Crucial lessons about the future of Income Protection and key analysis to help advisers.

In reading this article you will understand:

• The benefits of attending our Protection Forum meetings with a wide range of adviser and provider protection professionals
• Granular level detail of 5 key protection topic areas Protection Guru have analysed this week
• How protection advisers can get a better understanding of how wealth advisers work but attending our next investment forum
• How retirement planning tools differ and how workplace pension providers compare
• How your Canadian counterparts are setting record sales levels during the pandemic through videoconferencing

My highlight of this week in the Protection industry was our Forum on Tuesday morning and I would like to say a huge thanks to all the advisers who shared so much insight on what they see as the challenges facing them in supporting clients daily.

In the usual way we will be publishing the full transcript in a couple of weeks but key messages from this week’s session are:

• The need to deliver more certainty in Income Protection pay-outs.
• The importance of making it easier for consumers to increase or reduce the level of their income protection cover and premiums to adapt as their own circumstances change.
• There is a huge desire in the adviser community to recommend more Income Protection products, but we need to recognise and address the current shortcomings of the products to fully capitalise on this opportunity.

Recognising the messages from this month’s meeting the agenda for March has been framed to drill down further into these important issues and will include:

• What do we need to do to make Income Protection even more relevant in 2021?
• How should insurers best keep advisers aware of the progress of applications and claims?
• What are the systems advisers need insurers to deliver information/data to?

Month in, month out these Forums are delivering a vast amount of insight from advisers on how to improve products for consumers and better service advisers. Any insurer or reinsurer not participating is now missing out on the opportunity to get hugely valuable insight into how those who spend their lives talking with customers, providing protection cover and processing claims are finding things at the sharp end.

If you have not already booked your place you can get your ticket join our March protection forum at 11AM on 9th March here

As ever Protection Guru produced new insights for adviser firms every day. This week’s output included studies on:

Second medical opinion services how insurers compare?

Health checks how providers compare

Which insurers offer legal support to businesses?

Income protection career break options how providers compare

And on Friday our latest Everything you need to know study, this time on Value Added Services.

In other news an important date for anyone in the protection industry is 5pm on Wednesday 10^th March which will be the 18^th annual LifeSearch awards. Historically this has been a glittering soiree attended by a wide range of the leaders from across the industry including insurers, advisers, media and other industry figures. Obviously, lockdown presents some restrictions meaning this is not possible as a physical event, but LifeSearch have taken the opportunity to enable a far wider audience to participate making the event open to everyone across the life insurance marketplace. Inevitably the event will have a very different format and you can participate from the comfort of your home. You will be entertained with awards, comedy and neon!

CEO Tom Baigrie tells me he is determined to set new standards in virtual events with the #LifeSearchAwards21 awards which will come live from Manchester’s Media City. Knowing Tom, I would not expect anything else.

With awards for products and services, leadership, and innovation, use of data and heroic support and much more, the awards highlight and commend some of the industry’s finest talent. We hear the shortlist is shaping up to be some tough competition and we will give you details of who is included over the coming weeks. The usually quiet and reserved Mr Baigrie may even say a few words himself, those who know him will be aware Tom says it as he sees it!

If you would like to join the party, and I really would urge you to do so, please email [email protected] who will organise your ticket. Please feel free to pass this on to any colleagues as the event really will be the more the merrier.  

It is also worth mentioning our forthcoming February investment forum which will look at a wide range of issues around achieving better integration between investment providers and the technology used by wealth advisers. There may also be some really valuable lessons here for any protection providers who want to have a better understanding of how wealth advisers work. Tickets for this event can be obtained from the link above.

As always there were a couple of great studies produced by our Benefits Guru site this week firstly looking at Retirement planning tools who is providing what

followed by the first part of a two-part study on What makes a good workplace pension. The second instalment will be delivered on Tuesday next week.

Finally, I was really interested in this report on how Canadian insurance videoconferencing-brokers are setting sales records during the pandemic. I don’t believe anybody has conducted any similar research in the UK, perhaps this is something we should be thinking about?

Have a great weekend everybody

Ian

Things to reflect on for CPD:

• What are the top 3 things you have learnt from this article and how can you apply them to your business?
• What lessons from the Canadian article would help you have better video meetings? Or what do you do better than those outlined in the article?
• How could you build a relationship with a wealth adviser to increase your protection sales through effective signposting?

Things to reflect on for CPD:

• What are the top 3 things you have learnt from this article and how can you apply them to your business?
• What lessons from the Canadian article would help you have better video meetings? Or what do you do better than those outlined in the article?
• How could you build a relationship with a wealth adviser to increase your protection sales through effective signposting?