PPI continues to post strong results in the annual Investment Executive (IE) Insurance Advisors’ Report Card, and in 2009 has the distinction of receiving IE’s highest average overall rating.

This year, IE’s researchers compiled their results based on input from 359 insurance advisors at nine companies. Several changes were introduced to the survey in 2009 to acknowledge distinctions in the different firms’ business models which ranged from dedicated sales agencies to specialized MGA’s – the category that accommodates PPI’s particular market niche. IE stated that, “PPI is known for its dedication to high net-worth clients and the services surrounding this specialized niche.” IE then went on to observe that, “PPI advisors once again praised the MGA for its focus on support services, including access to tax lawyers, accountants, underwriters and other experts who continually help advisors with their high net-worth clients’ unique needs.”

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Back-Office Success

Although IE has surveyed advisors in the past regarding their assessment of ‘Back Office Support’, the latest survey split this category into three distinct areas – new business, in-force services and compensation support. Relative to new business, PPI came out on top as the best-rated firm with a 9.1, which also matched the “Importance” rating attributed to it by advisors. One advisor from Alberta said that, “PPI has underwriters on staff who look at cases before they go to the insurance companies. I don’t know of any other brokerage that has that.”

Further elaboration was provided by Jim Burton, “We have a team of people who help and support the processing – including helping with the underwriting and the communications side of underwriting – with the underwriters and insurance companies. We [also] have three dedicated underwriters, full-time, who work with the agent in helping with case development.”

PPI fared equally well with a 9.0 rating in ‘Technology tools and advisor desktop’ and also lead all other distributors in this important support area.

One PPI Advisor summed up PPI’s support as follows: “They made it a point to service us and provide us with what we need. They make doing business easy.”

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Marketing and Technical Support

Throughout the various articles addressing the Survey results, there were a number of comments relating to the quality of marketing support provided by PPI. Jim Burton explained that PPI “focuses on designing proprietary and unique products for estate planning”, and IE notes that “one of PPI’s most successful products has been an insurance policy geared towards entrepreneurs or anyone who holds a major stake in a company.”

PPI’s ratings in four specific areas bear out the high level of support provided to advisors working with High Net Worth and business clients:

As a PPI advisor in Alberta noted, “They’re very focused in the market they serve, both from the advisor’s and the client’s perspective.” Obviously this sentiment is shared by many PPI advisors, based on the strength of the ratings above.

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Advisor Compensation

While a sub-heading in IE’s recent article on the 2009 Report Card read, ‘High payouts are key to advisor satisfaction’, ratings alone do not tell the entire story when it comes to PPI’s advisors’ satisfaction with compensation. PPI was tied for the lowest compensation rating at 7.9 among the four MGA’s surveyed. However, PPI advisors rated the importance of compensation at only 7.5 – a full point lower than the next-lowest firm. IE attributed this distinction to the ‘higher premium’ PPI advisors place on more qualitative criteria, such as support services. Jim Burton explained that PPI’s compensation is structured so that advisors are focused on the long-term: “The issue isn’t whether your override is X or X plus 10%; the issue is how much revenue do you earn? We believe our agents earn more revenue per client by quite a significant margin.”

A PPI advisor in Alberta summed it up this way, “They offer a hell of a lot more than compensation. I’ve had a lot of guys waltz around the table, promising me [greater payouts on term life products], but they’re paper shufflers. PPI is not just another MGA.”

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Stability and Growth

Results from the 2009 Insurance Advisors’ Report Card suggest that clients are looking for safety in their insurance products. While some advisors and carriers surveyed acknowledged the effects of the recession, input from PPI’s advisors ran counter to issues experienced by advisors in other market segments. “I’m not sure the market downturn has had any effect on the insurance business,” says a [PPI] advisor in Ontario.

Further commentary indicated that many advisors’ clients are looking for security in their product selection to ensure a greater level of principal preservation. Yet, Jim Burton pointed out that the safety sought by clients was not only in the type of products offered but just as importantly, in the security of planning wisely. “When times are good, clients can be casual about their estate planning, and say, ‘Oh well, if something happens to me, I can go to the bank and borrow money’ or, ‘If I don’t have my shareholders’ fund agreement, I can always issue equity.’ Well, now you can’t as easily go to the market or to the bank, so people are much more aware of the fact they need insurance.”

PPI’s commitment to stability and growth is at the core when ensuring that quality products are available to support advisors in developing their client’s planning objectives. PPI’s advisors indicated resounding satisfaction with PPI products with a 9.5 rating of ‘Quality of MGA’s product offering’ and a survey leading 9.9 rating in ‘Freedom to make objective product choices for clients’. As Jim pointed out, PPI focuses on, “designing proprietary products and unique products for estate planning.”

PPI is committed to being the dominant value-added service provider to their advisors by offering advanced technical support, unique products and superior administrative support. It appears to be delivering on that commitment - out of the 21 categories in which PPI was rated, it had the top ranking in 14 categories and was ranked second or third in 5 additional categories. Overall, PPI was the top rated distribution organization (out of 9) with an overall rating of 9.3.

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Additional Links

Please refer to the following Investment Executive articles for more information:

• How insurance advisors rated their firms
• Insurance agents hold up remarkably well
• Clients head to safety
• What advisors value most (table)
• What insurance products advisors are selling (table)
• High payouts are key to advisor satisfaction
• First-year commissions (table)
• Supportive staff leads to back-office success
• Firms’ ongoing training efforts leave much to be desired.

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