Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on Friday reported a $218.1 million net loss for 2022, compared with the $218.8 million profit the regulator reported for 2021. The 2022 net loss was “driven by” investment and operating losses of $166.9 million and $60.2 million, respectively, Robert W. Cook, FINRA CEO and president, and Todd T. Diganci, its chief financial and administrative officer, said in the report. FINRA’s reserve portfolio lost 6.4% last year. Although “negative for the year, our portfolio performance was favorable relative to the double-digit declines in the global equity and U.S. investment grade bond markets,” the executives said in their annual message. The $60.2 million operating loss, compared with a $112 million operating profit in 2021, “reflected lower revenues and an increase in operating expenses, offset by higher interest and dividend income,” according to the report. Revenue, meanwhile, dipped to $1.34 billion last year from $1.4 billion in 2021. The decline was “due to a decrease in the number of public offerings and lower Trading Activity Fees,” the executives said. FINRA’s increased operating expenses last year were “driven in part by investments in staff and technology to strengthen our capabilities to fulfill long-standing regulatory responsibilities, address more recent expansions in the scope of...

“As enticing as it may be to follow the tape and nudge our year-end target higher, we just do not see the fundamental justification for this, yet,” he said. In these weird post-pandemic times — where the economic and market cycle upends conventional wisdom — bears who appeared to be geniuses one quarter risk looking like cranks the next. Meanwhile, those who’ve earned fame betting on the tech boom are more than a little paranoid that their bullish outlooks will seem bubblicious if things go south. More broadly, when it comes to stock market calls, there are four quadrants: bullish, bearish, right, and wrong, according to Adam Parker, Morgan Stanley’s former chief U.S. equity strategist. “The worst quadrant to be in when you work at one of those firms is bearish and wrong because you didn’t really enable your upside capture for clients,” said Parker, who now heads up Trivariate Research. “I’ve been there, and I lived in all four quadrants – it’s a hard place to be.” Piper Sandler’s Michael Kantrowitz is feeling the heat. He still sees the S&P 500 plunging to 3,225 by the end of this year, the gloomiest target out there. He has no plans...

That rapport can lead to more effective recommendations. 5. Facilitate the creation of a new client narrative. Ask open-ended questions, such as, “How might you go about that in order to succeed?” Discuss alternatives. Explore contingencies by asking “what if” questions, such as, “What would you do if…?” How to Improve Client Meetings Here are two suggestions the speakers gave about how to get yourself into an ideal state before meeting with clients: 1. Put a time buffer between your meetings. The speakers recommended that the buffer be at least 10 minutes. 2. Take some time to get into a calm emotional state before the meeting. If you’re not at ease during the meeting, the client will consciously or unconsciously become anxious, mirroring your tension. If you’re in a state of increased stress or sense of hurry, a simple solution is to sit comfortably, with both feet on the floor, and direct attention to your breath. Take a long, deep breath. Inhale as much as you can, then follow with an exhale that’s twice as long as the inhale. Repeat. Notice the movement of air through your lungs. Fill them fully, and then notice the feeling of the exhalations. If...

What You Need to Know Was the sales lead information correct when it came in? Have you updated it? What tools are you using to validate lead information and keep it current? There are a few principles that either contribute to sales success or hamper our goals. Those include old adages like: People buy on emotion but are moved to action by logic. Salespeople sell the way they buy. Managers train the way they sell. Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO). The phrase “garbage in, garbage out,” or GIGO, is often used to highlight the importance of data quality in any system or process, including sales. In the context of sales, GIGO emphasizes that the quality of input data (from our prospect conversations or our own self-talk) directly affects the quality of the output, or results, generated by our sales activities. Here’s how GIGO principles relate to sales. 1. Lead Generation If you rely on inaccurate or incomplete lead data, that can lead to wasted efforts and poor results. For example, if you have incorrect contact information or leads that are not relevant to your target audience, your efforts to convert those leads into customers will likely be ineffective. 2. Sales...