by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
Two behemoths of the structured settlement industry disagree on offering ancillary products other than structured settlement annuities, at least according to their websites.
A. One company fervently states that "there is no interest in selling the plaintiff any other type of financial product, before, during or after the case is settled".
B. As a market differentiator, another company recently stated it has a relationship with a national wholesaler of life insurance services and proudly proclaims that its structured settlement consultants are now included among the wholesaler's 3,000 associates. As an aside this author understands that the relationship is non exclusive and that any licensed insurance agent or broker can access the same wholesaler through the wholesaler's independent insurance agent distribution channel.
As someone who has been offering a considerable range of solutions to risks that can be solved through life insurance, disability insurance, long term care insurance and other financial planning services for over 27 years, to help my clients solve a wide variety of personal and business planning needs, I'm pleased to see some in the industry move in the direction of more comprehensive solutions. For us it's business as usual.
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As a life insurance expert, I offer the credentials of Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant, to go along with extensive practical experience, to go along with my settlement planning credentials (Registered Settlement Planner and Certified Structured Settlement Consultant). What is a CLU? Download CLU-promotional-brochure What is a ChFC? Download ChFC-promotional-brochure
During the last 27 years I (and other life insurance experts like me in the industry) have built up an extensive network of contacts and outlets which give value to clients as an independent consultantnot tied to an Independent Marketing Organization (IMO) help desk. An IMO help desk provides simplicity for those that do not have experience in the area and may provide some convenience to those who do. It is worth noting that IMO arrangement also helps the parent company aggregate production credits across its entities for higher commissions and residuals. There's nothing wrong with that but since one of the behemoths in question has chosen to use the differentiator, shouldn't we call a spade a spade?
If structured settlements were simply about placing a product would there be any need for trained, experienced and/or credentialed experts? Surely the same goes for life insurance , long term care and other insurance.
Above image source: Wikipedia
For more information
1.Life Insurance in Settlement Planning and life insurance generally
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