PPI and Dundee Goodman Insurance Agency Ltd., both based in Toronto, recently announced a strategic alliance under which PPI will provide sales and marketing support, education and tools to Dundee Goodman’s insurance advisors.

The alliance is one way Dundee Goodman is responding to clients’ needs and concerns, says John Cucchiella, senior vice president and head of retail at Dundee Goodman.

An independent study commissioned by Dundee Goodman in 2013 indicates that worries over health-care needs have emerged as the second most-important driver, behind retirement itself, of investment planning for certain individuals across Canada.

“PPI’s two marketing channels — PPI Solutions in the broader market and PPI Advisory in the high net-worth market — will support Dundee Goodman advisors with products, processes, software and education in the insurance area,” said James Burton, chairman and CEO of PPI, in a release.

Dundee Goodman’s advisors will utilize the PPI Toolkit, proprietary software that generates custom-made client presentations, insurance concepts and product comparisons to provide superior service to their clients, according to Jim Virtue, president of PPI Solutions.

For large cases, Dundee Goodman advisors will access PPI Advisory’s tax and estate planning expertise for sophisticated insurance and business succession planning, a specialized insurance market in which PPI has been active for more than 30 years.

“Dundee Goodman clients benefit from our alliance with PPI through sophisticated planning support for risk management and estate planning.” said Robert Sellars, chief financial officer at Dundee Goodman.

This announcement comes soon after Dundee Goodman Private Wealth’s acquisition of approximately 60 investment advisors across Canada, which expanded its platform to approximately 100 investment advisors across Canada managing portfolios valued at more than $6 billion and Dundee Securities’ global reach with offices in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Victoria, Dubai and London, England.

This is the latest in a number of strategic alliances to provide insurance support that PPI has formed in the past few years with insurance affiliates of IIROC and MFDA-regulated firms across Canada.

Dundee Goodman Insurance Agency is an affiliate of Dundee Goodman Private Wealth, a division of Dundee Securities Ltd.