A new Protection Leader of the year
Well, what a huge week for Protection Guru this has been. The LifeSearch awards is a date we look forward to every year and this year we went to the event shortlisted for two awards. We were overjoyed and very proud to see our own Ian Mckenna scoop the Protection Leader of the Year award.
Ian was up against some very impressive competition so to have scooped the award is impressive. Having worked with Ian for 10 years now I must also say that it is hugely deserved. Protection Guru was his brainchild and has moved on massively in the last 3 years under his guidance. What many people do not see however, is Ian’s passion for protection and the right consumer outcomes. In particular his overwhelming drive to help advisers give the best possible advice while protecting more families and how he constantly holds insurers to account when a client outcome may not have been ideal (you know who you are!).
When handing out the award, Debbie Kennedy of LifeSearch referenced Ian’s work with Protection Guru and said, “Their product news, comparisons and updates are read and used by a great many advisers. They probably do more to improve advice intelligence and standards than any and all insurer communications do put together.” Those words are a huge vindication of all the hard work that the team here at Protection Guru put in under Ian’s leadership.
There were many worthy winners and congratulations to everyone that was shortlisted and especially those that won awards.
This week, the team at Protection Guru has another reason for celebration as today (4th March) is our 3rd birthday. The last three years really have been a whirlwind and we have loved every second of it. In the last year we built our claims hub, worked with AKG to provide our advisers with insurer financial strength data, added more insurer showcase pages and much more. Our 4th year is looking to be our biggest yet and we have many exciting plans we look forward to sharing with our readers in the coming months. All of this is made possible because of our fantastic readers and we thank every one of you for your ongoing support.
On Tuesday Rob’s insight posed the question “are two single life plans better than a joint plan?”. Rob weighed up the arguments for single life cover and examined some of the key considerations for advisers to be aware of.
On Wednesday we focused on Income Protection Insurance, specifically minimum benefit guarantees and how insurers compare in what they offer.
Critical Illness and Life Insurance was the focus on Thursday, with an insight by Amanda Newman-Smith looking at buy-back options.
We finished the week on Friday with a round-up of product news and updates from February, with links to our detailed insights and analysis.
We started the week on AdviserSoftware.com with a look back at Part 2 of our January AdviceTech Forum, where our expert panellists Jo French and Keith Hare of Benchmark Capital, as well as Setul Mehta of Openwork, explored how technology can support the relationship between advisers and clients.
The Advice Tech Ratings, our feedback tool, has this week focused on the Portfolio Analysis Tools that our adviser community uses. We’d love to hear about the solutions you’re using, how they’re working for you, and what enhancements, if any, you’d like to see.
I would encourage all existing users to complete our other Adviser Tech Rating Surveys. By providing feedback, you are supporting developers in creating better software solutions for your organisation.
Our other Adviser Tech Rating surveys can accessed via the links below:
Rate your Wealth Practice Management System
Rate your Cashflow/Financial Planning Tool
On Benefits Guru We started the week looking at some of the headline figures behind the rising cost-of-living, and what help workplace pension providers can offer members who are struggling financially.
With the end of the tax year approaching, the deadline for using an ISA allowance is 5th April 2022. On Thursday we looked in more detail at the various ISAs offered by workplace pension providers and how members can save into them.
Right! We’re all off to the pub to celebrate an amazing week!
Have a great weekend!
