By James Langton
(April 4 – 17:25 ET) – Clarica Life Insurance Co. has just released its first annual report as a public company, revealing some of its retail strategy to the street.
If it has a competitive advantage, the company’s 3,000-person sales force is it, says the report. The firm says its goal is to enhance the sales force’s productivity, with a target rate of 3% per year. To hit this target through 2000, the firm says that it will be hiring product specialists to support its agents in specific product areas. It will encourage the development of agent teams that co-operate with one another, and expand the use of associate agents to support big producers.
As for the future of agent compensation, Clarica intends to “implement compensation strategies to encourage new business and help recruit new agents.”
The compensation situation is more explicit for the firm’s senior executives. Chief Executive Robert Astley for example saw his salary increase slightly in 1999, from $480,000 to $550,000. But his bonus dipped from $754,680 in 1998 to $660,000 in 1999.
The cupboard won’t be bare at the Astley house though. Executives also receive stock appreciation rights. Astley’s pay-out for 1999 is targeted at $413,551, due January 1, 2004. There is no minimum or maximum pay-out attached to these rights.