Advisors surveyed for this year’s Insurance Advisors’ Report Card seem to be holding up remarkably well during a time when the economy continues to sputter along. In fact, many say they barely felt the market tremors that their investment-sector counterparts have experienced over the past year.
“I’m not sure the market downturn has had any effect on the insurance business,” says an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based PPI Financial Group Inc.
“I was not expecting much [of an impact]. We’re in a different world from that,” adds an advisor in Ontario with Mississauga, Ont.-based RBC Life Insurance Co.
The reason insurance advisors seem to be coasting through the recession has a lot to do with the industry being somewhat “recession-resistant,” in that it can provide stable commissions during difficult times.
“Fortunately, when there is a change in the markets, our field force tends to thrive,” says Richard Williams, president of the Vaughn, Ont.-based Canadian operations of World Financial Group Inc. “We have been fortunate that our commissions have been stable — overall, because people see the value in insurance and the importance of it in protecting families. [In fact,] the importance of insurance is elevated in a market downturn.”
Although the insurance industry has held up remarkably well through tumultuous market conditions, there were still a few bumps in the road for some firms, as their advisors rated them lower in a variety of categories.
Guelph, Ont.-based Co-operators Group Ltd. is one such firm. Co-operators advisors rated the insurer lower than last year by a half point or more in eight categories, including the firm’s strategic focus and its overall rating by advisors. In fact, the percentage of Co-operators advisors who would recommend their firm to another advisor dropped to 80%, down from 95% in 2008.
“The firm is losing track of how important their agency force is, and it is putting more emphasis on things such as the Internet,” says a Co-operators advisor in Ontario.
Adds a colleague in Alberta: “We’re headed in the wrong direction.”
And although Co-operators advisors complained about changes to the firm’s compensation structure and issues surrounding its technology tools, they weren’t the only ones who voiced displeasure in their firms. In fact, advi-sors with Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. also rated their firm lower than last year by a half point or more in eight categories, with technology tools and ongoing training coming under fire.
Investment Executive researchers Matthew LaForge, Sarah Phillips and Ashley Spegel spoke with 359 insurance advisors at nine firms. During the survey, advisors were asked to provide two ratings per category: one for the firm’s performance and the other indicating how important that category is to his or her business.
Advisors were asked to rate the categories on a scale of zero to 10, with zero meaning “poor” or “unimportant”; and 10 meaning “excellent” or “critically important.” Individual scores were then averaged out for each category — both firm-wide and Report Card-wide. The “IE rating” shows the average of all categories for each firm, while the “overall rating by advi-sors” is the average of how advi-sors rated their firms out of 10.
Over the years, the Insurance Advisors’ Report Card has seen a number of transformations in regard to the firms that are surveyed and the classifications to which they belong. In 2005, the Report Card focused heavily on dedicated sales agencies, with only a single category relevant to independents. In 2006, the Report Card was expanded to include four managing general agencies, which were placed under that classification.
This year, IE split the insurance firms surveyed into four classifications instead of two. This was based on the firms’ business models. These classifications are: dedicated sales agencies, independent direct sales agencies, managing general agencies and specialized MGAs.
PPI and WFG have been placed under the “specialized MGAs” banner as a result of their unique business models.
PPI, which saw its ratings increase by half a point or more in four categories, is known for its dedication to high net-worth clients and the services surrounding this specialized niche.
PPI advisors once again praised the MGA for its focus on support services, including access to tax lawyers, accountants, underwriters and other experts who continually help advisors with their high net-worth clients’ unique needs.
@page_break@”They’re very focused in the market they serve, both from the advisor’s and the client’s perspective,” says a PPI advisor in Alberta. “Their niche membership is very focused.”
Along the same lines, WFG is known for its focus on the middle-income market, as well as for the plethora of services it provides its advisors while still maintaining the freedom of an MGA.
“I work for myself, but not by myself,” says a WFG advisor in Quebec. “I have a great mentor, and all the information we’re given helps us create strong networks with other advisors. I have a business that I can run on my own, and I have complete freedom.”
Winnipeg-based Great-West Life Assurance Co. was moved from the dedicated sales agencies classification and placed in the “independent direct sales agency” classification. After careful review and input from the industry, IE determined that although the firm’s business model is similar to that of the dedicated sales agencies, in that advi-sors deal directly with the carrier but are not committed nor obligated to sell only the firm’s products or to hit specific sales targets or goals.
“We offer advisors independent contract status with open access to all products, on and off the shelf,” says Leander Dueck, senior vice president of individual distribution for GWL. “Our focus is on independent direct contracts with advisors, in which we deal directly with the advisors.”
The independent aspect of the firm and its advisors plays a major role in its corporate culture, and advisors with GWL say the business model is one of the best aspects the firm has to offer. Many advisors refer to this independence as one of the main reasons they stay with the firm year after year. In fact, with 29 resource centers across the country, GWL has grown significantly over the past five years.
“We have grown to 1,600 advisors from 1,000 advisors,” says Dueck. “We have been on quite an aggressive growth pattern, but our focus now is on productivity.”
The new classifications in this year’s Report Card are a reflection of the way the industry is evolving. Industry consultant Byren Innes, senior vice president and director with insurance consultancy NewLink Group Inc. in Toronto, says that although the independent direct sales agency model may not be a new one, it is a structure that many insurers are starting to pay more attention to.
“There is a place for independent advisors who want to deal directly with insurance companies and maintain and build a strong one-to-one relationship with the company. There are independent advi-sors who want to deal directly with an insurance company rather than through an MGA or other intermediary,” says Innes. “Therefore, there are some companies that take the opportunity to provide a strong level of support for those advisors who want to be independent but still maintain strong and loyal relationships. Advisors at Great-West Life are just one example of the variety that are out there today.”
In addition to the new categories added this year, MGAs also saw a slight change to their questionnaire for the Report Card. Questions that were geared specifically toward dedicated sales agencies last year were opened up to the MGAs, as it was determined that they were able to rate their firms in those areas.
The new categories for which advisors at MGAs were surveyed included marketing support for an advisor’s practice, freedom to make objective product choices and the MGA’s sales director or regional sales manager (vs the branch manager for the dedicated sales agencies). It was also decided that advisors at MGAs would not be asked about online account access for clients, as many of the firms do not offer this service. IE