Standard life assurance Co. of Canada is merging its investment and life insurance networks in an attempt to maximize sales of the firm’s full line of products.

“We had separate structures, separate sales models, separate leadership,” says Joseph Iannicelli, Montreal-based Standard Life’s president and CEO. “I thought we could do more [with one network].”

Under the new system, announced in September, distributors will be able to sell both types of products at once. And Iannicelli hopes the move will ultimately boost revenue.
“Because we are merging the two sales networks, we will be able to offer one point of contact for all our retail offerings,” he says. “We can cross-sell all our offerings more readily.”

He says approximate revenue from the company’s individual savings and retirement products is $1.2 billion annually, while mutual funds generate $750 million annually.

“We believe that, with a unified sales distribution, we can significantly increase our revenue for both of these lines,” he adds. “In addition, we will complement our focus on individual savings and retirement products with life insurance and critical illness products.”

As part of the growth strategy for the company, Iannicelli — who became president and CEO in December 2004 — is focusing on the company’s core strength, which he sees as the individual savings and retirement business, while offering quality products across all categories.

Three main centers

Jordy Chilcott will lead the consolidated network, assuming the title of vice president, sales, retail markets.

Chilcott will oversee a network that features three main regional centres in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, and regional satellite offices in Calgary, Ottawa, Hamilton, Quebec City and Halifax.

Under Chilcott, Mick Kelly will be in charge of Western Canada from the Vancouver office, Mark Brisley will take care of Central Canada from Toronto and Dario DiPlacido will look after Eastern Canada from his Montreal office.

“[This is] an opportunity for emerging talent to move into positions of additional responsibilities,” says Iannicelli, who joined Standard Life in 1992.

The structural changes will see some reassignment of staff duties, and, Iannicelli acknowledges, some job losses have resulted from the retail distribution changes.
However, he describes these as “modest.”

Iannicelli says there probably will be changes to the product offering in the near future, including fine-tuning of existing lines and some new products.

Standard Life’s retail product lineup includes individual investment and retirement products, including annuities, guaranteed funds, segregated funds and mutual funds. It also includes insurance products such as universal life, critical illness and term insurance.
It has $36.1 billion in assets under management and, in 2004, premium income and deposits totalled $4.7 billion.

In 2004, Iannicelli was promoted from his previous position as vice president of group insurance. IE