By: Sam Kaufman- January, 2019 ASG Insight
Another year is in the books and 2019 has certainly gotten off to a rapid start on all fronts. In Washington, we have had the longest Government shutdown in history and in our industry many changes loom on the horizon that will affect how we do business. For me personally, I enter my 50th year in this industry having seen brokerage evolve into a major segment of the industry from what were no more than corner stores. It has been a great career and I look forward to the challenges ahead.
Technology will be the biggest contributor to change this year and for many years to come. I remember my first Wang Computer and how many of my colleagues looked at me as though I came straight from outer space. The days of the carbon copy were replaced by the photocopy and e-mail has become the primary means of business communication. Advertising took to digital media and the catalogues you would receive are now sent over the internet. All this while the life insurance industry remained far behind others in the financial service industry.
Advisors will need to adopt new ways of doing business and remaining engaged with their clients. Accelerated forms of underwriting that make use of multiple databases and artificial intelligence will continue to grow and advisors will need to get up to speed on their utilization to keep pace with the demands of their clients for shorter and less intrusive methods of obtaining life insurance. At ASG our goal is to bring the most current methods of transacting business to the advisor and their clients.
On the legislative front, an in depth review of AG 49 in response to multipliers and other features that have been added to Indexed Universal Life policies will undoubtedly bring changes in the way IUL is illustrated. Existing IUL policyholders will be seeing changes to Caps and Participation Limits as the cost for the underlying options increase. Expect to see the introduction of new IUL products as the marketplace recognizes IUL as a mainstream product.
Like everything today, we all need to remain up to speed. ASG is dedicated to being ahead of the curve and through our affiliation with Lifemark Partners will bring you the most current technology and sales support tools.