The advisors surveyed in Investment Executive’s 2008 Insurance Advisors’ Report Card who give their firms a high rating in the ongoing training category have a few things in common: they are usually impressed by the frequency of their firms’ training sessions and the focus of the content, and, more often than not, are affiliated with managing general agencies.

For instance, the fact that Toronto-based World Financial Group Inc. was the highest-scoring firm in the category should come as little surprise, considering how focused the MGA is on keeping its advisors up to speed.

“We have conferences, retreats; we have training days, or learning days that we call ‘partner days’; and we do some seminars, as well,” says WFG president Richard Williams. “We do have some events for which advisors have to qualify. But, in most cases, we keep it open to the majority of our people.”

One of the reasons WFG has placed such a strong focus on ongoing training is that many of its advisors are fairly new to the financial services industry. So, keeping them in the loop on developments in the industry is of paramount importance.

“Training is one thing we excel in,” says a WFG advisor in British Columbia, “because we have so many new people coming into the business.”

WFG advisors also heap praise on the firm’s ongoing training because of its practical nature.

“The training is relevant to the needs of the clients with whom we are dealing,” says another WFG advisor in B.C. “You can take the training right from the office to the client’s home.”

To top it off, WFG also leverages the relationships with its product partners, who often give training sessions at the firm’s branches.

“I really like the fact the product providers take the time to come to the office and train us here,” says a WFG advisor in B.C.

Advisors at Mississauga, Ont.-based MGA IDC Financial Inc., also rated their firm highly in the ongoing training category because the process begins when they start out with the firm and continues after they become more experienced.

Ron Madzia, president of IDC, says that the firm focuses on training for advisors at every level, beginning at the time they join. “When brokers come on with us,” he says, “we run an orientation program for them and their assistants to show them all the avenues of how IDC works.”

And as advisors continue their relationships with the firm, they have many ongoing training options, Madzia says: “We run monthly seminars and two major seminars twice a year called IDC University Days. We also run a series of training sessions called Group 101 Lunch and Learn.”

An IDC advisor in Ontario cites IDC’s ongoing training as one of the reasons she would recommend the firm to other advisors: “The seminars and training sales campaigns are excellent, and they offer a lot of them.”

Adds another IDC advisor in Ontario about the firm’s ongoing training: “There’s lots of it — and it’s broad and comprehensive.”

And yet another IDC advisor in the province says IDC is on the right track with the ongoing training it provides to advisors at all levels: “It is spectacular; there is a lot of practical training that’s educational and creative. The firm also has study groups.”

In contrast, firms with dedicated sales agents saw their advisors rank ongoing training markedly lower for the most part. Advisors at Mississauga-based RBC Life Insurance Co. say the insurer simply has dropped the ball in terms of the ongoing training it provides.

“I look for it,” says an RBC Life advisor in Ontario, “and what I find is that we don’t have any ongoing education.”

A fellow advisor in Quebec suggests that RBC Life could provide much more training in specific areas: “We have to have more training. We have a small amount; we want more on products and legislation surrounding the industry.”

But Ernie Murdoch, senior vice president of career sales with RBC Life, says the firm is addressing concerns about its ongoing training by overhauling the current system.

“We got some feedback in the recent past about our education and training program, which has prompted us to do a complete review,” he says. “We are overhauling the program we have had in place for seven years; we just started the process of doing a complete review of that about a month ago.”

@page_break@Agents at Winnipeg-based Great-West Life Assurance Co. are also dissatisfied with their firm’s ongoing training efforts. “It doesn’t focus enough on the top end of the market,” says a GWL advisor in Manitoba.

A GWL advisor in Alberta has become so disenchanted with the firm’s ongoing training that he has taken matters into his own hands. “Most of it, I do on my own,” he says. “I went for training in Ontario for one week, but it wasn’t enough. There should be more explanation and more depth.” IE