Between May 11 and June 15, three research journalists (Brian Capitao, Roland Inacay and Alisha Mughal) interviewed 211 insurance advisors. The 2022 Insurance Advisors’ Report Card included three dedicated sales agencies (DSAs) and three managing general agents (MGAs). Canada Life is comprised of advisors with Freedom 55 Financial and Canada Life’s Wealth and Insurance Solutions Enterprise network — both groups use the same support services. On the MGA side, advisors who process business through PPI Management Inc. also were surveyed as one group, regardless of whether they worked for PPI’s broad market business or PPI Advisory.

Due to insufficient sample size, Hub Financial Inc.’s performance ratings are not included in the 2022 Report Card, though demographic data from the firm’s advisors is included. Overall firm and respondent samples were smaller in 2022 than in 2021 and historically.

To be interviewed, advisors were required to be insurance-licensed and must have worked at or with their agencies for at least one year and in the industry for three or more. Advisors rated the performance and importance of the services with which they were familiar, and ratings were provided on a scale of zero to 10 (with zero meaning “poor” or “unimportant” and 10 meaning “excellent” or “very important”). Advisors who work for DSAs were asked to rate five categories unique to their type of agency, while those who processed business through an MGA were asked to rate two unique categories. In total, DSA respondents were asked to rate 32 categories while MGA advisors rated 29 (these totals exclude the IE rating — the average of a firm’s performance ratings — and Net Promoter Score).

As part of ongoing efforts to improve the research, Investment Executive added two categories and removed one. “Client onboarding tools” was added to align this Report Card with the others produced as part of the series, while “diversity, equity & inclusion policies” was added to reflect industry priorities. “Ethics” was removed. Other category names were simplified for clarity.

Like in the other Report Cards, this year’s two supplementary questions focused on the final implementation of the client-focused reforms and, separately, the hurdles faced by vulnerable clients (defined as senior clients as well as other vulnerable individuals with money managed on their behalf).