INVESTMENTS NEWS

Maximize your client's corporate account return potential with segregated funds

Learn the steps to set up a segregated fund strategy in a client’s corporate account. Your client will benefit from the higher investment potential and guarantees of a segregated fund while providing efficient tax and estate planning.

A segregated fund provides opportunity for participation in market growth, protection of capital, and a tax-efficient distribution to the surviving spouse.

After the greatest fixed-income bull market in history, what’s next?

The greatest fixed-income bull market in history has seen a four-decade trend of falling inflation, interest rates and tightening credit spreads. Most fixed-income investments performed very well, particularly those with longer durations and meaningful credit components.

The year 2021 and 2022 will be characterized by a transition to a new post-COVID reality, with structural shifts that will have important consequences for fixed-income markets, creating both risks and opportunities. Read more to find out the investment team’s fixed-income asset allocation strategy for the post-COVID era.

Extended for 2022!
Get rewarded for growth with Empire Life Guaranteed Investment Funds!

Earn a commission bonus for actively promoting the value of Empire Life Guaranteed Investment Funds (GIF) to new and existing clients!

How does the Empire Life GIF Growth Commission Bonus program work?

100% of the bonus is payable directly to advisors to reward them for growing their GIF business and providing outstanding in-force service to existing Empire Life GIF clients. The growth commission bonus is available on deposits made between January 1 to December 31, 2022.

Coming soon:
Empire Life Investment Statements for December 31, 2021

The Empire Life December 31, 2021 Investment Statements will be available online beginning January 15, 2022. Hard copies begin mailing to clients on January 21, 2022.

Customers registered for MyEmpire who have opted in for electronic statements (eStatements) will not receive mailed copies and instead will receive an email notifying them to login to their account. Advisor copies of all client statements will be available through the Advisor Dashboard / Business Centre. Our advisor Online Statements feature allows you to conveniently download statements as Individual (single policy) or Bulk (all policies in a .zip file).

Please refer to the Information Circular for additional information about your customers' statements. 

Sell/Buys into new Class Plus 3.0 contracts

Selling a Class Plus 3.0 to purchase a new Class Plus 3.0, whether directly or through another route, is not allowed and this activity could result in cancellation of contract. If a sell is processed from a Class Plus 3.0 contract to purchase a new Class Plus 3.0 contract in the same calendar year the following will occur:

• The trades will be reversed from the new contract and placed back in the original contract
• Any loss to the funds (dilution) as a result of this transaction will be billed to the MGA/Advisor

Please see information circular for important information regarding the selling of an existing Class Plus 3.0 contract to ultimately purchase a new Class Plus 3.0 contract for the purposes of resetting the customer’s Guaranteed Withdrawal Benefits (GWB). 

INSURANCE NEWS

Please join us for our next TRIIPSS webinar:
Estate planning for blended families

Family conflict can create significant barriers to effective estate planning. As the traditional family structure changes and we see the emergence of more blended families, careful planning and attention to family dynamics within the blended family is essential.

Through a series of scenarios dealing with the blended family, advisors will learn strategies using life insurance to assist clients in blended families navigate various tax and estate planning issues.

• Date: January 19, 2022
• Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET

Program Update:
Automatic policy lapse notifications

To help you retain more business, since late 2020 we have been sending email notifications to advisors whose clients' policies were in danger of lapsing due to non-payment.

The feedback on this program from advisors has been very positive and we have experienced an 84% retention rate on notified policies since launching the program. You can see a sample lapse notification below.

Spurred by the success of this program, we will be introducing additional notifications in 2022 aimed at helping you build and retain more of your Empire Life business. More to come.

Extending temporary underwriting guidelines for life and health insurance

Empire Life is pleased to announce the extension of the temporary underwriting limits established during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to apply our temporary underwriting limits for both life and critical illness insurance products until March 31, 2022, as outlined in the Information Circular.

Note that the permanent no fluid requirements instituted earlier this year remain in effect for life coverages up to $2,000,000 for insured’s ages 18 to 50.

Can your clients achieve a rate of return of 15% with life insurance?

For clients who rely on non-registered, low risk, fixed income investments to build a bequest for their loved ones, we recently developed two in-depth case studies that illustrate how our Optimax Wealth® 8 Pay and 10 Pay participating whole life insurance plans can help enhance their legacies.

Download the case studies and add them to your toolbox!

CORPORATE NEWS

Do you need a Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) certifying letter?

Need us to complete an MRDT certifying letter? To make sure your letter is received at Empire Life by February 21, 2022, please take the following steps:

• Step 1:
  Visit the MDRT website to download the qualifying letter and complete the appropriate sections.
• Step 2:
  Email a scan of the completed letter to: leanne.dowling@empire.ca

Once received, we will complete the letter and send it back to you.

Senior leadership appointments

We announced some senior leadership appointments in December. Edward Gibson, FCIA, FSA is appointed Senior Vice-President, Capital Management and Chief Actuary and Rebecca Rycroft, FCIA, FSA as Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Chris Volk is appointed as Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer; Grace Kennedy as Vice-President, IT Enterprise Services and Chief Information Security Officer; Christine Jewell, CPA, CGA, CIA as Vice-President and Chief Compliance Officer, and Gillian Purvis, LLB, as Associate General Counsel.