory Advocacy. Gerhart received the award for work in overturning a proposed rule by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that would have reclassified fixed indexed annuities as securities rather than insurance products, a rule the industry opposed due to its potential to drive smaller annuity issuers out of business. Midland is a subsidiary of Sammons Financial Group, which has operations in West Des Moines.