Greatway. Maybe a great way

Breaking news alert...

After chatting on-line in my Zoom room with some cool Greatway folks today and spending some time looking quite closely at their stuff.

Dear Consumer... The most important thing that I think you should know about receiving financial services from Greatway Financial is..

They have a good process that explains everything.

If it's followed by their salespeople, it seems fine. It's hard to know precisely what and how their advisors actually disclose and explain. But that's common in the industry today. Not overly responsible for measurement, contract wording and putting things in writing.

Training and supervision and on-going customer service is expensive. Needed but clearly missing across our entire industry. We can blame it on the complexity of the product and the tax rules. We can blame it on the up front commission and the greed of the advisors. I think we better figure out what's in our best interests sooner rather than later.

Today: The bottom-line for independent life insurance sales professionals existing in a new world with emphasis on compliance and consumer protection is quite simple:

They make the rules. You have to follow the rules. "Yes sir, thank you sir!"

My guess is that the regulators can see that the distribution process for life insurance is difficult to control. They know is so because it's expensive to control. Nobody wants to spend money that doesn't provide a return to shareholders. Regardless, it is what it is. And FSRA are trying their best and they have a solid mandate. I wish I could be more helpful.

The regulators are likely unaware of what life licensed advisors do every day. It's not easy to understand the profession of life insurance sales. So my top layer on FSRA(Ontario)...

FSRA... good intent that is being misapplied.

And what about the consumer? Are their situations where the selling system doesn't work in the customer's best interests? I believe most of us in the business would agree there is a problem with life sales. I'm confident we could turn this thing around if we wanted to. It won't happen overnight. But it starts with addressing our weakness... we haven't been trustworthy, primarily but not solely with respect to...

after sales servicing. It should be addressed. First.

Editors Note(s)... All the independent life insurance sales professionals should find a way to work together, somehow. The product is great but we are not perceived as being trustworthy by many/most. We can sell our customers better financial results by diversifying into our investment which happens to be wrapped inside a life insurance wrapper. We don't get our fair share of the investment market in Canada.

Where does tax exempt life insurance financial instrument fit? I think the math and the tax and the lapses and the unique unknown options available over the long term...

lifts the life insurance product into the RRSP/TFSA discussion.

Dear Canadian Financial Planners Association...

Does cash value life insurance deserve a seat at the RRSP/TFSA table? What are the (knowledgeable financial planners) saying about this product and where it fits into the financial plan and what type(s) people should consider buying? How much does your financial plan recommend they allocate to the permanent life insurance portion of their financial planning. How can we better explain the importance of considering the risk bucket of their financial plan? You know, the part of the pyramid that exists on the base of the financial planning pyramid?

Many choose $0 allocation? unknowingly.

I said enough. It was great Greatway. Thanks for joining us. You seem to care greatly about what your doing and who you're doing it for. Everyone is welcome to join us. FSRA is more than welcome. We encourage productive disagreement, always. It's ok to be wrong. It takes you closer to correct.