There are big changes taking place in the insurance industry. Several major managing general agencies (MGAs) have bought up smaller competitors in order to grow even larger – with some enhancing their support services to differentiate themselves better from the competition. As for the dedicated agencies, they’re paying increasing attention to the investment side of the business.
As a result of all this, it’s important to advisors that their “firm’s/MGA’s strategic focus” complements their own in order for both parties to be successful.
“[The firm’s] strategic focus and my own have to be in sync,” says an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based PPI Advisory. “Otherwise, nobody is going to succeed.”
Adds an advisor in the same province with Mississauga, Ont.-based IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc. (IDC WIN): “If I’m aligning my business with an MGA, you better believe it matters to me what their plan is. I want to know this company is going to be around.”
Overall, advisors rated their firms’ and MGAs’ performance in strategic focus slightly lower this year, at 8.5 vs 8.6 in 2013. And for many advisors surveyed, the most important part of their company’s strategic focus for success is giving its advisors the freedom to be independent.
“[The firm] gives you the freedom to run,” says an advisor in Alberta with Kitchener, Ont.-based MGA Financial Horizons Inc., “with the support you need to fly.”
“[The firm] is a back office,” adds an IDC WIN advisor in Ontario. “That’s all I want and need from them.”
IDC WIN is one of the MGAs trying to change this pervasive perception. The firm has made many changes this past year, introducing new mobile and digital tools and new financial planning software in an effort to become a one-stop shop for advisors.
But even with these expanded offerings, the key to IDC WIN’s strategic focus is staying out of its advisors’ way, says president Ron Madzia: “We embrace independence. We’re not a captive organization in which we dictate how [advisors] must do everything. We give them all the tools they need to be compliant.”
This approach appears to be resonating with IDC WIN advisors. The MGA saw its rating for strategic focus rise to 9.2 from 8.9 year-over-year.
Another firm that saw its rating rise in this category was London, Ont.-based Freedom 55 Financial – to 8.2 this year from 7.8 in 2013.
“The way [the firm] is going is how I’m going,” says a Freedom 55 advisor in Ontario. “It’s a very flexible company and it’s adapting to the times.”
The firm had a busy year implementing technology initiatives to make its processes more web-enabled and tablet-friendly.
Clear, consistent communication about these changes, says Mike Cunneen, senior vice president of Freedom 55’s wealth and estate planning group, helped advisors understand where their firm was going: “These messages have been rolled out and communicated through our field-management teams, as well as promoted at our development meetings and through our communications on a regular basis.”
According to Freedom 55 advisors, that open communication about their firm’s ongoing initiatives went a long way toward build trust between management and advisors.
“Every time I sit down with [senior managers],” says a Freedom 55 advisor in Alberta, “they really project confidence and they’ve really taken the time to strengthen the brand and client relationships. They predict hurdles. I’m confident they’re here for me.”
In contrast, advisors with Mississauga, Ont.-based RBC Life Insurance Co., were less confident in the strategy of their firm, which received the lowest rating in the strategic focus category (7.7) for the second year in a row.
“I’ve never seen a company that’s run so poorly and haphazardly in all my life,” says an RBC Life advisor in Atlantic Canada.
“Strategy is different than just having a brand,” adds an RBC Life advisor in British Columbia. “There are so many subsidiaries of Royal Bank of Canada and we all work individually – but aren’t we all in the same house?”
Advertising campaigns shine a light on firms’ strategies
Insurance advisors who ply their trade with the dedicated sales agencies have a window, for good or bad, into their companies’ strategies through their firm’s advertising campaigns.
“Our commercials are everywhere,” enthuses an advisor on the Prairies with Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. “Brand awareness is really high.”
Similarly, advisors with Mississauga, Ont.-based RBC Life Insurance Co. cited their firm’s brand recognition as the most positive aspect of working at their firm.
“It’s a much easier when you call a prospective client and say you’re with RBC,” says an RBC Life advisor in Ontario. “They trust [the brand].”
Nevertheless, tying strategic focus to advertising campaigns can create obstacles for advisors – even if it’s something as simple as the telephone number being displayed in the advertisements.
“Any advertising [the firm] does goes to the call centre,” says an RBC Life advisor in Atlantic Canada. “We don’t see any benefit off of that.”
Adds a colleague in Ontario: “We just end up picking up the scraps.”
And branding that once seemed a natural fit can sometimes prove outdated – something advisors with London, Ont.-based Freedom 55 Financial are experiencing at a time when many people expect to be working well past the traditional retirement age.
“It’s kind of a joke,” says a Freedom 55 advisor in Atlantic Canada, “when I put the card on the table and it says, ‘Freedom 55’; it’s more like Freedom 85. In hindsight, the branding wasn’t well thought out.”
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