Featured Articles Blog

0

Uncategorized

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...

0

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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...

CAA Survey Reveals Troubling Lack of Travel Insurance Preparedness 0

Uncategorized

CAA Survey Reveals Troubling Lack of Travel Insurance Preparedness

CAA launches first ever Travel Wise Week to address urgent concerns Thornhill, ON (Feb. 26, 2024) – A recent member survey conducted by CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) has unveiled concerning statistics regarding the lack of travel insurance awareness and preparedness. Despite the financial risks associated with travelling unprotected, the survey found that 40 per cent of members in Ontario who travel don’t always purchase emergency medical travel insurance, highlighting a potential vulnerability. “In a world of uncertainties, our survey highlights a critical gap in travel preparedness among Ontarians,” says Kaitlynn Furse, director of corporate communications at CAA SCO. “At CAA, we believe in empowering travellers with knowledge so they can explore confidently and securely.” The survey also discovered that almost a quarter of respondents (23 per cent) ventured on their last trip outside the province without any form of travel insurance, exposing themselves to potential financial burdens in case of emergencies. Additionally, 33 per cent of people who travel with travel insurance relied on the coverage provided by their credit cards, raising concerns about coverage limitations, especially for those over 65. CAA SCO is launching its inaugural CAA Travel Wise Week In response to these findings, CAA SCO...

Got questions about critical illness insurance? 0

Uncategorized

Got questions about critical illness insurance?

CLHIA’s latest consumer guide has answers to help Toronto, ON (Feb. 22, 2024) – A brand new guide from the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) is helping Canadian consumers better understand the benefits of critical illness insurance, how it works, and the financial security that it offers. “Over 2 million Canadians have critical illness protection through individual or group plans,” Stephen Frank, president and CEO of CLHIA said. “This new guide explains the important role this type of insurance plays in giving people greater financial choices in the event they are diagnosed with a serious condition.” This kind of insurance pays out a non-taxable lump sum if a policyholder is diagnosed with a life-altering condition like cancer, heart attack, stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. The lump sum can be used for personal expenses related to the illness or for anything the policyholder chooses. Critical illness insurance was first sold in Canada 30 years ago and is less well known than other kinds of insurance. A Guide to Critical Illness Insurance helps to fill in the blanks with answers to questions Canadians commonly ask about the product like: How does critical illness insurance differ from life insurance or...

New savings opportunities as Canadians say they are more financially responsible today than a year ago 0

Uncategorized

New savings opportunities as Canadians say they are more financially responsible today than a year ago

belairdirect survey reveals 41 per cent of Canadians feel they are financially savvy and 65 per cent want to eliminate non-essential purchases Toronto, ON (Feb. 22, 2024) – Canadians are looking for savings anywhere they can find them. Seventy per cent of Canadians are looking to cut household expenses with 31 per cent saying they’ve given advice to family and friends, including finding small ways to save money, building a budget, using their cars less and finding the best deal on insurance. Canadians are looking to lower their housing (74%) and car costs (69%), and many are keeping their vehicles longer and using them less. Canadians also say they are thinking about buying a used car instead of a new car, going from a multi-car household to a single-car household, and taking public transit more often. A recent belairdirect survey shows the top five ways Canadians are cutting their spending: Cutting down on non-essentials including dining out less and waiting for sales (65%) Using coupons, discount codes, and loyalty programs (52%) Cutting down on grocery spending (41%) Cancelling unused memberships (39%) Adhering to a household budget that includes savings (32%) Seventy-three per cent of Canadians know exactly how much they spend...

0

Uncategorized

What Many Advisors Overlook in Boosting Clients’ Financial Security

Clark and Mitchell find that policies and interventions aimed at increasing the financial resilience of lower- and middle-income households can help them better respond to unanticipated income needs. They also seek to determine the factors and characteristics correlated with financial resilience — and to identify if these changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the study, financial resilience is defined “as a household’s ability to withstand acute shocks having an adverse effect on its financial well-being.” While some of the inputs are objective, such as the ability to immediately cover three months of expenses in cash, other inputs are psychological in nature, such as whether respondents perceive their debt to be manageable and whether they are anxious about their finances today and in retirement. Clark and Mitchell find that respondents’ average resilience scores remained relatively stable across the first two years of the pandemic period, but some variation between groups of respondents was found. The more financially resilient households were older, better educated and earned higher incomes. Additionally, and not surprisingly, federal stimulus checks improved resilience, as did higher levels of financial literacy. By contrast, the authors explain, those with higher personal discount rates were less resilient. What It All Means...

0

Uncategorized

JetBlue, Spirit Airlines Call Off $3.8B Merger on Antitrust Hurdle

Article 0 Comments Low-cost air carriers JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines canceled their $3.8-billion merger agreement on Monday, seeing no path forward after a U.S. judge blocked the deal in January on anti-competition concerns. A successful deal would have created the fifth-largest carrier in the United States and helped Spirit ensure its survival, but the deal had been on the ropes ever since a Boston judge said it would harm consumers by reducing competition. The decision is a victory for the Biden Administration, which has taken a hard line against tie-ups in the aviation sector and argued the deal would boost ticket prices for consumers. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the decision by JetBlue “is yet another victory for the Justice Department’s work on behalf of American consumers” saying the merger “would have caused tens of millions of travelers to face higher fares and fewer choices.” The administration has used antitrust action and other enforcement efforts to try to bring down prices for U.S. residents across several industries. “With the ruling from the federal court and the Department of Justice’s continued opposition, the probability of getting the green light to move forward with the merger anytime soon is extremely...

0

Uncategorized

Here’s What Separates ‘Somewhat’ and ‘Very’ Satisfied Clients

Another technique that advisors can employ is practicing positive reinforcement through acknowledging and rewarding positive financial behaviors or milestones. By providing encouraging feedback and making sure that each client feels seen, advisors can reinforce constructive financial habits and bolster clients’ confidence in their financial decision-making. This also strengthens the advisor-client relationship by creating a supportive environment. Emotional intelligence can also play a key role in shaping investment decisions. Investors with high emotional intelligence can recognize and control their emotions when market dynamics inevitably shift. Advisors play an essential role in ensuring that clients don’t let their emotions get the best of them when making investment decisions.  In asking our survey respondents what their advisor provides to them, 40% of those surveyed who said they were “very satisfied” with their financial advisor relayed that their advisor helps “keep my emotions in check during periods of elevated market volatility.” Advisors should aim to build a collaborative relationship built on trust so that clients turn to them before they make a risky decision. Additionally, the concept of “commitments” suggests that people generally have a strong inclination to uphold their promises. Advisors can help clients control their emotions by taking an approach that fosters...

0

Uncategorized

Ameriprise Braces for $50M SEC Fine Over Electronic Messages

Ameriprise Financial has booked a charge for a $50 million penalty from the Securities and Exchange Commission over the use of electronic messaging platforms. In Ameriprise’s annual report, released Feb. 24, the firm states that it has responded to SEC document and information requests “regarding the preservation of certain business-related communications sent on electronic messaging platforms that have not been approved” by the firm. During 2023, Ameriprise states, it recorded a $50 million accrual for this matter within its introducing broker-dealer subsidiary. Ameriprise states that it has reached an agreement in principle with the SEC staff, “subject to Commission approval, that it believes resolves this matter.”