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How to ‘Mind Your Manners’ as an Advisor

Financial advisors are not immune from sticky, tricky etiquette dilemmas. Now comes “Mind Your Manners: How to Be Your Best Self in Any Situation,” by Sara Jane Ho, bringing no-nonsense tips and sassy quips to what can be a musty subject. In an interview, we ask Ho, host of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Mind Your Manners,” if it’s OK for financial advisors to use humor with clients. “Absolutely,” says Ho, 38, who began as an investment banking analyst before making a sharp career turn and opening China’s first finishing school. “But if it’s dirty humor, maybe not, unless it’s contextual.” Her book is packed with such pointers on polite behavior as “Don’t lick your knife.” In addition, she emphasizes the importance of resourcefulness and relates how “reciprocal obligation” can help advisors. In the interview, Ho, who earned an MBA at Harvard Business School, discusses how to keep a widow from leaving a couple’s financial advisor upon the husband’s death and the worst thing a salesperson can do, especially when trying for a good first impression. Here are highlights of our conversation: “I’m not Mother Teresa. I’m Miss Manners with a touch of Machiavelli,” you write. Please elaborate. I’m not pretending...

UVeye Collaborates with Acadia Insurance to Transform Auto Claims with AI 0

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UVeye Collaborates with Acadia Insurance to Transform Auto Claims with AI

Collaboration will leverage UVeye’s computer vision technology to streamline Acadia’s claims processes, setting a new standard for efficiency and accuracy in the automotive insurance industry New York, NY (Mar. 5, 2024) – UVeye, creator of the AI-driven automated vehicle inspection platform, is pleased to announce a strategic collaboration with Acadia Insurance, a leader in the insurance industry. The companies will reshape the automotive insurance claim landscape by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in Acadia’s appraisal process, leveraging UVeye’s AI-powered computer vision inspection systems to streamline claims for vehicles involved in accidents. UVeye’s drive-thru systems enable appraisers to conduct comprehensive, instantaneous assessments of vehicle damage with an unprecedented level of precision and granularity, overhauling the traditional, manual inspection process and streamlining claims management. The AI-driven systems elevate the overall customer experience by slashing wait times and ensuring total transparency throughout the appraisal process. The collaboration is a milestone in the integration of AI in the insurance industry, ushering in a faster, more reliable claims process that benefits both insurance companies and policyholders. “Insurance has long been characterized by traditional, manual processes, but this boost of computer vision gives us a glimpse into the future,” said Keith Gleason, Chief Claims Officer at Acadia...

BrokerLink expands in Owen Sound, Ontario 0

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BrokerLink expands in Owen Sound, Ontario

Toronto, ON (Mar. 5, 2024) – BrokerLink, one of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurance brokerages, is excited to announce the acquisition of Ontario-based Hanbidge & Bowman Ltd. Insurance Professionals (Hanbidge and Bowman Insurance), effective March 1, 2024. Growing BrokerLink’s Owen Sound team Established in 1947, Hanbidge and Bowman Insurance has been a fixture on Owen Sound’s main street, offering its customers insurance solutions for home, auto, business and farm insurance. The brokerage has demonstrated its commitment to the community for over 70 years by proudly sponsoring local sports teams, contributing to meaningful foundations and participating in town events. “We pride ourselves on living in the community we serve and helping customers find the right insurance using our local expertise,” says Dave McNeill, President of Hanbidge and Bowman Insurance. “BrokerLink is well-known for its knowledgeable team, and our customers and employees will benefit from its sizable network, specialized insurance offerings and technology capabilities.” Hanbidge and Bowman Insurance team members will continue helping Owen Sound residents as part of the BrokerLink team. “We extend a warm welcome to our new employees from Hanbidge and Bowman Insurance,” says Lindsay Loughridge, BrokerLink’s Vice President of Ontario and Digital Distribution. “At BrokerLink, we’re here...

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Cannabis Sales Outlook Promising for Insuring Cannabis Specialists

Article 0 Comments A new report shows global legal cannabis spending grew to $36 billion in 2023, and more importantly, that languishing sales in longer-legal states may soon start to swing back up – two big, encouraging signs for insuring cannabis specialists. BDSA, a data provider for the cannabis industry, said this week that sales grew last year, while sales are forecast sales to continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% from 2023 to 2028, yielding a $58 billion market by 2028. The growth of legal cannabis sales is largely being driven by U.S. markets, fueled by the adult-use channel, according to BDSA. The firm’s data shows that U.S. adult-use markets represent roughly 56% of total global cannabis sales. Mature adult-use markets like California and Colorado have struggled with cannabis price compression and illicit competition, however emerging adult-use markets including Connecticut, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Illinois, are forecast to see rapid growth to help offset those trends, the report shows. Florida and Pennsylvania are both medical markets, but they are forecast to launch adult-use sales in 2025 and see strong growth out to 2028, according to BDSA. Underlying good news in the report...

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Whole Life Gets More Shopper Attention

The holders can get cash out of either a whole life policy or a universal life policy by selling the policy, withdrawing assets or borrowing against the cash value. MIB: MIB is a Braintree, Massachusetts-based organization that helps life insurers share underwriting information. It bases the monthly shopping statistics on application processing volume. Age breakouts: Here’s how U.S. life application activity changed between February 2023 and the latest month for five age groups: Ages 0-30: +2.5% Ages 31-40: +5.8% Ages 51-60: +0.3% Ages 61-70: +1.6% Ages 71 and older: +8.0% Coverage costs: Policygenius, a web broker, publishes monthly price charts based on the prices that term life issuers offer their customers. The lowest price is for a 25-year-old female nonsmoker who needs $250,000 in death benefits. The highest price is for a 60-year-old male smoker who needs $1 million in death benefits. The cost for the young, female nonsmoker increased to $14.58, from $14.40. The cost for the 60-year-old male smoker is $1,621.84. In 2023, the highest age included in the Policygenius index table was 55. For 55-year-old smokers, the cost of $1 million in coverage fell to $1,006.89, from $1,006.92. Credit: Adobe Stock

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Washington Commissioner Wants Insurers to Modify Claims Process for Wildfire Victims

Article 0 Comments Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on Wednesday sent a letter to insurers urging them to consider loosening personal property claim filing requirements for victims of last summer’s Spokane County wildfires. Insurance companies typically require policyholders to provide a full, itemized list of all personal property lost in the inciting incident to settle a claim. However, in his letter, Kreidler asked insurers to adjust those requirements and allow for the grouping of like items for consideration, such as listing “six sweaters” rather than an individual size and make for each shirt. “Unlike a normal house fire, a wildfire often completely consumes the residence and all it contains. This means people are unable to sort through the debris to find evidence of personal property loss and must rely on their memory to generate lists,” Kreidler wrote. “These wildfire victims have lost everything in their homes; an itemized list could easily be over 5,000 line items.” Kreidler also asked insurers to consider adopting the same procedure in Washington they use in neighboring states that have experienced devastating wildfire loss: provide people with a percentage of their policy’s total liability limits without requiring an itemized list of losses. Kreidler suggested policyholders...

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Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity Sales Get Back on the Rocket

U.S. life insurers refilled their tanks of multi-year guaranteed annuity capital in the fourth quarter of 2023. Life insurers let sales of the products rocket up to $53 billion in the quarter, up 48% from the total recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022, after increasing just 13% in the third quarter of 2023, according to a new issuer survey compiled by Wink. MYGA sales growth was especially strong in 2022, thanks to rising interest rates. Complaints about the amount of capital needed to support the products began to bubble up in 2023. Wink survey participants said their total fourth-quarter individual deferred annuity sales increased 33%, year over year, to $105 billion. LIMRA, which conducts a separate survey that includes a wider range of products, says the issuers in its sample increased total U.S. individual annuity sales by 29%, to $115 billion.

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FSI Asks Court to Strike Down DOL Independent Contractor Rule

The Financial Services Institute and its coalition partners filed an amended complaint Tuesday against the Labor Department’s new independent contrator rule, which asks the court to declare the 2024 rule invalid, prohibit its implementation and allows the 2021 independent contractor rule to remain in effect. FSI filed the amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas along with the Associated Builders and Contractors, the American Trucking Association, the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, the National Retail Federation, the National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The complaint states that the 2024 rule, which Labor finalized on Jan. 9, is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and also violates the Regulatory Flexibility Act. An FSI spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor Tuesday in an email that the amended complaint replaces the earlier complaint filed on Jan. 16, which challenged DOL’s withdrawal of the 2021 independent contractor rule. The new amended complaint, the spokesperson said, reflects “our concerns with the final DOL rule” and adds new plaintiffs. The department, according to the amended suit, ”has issued a new rule that largely repeats the Department’s previous errors and fails to remedy the confusion addressed by the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule.” The 2024...

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Lloyd’s Hits 35% Female Leadership Target, Says it Has a ‘Way to Go’

Article 0 Comments Lloyd’s of London has hit a short-term target of filling 35% of leadership roles with women, although less than half of firms in the commercial insurance market had hit the mark, it said on Tuesday. Lloyd’s said it needed to make further progress to improve culture after reporting that only 45% of managing agents and brokers had helped propel the diversity figure to its overall end-2023 target. “Whilst we’ve hit our short term target … and the market continues to make progress on representation of diverse groups, we still have a way to go on our culture journey,” Lloyd’s Chief People Officer Sara Gomez said. Lloyd’s set the end-2023 target in 2020 after staff raised concerns about sexual harassment and daytime drinking. In its fifth Market Policies and Practices report, Lloyd’s said the proportion of women in leadership roles rose by 3 percentage points, with improvements at board level, in executive committees and direct reports of executive committees. Lloyd’s, which employs around 57,000 people in insurance and broking firms and is aiming for gender parity by 2030, said women now made up more than 43% of the 57,000-strong workforce and that 46% of new hires were women...

Ontario Financial Services Regulator Encourages Consumers To Verify Credentials With New Online Tool 0

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Ontario Financial Services Regulator Encourages Consumers To Verify Credentials With New Online Tool

Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) launches Check Credentials Tool Toronto, ON (Mar. 1, 2024 – Ontario’s financial services regulator (FSRA) is launching an education campaign encouraging all consumers to check the credentials of the person they are getting financial advice from. FSRA is making it easy for consumers to do this through a new online tool. The Check Credentials Tool will help individuals verify whether their financial professional holds the necessary credentials to use the Financial Planner or Financial Advisor (or similar) title in Ontario. These titles indicate that the professional has met minimum education standards, is supervised, and adheres to a code of conduct. “In many cases people are entrusting their life savings to financial professionals and they expect that these people are properly trained and supervised,” said Huston Loke, Executive Vice President of Market Conduct, FSRA. “We encourage consumers to check credentials and we are making it easy through our new Check Credentials Tool.” Research conducted by FSRA suggests consumers may not be spending enough time seeking out a qualified financial professional and verifying their credentials. Fifty per cent of respondents spent more time researching their last cellphone purchase than they did their financial professional. In less...