As the glut of baby-boomer clients approach retirement age, their needs are changing. In turn, this tidal shift is changing the priorities of the insurance advisors who serve those clients, and so advisors are increasingly viewing their firms’ support for retirement planning as important.
“[These services are] going to be huge because the baby boomers are retiring,” says an advisor in Ontario with London, Ont.-based Freedom 55 Financial.
In fact, advisors surveyed for the 2011 Insurance Advisors’ Report Card rated the two related support-services categories almost a full point higher each in importance vs last year’s results. Both “support for helping clients accumulate assets for retirement” and “support for helping clients plan for post-retirement income” were rated at 8.5 in importance, up by 0.9 of a point and by 0.8 of a point, respectively, from 2010.
In particular, advisors said, they are looking for support in this area in the form of specialists, training and technology to help them connect with clients.
Some firms are already succeeding in these areas. Case in point: Mississauga, Ont.-based IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc. provides training and specialists; as a result, the managing general agency earned the top ratings of 9.1 for retirement planning support and 8.9 for post-retirement planning support.
“They have good seminars,” says an IDC WIN advisor in Ontario. “The training helps us help our clients.”
Anyone can attend IDC WIN’s investment courses and lunch-and-learn seminars; in addition, Jeff Cait, IDC WIN’s director of tax and estate planning, offers support in these areas.
“There are people on staff who specialize in certain things,” says an IDC WIN advisor in Ontario. “I know who to bounce [ideas] off of and get case studies.”
Meanwhile, advisors with Mississauga-based RBC Life Insurance Co. were happy that their firm recently introduced annuity products, which help in providing retirement income. As a result, its rating in the post-retirement planning category rose to 7.6 from 7.1 last year. Still, as the rating reveals, there’s room for improvement — particularly, in the form of support.
“I am trying to figure out who to talk to,” says an RBC Life advisor in Alberta.
Adds a colleague in Ontario: “We go to experienced advisors [instead] when we need tech or product support. We have a retirement calculator, but the training for it wasn’t very good.”
As the firms recognize the needs of their aging clients and the impact on advisors’ businesses, the focus has also been on adapting technology to that demographic. Says Vicken Kazazian, senior vice president, career sales force, with Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. : “It’s a growing area because people are getting older and retiring and consolidating their assets.”
Sun Life advisors surveyed for the Report Card were pleased with their firm’s recently launched interactive web page entitled “My retirement café” but were split on the financial planning software. They either praised its flexibility or complained that it wasn’t user-friendly — and that more training could have helped.
“They’re trying their best,” says a Sun Life advisor in Atlantic Canada, “but haven’t nailed it yet.”
Recent efforts also have been made at Calgary-based PPI Solu-tions Inc. in strengthening Tool Kit — its desktop, wealth-management software. “What we just added to the Tool Kit in the past three or four months,” says Jim Virtue, the firm’s president and CEO, “is a specific needs-analysis tool that relates [to] accumulating assets. So, we beefed up that area this year.”
Although the firm saw its rating for support for accumulating assets for retirement drop to 8.4 from 9.1 in 2010 and its rating in the support for post-retirement planning category drop to 8.6 from 8.1 year-over-year, advisors had lots of positive things to say. That’s one reason why, despite the drastically lower ratings, PPI Solutions is still among the top performers in these areas.
“They support us through educational sessions,” says a PPI Solutions advisor in Alberta, “that inform us on what’s out there.”
Advisors with Winnipeg-based Great-West Life Assurance Co. also point to the strength of that firm’s software.
“One of our biggest advantages in the income market is our web-based, income-allocation program,” says Hugh Moncrieff, senior president of GWL’s Gold Key distribution network. “It provides recommendations on how to create sustainable income for life, a key concern amongst retirees.” IE