There is room for every-one in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. The proof is in the business model.
Some firms surveyed in this year’s Insurance Advisors’ Report Card more or less support a single product line and see their clientele as the mass market. Others take a more holistic approach to their businesses and offer a broader product line; they encourage advi-sors to add wealth management to their business offerings. But even then, lines are blurring.
At Guelph, Ont.-based the Co-operators Group Ltd. and Aurora, Ont.-based State Farm Insurance Cos., the focus of their captive sales forces is property and casualty insurance. Advisors at Co-operators report P&C sales generate 74% of revenue, with life products producing only 16%.
Ditto at State Farm. It operates heavily in the P&C market, an approach its captive advisors seem to like. “This allows us to become real experts on the product lines we have without having to know a billion products that we may not use,” says a State Farm advisor out West.
But that is changing. State Farm is encouraging its agents to become licensed to sell mutual funds. The firm has a partnership with AIM Funds Management Ltd. and offers eight AIM Trimark funds.
At Co-operators, as new agents come on board, they are licensed to sell mutual funds. “We probably have a third of our agencies across Canada selling mutual funds today,” says Jim Wingrove, director of agency and sales support.
At London, Ont.-based Freedom 55 Financial, all of the firm’s advisors are dually licensed. There, the emphasis is on life insurance, provided by parent London Life Insurance Co. and its affiliated companies, rather than P&C — and on financial planning. “We encourage our advisors to do full-fledged planning,” says Nick Pszeniczny, senior vice president of wealth and estate planning. “This includes risk and investment products.”
A Freedom 55 advisor out West considers this a wise decision: “We are light years ahead of the competition.”
Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. has a similar business model, as does Winnipeg-based Great-West Life Assurance Co. About 85% of Sun Life’s sales force have mutual fund licences in addition to their insurance licences. “We are very active, not only in the insurance business but also in helping our clients achieve life-long financial security,” says Jack Garramone, vice president of Sun Life’s career sales force.
The difference at Great-West Life is that its advi-sors are independent contractors. “The advisors truly have independent contractor status. They are not exclusive. They are not captive. They are independents,” says Leander Dueck, senior vice president of individual distribution.
A Great-West Life advisor in Ontario appears to be happy with the firm: “We do a good job at being attentive to the clients’ needs and adapting to them.”
At the other end of the market is Toronto-based MGA PPI Financial Group Inc. Innovative with custom insurance solutions, its business model is “dealing with the sophisticated, wealthy and ultra-wealthy individuals and families,” says Jim Burton, chairman and CEO.
Says a PPI advisor in Toronto: “If you are associated with high net-worth clients, then you most definitely need to be associated with PPI.” IE