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Life, Annuity, LTCI & DI

Back Row (left to right):Tom Merrion and Ron Cohen
Front Row (left to right): Michael Walls, Jennifer Clow, Shea Gamble and Rodney Dator

From the Desk of the Vice President
By Michael Walls, LTCP

As a true Brokerage agency, every day we present our producers with multiple options to solve a client’s personal insurance problem. Whether the solution is Whole Life, Universal Life, Term, LTCI, DI, or Annuities, our business model delivers a variety of unbiased choices from over 40 carriers for our producers to choose. BUT how do you make that choice? What are good criteria to consider? The overwhelming answer I get from our customers when this comes up is SERVICE. So what is the “State of the Union” with service these days? In a phrase, it’s a mixed bag. Most of our carriers are doing well, and my impression from reported January and February sales results is that most companies’ production is down over last year which has likely made an impact. Our value-added approach now to quoting is to give our current snap-shot impression from our case management team about where things stand with specific carriers. The low-cost term carriers are of course always problematic since their volumes are contingent upon pricing; lowest cost, highest volume, and thus slowest service. Good choices for term currently are American General, West Coast Life, North American, Hartford, and Genworth. Permanent Life carriers are generally doing well, such as John Hancock, Hartford, and American General. LTCI carriers such as Metlife, Hancock, and Genworth are usually good choices for quicker time service. For DI, look to Assurity, Metlife, Mass Mutual, and Berkshire as carriers we’re having good success with service.

And finally, a word about our latest sales training option, “Ron’s Secrets to LTCI Sales Success,” our exclusive seminar option to help you identify, present, and close LTCI sales with your current or new customers. In February, we held the first of two in-house meetings which were overwhelming successes. In March, we expanded the course to include Mult-Life LTCI for small groups, which is now the fastest growing segment of LTCI sales. Ron Cohen brings to the table over 12 years of experience and 950+ face to face sales in his former life as a TOP producer for Metlife LTCI. We’re planning more of these meetings in the upcoming months, but if meetings aren’t your thing, or if you’d like some more personal attention, please don’t hesitate to contact Ron Cohen in our office to schedule some one-on-one time. Whether you’d like to learn individual or multi-life LTCI sales techniques, Ron offers some great insights on how to do it, and all at no cost to you.

Read on for the latest product and carrier news from my staff, I know you’ll be impressed about the options we can present for you as you build your individual business.

LTCI and DI Product Updates
By Ron Cohen, LTCI and DI Brokerage Specialist

LTCI
John Hancock’s new bonus program means you can now earn extra bonus dollars quarterly in 2008 by selling Hancock’s Leading Edge plan, which offers a base bonus level starting at just $7,500 of premium! With excellent commissions, and fair underwriting, Hancock is one of our leading sources for LTCI on both an individual and small-group basis.

Metlife has released their latest “Market Survey of Nursing Home and Assisted Living Costs.” This unique publication from their Mature Market Institute looks at costs around the nation for the very real problem of Long Term Care. Call Ron Cohen in our office to get a hard copy or have one emailed to you.

DI
Mass Mutual continues to be a core carrier for our individual DI. In mid-2007, they set the pace with the competition, by adding a True Own Occupation rider, adding a new occupational class and increasing issue and participation limits for certain medical professionals, along with reducing rates for Class 5A. Whether it’s a fully underwritten plan or their market-leading multi-life products for small groups, give us a call on your next DI prospect(s) so we can show you Mass Mutual.

Metlife has added a new 6S top occupational class with reduced rates, and has a new Simplified Underwriting program for both individual and fully underwritten multi-life cases. Issue limits are up to $3,000 per month, at issue ages up to 50.

Mutual of Omaha’s new Choice Portfolio offers 4 different products to meet a variety of needs, including Short-Term, Long-Term and Business Operating Expense. Guaranteed renewable with benefits available to age 67 in most cases, this product can open the door for your DI sales.

A Disability Income rider combined with quality Mortgage Term life insurance protection is now available from Fidelity Life Association. With term lengths up to 40 years, this product is issued with up to $500,000 of coverage. And no routine medical exams, blood, urine or other bodily fluid testing required.

We’ve added two quality LTCI carriers, MedAmerica and Great American!

MedAmerica offers their Simplicityii product, which is designed to be a tax-qualified product that pays eligible policyholders their applicable Monthly Cash Benefit without regard to services used or amounts spent. There is no requirement to submit receipts or proof of services.Once benefit eligible, a claimant only needs to request his or her monthly check. To find out more, click here to review their product highlight tool...

Great American’s Flexible BenefitLTC offers a strong plan with some great benefits & pricing, including: Monthly Cash Benefit Alternative, Short Term Coverage, Premium Rate Guarantees of up to 20 years, TRUE Limited Pay Options, including Single Pay, 5 Pay, 10 Pay, 15 Pay, 20 Pay, and Pay to Age 65, and up 150% Home Health Care Daily Benefit. Click here to review their product & underwriting guide...

Penn Treaty LTCI has enhanced their impaired risk Secured Risk plan, extending benefits to now 3 years and up to $150 a day! Finally a plan with real teeth to cover those cases unable to go elsewhere, covering impairments like:

∙ Parkinson’s Disease
∙ Kidney Failure
∙ Cirrhosis of the Liver
∙ Multiple Sclerosis
∙ Cystic Fibrosis
∙ Organ Transplant
∙ Poorly Controlled Diabetes
∙ Severe Osteoporisis

Life and Annuity Product Updates
By Rodney Dator, ACS, Life & Annuity Brokerage Specialist

Life
Metlife continues their brokerage market penetration by easing underwriting criteria for Preferred and Standard Plus term life rates, including Family History, Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, and Build.

ING-Reliastar Life has some of the easier Preferred rate qualifiers in the brokerage marketplace, call us on your next Standard approval elsewhere to see how your clients can get Preferred with ING!

ING-Security Life of Denver’s new no-lapse UL is their market-leading permanent plan, which includes reduced premiums, a Term Rider, and REDUCED Table Ratings at just 20% per table.

American General Life has seen the light, and has rescinded their previously announced 5% reduction in first-year compensation on their Select-A-Term series of market-leading term products. With the change to commissions, they also introduced new Select-a-Term rates as of 1/7/2008, which can be quoted right from our website. Also, if you’ve not seen it, they also offer a DI rider to their term products which is unique and very sellable. They’ve also eased some foreign travel underwriting, if you have clients visiting China or the Philippines especially, contact our office for a trial opinion. And finally, they are now offering their “5 for $500” BONUS on “Off-Period” Select-A-Term cases. With up to 105% commissions, their term insurance is a market leading addition to our offerings.

Banner Life, effective 12/10/2007, introduced NEW Preferred Tobacco class pricing on their OPT Term series product, which is consistently at or near the top of the term market in pricing, no matter what rate class.

Aviva/Indianapolis Life offers Indexed Universal Life, which is a unique niche Resource Brokerage offers to our brokers, and Aviva leads the nation in market share, product variety, and pricing. Call our office for your product kit.

The Hartford is continuing their growth in the Brokerage market by fine-tuning their application, making it shorter and easier to complete. Also, they’ve enhanced their Advanced UL product as of 2/14/2008, which is their “no-lapse” individual UL product, with reduced pricing from ages 46-74. With excellent term pricing and super-competitive permanent plans for both individual and joint life, The Hartford has become one of our core carriers at Resource Brokerage.

West Coast Life introduced NEW term rates effective 1/14/2008 and underwriting enhancements to ages 70+ that continue to lead the term market. Our biggest volume term life carrier, we enjoy a great relationship with our underwriting team. Call us for your next difficult term life case and see how we can do!

John Hancock Life announced the release of their NEW Joint Survivor Plan, the Protection UL-G-08. With spreadsheet leading level-pay premiums, and 3 new flexible Policy Protection Riders, Hancock’s new product is a market leader in the estate planning arena.

Annuities
Genworth Life offers outstanding Immediate Annuities with consistently some of the highest payouts in the industry. Offering both a regular and an underwritten product, call us on your next SPIA sale and we’ll show you the best payouts in the Brokerage business…

Legacy Marketing Group, which includes unique privately-branded products from American National, Transamerica, and Investors Insurance has announced their 2009 Incentive Trip to Montreal and Quebec City. This incentive trip is open to Producers who deliver $1.2 million in Legacy premium between March 3, 2008, and February 27, 2009. Your journey begins in the bustling, beautiful, and modern metropolis of Montreal, and you’ll spend two days at the luxurious Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Then, you board the train (the station is directly under the hotel) and enjoy a leisurely lunch and spectacular scenery as you wend your way north to Quebec City—elegant, exotic, and historic. Here, in one of the oldest cities in North America, you’ll experience five-star pampering at the famed, old-world Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. Call us for complete details and to get your LMG product guide for your next annuity sale!

New Carrier and Services Updates
By Tom Merrion, Brokerage Assistant

United Home Life joins the Resource stable of carriers, bringing to our brokers the Total Protection Series III featuring three nonparticipating whole life policies available on a single, easy-to-use short form “3-in-1” application. All three plans have guaranteed cash values, and feature minimal underwriting, with no routine medical exams, blood, urine or other bodily fluid testing required.

Have you checked out www.resourcebrokerage.com lately to see all the Life and LTCI insurance tools available to you? Our site offers online quoting for Term Life, No-Lapse Individual UL, and LTCI, along with all the forms needed with one single log-in. Want the latest Fixed Annuity rates? Look no further than our Products section under Life & Annuities. We publish a spreadsheet of the leading CD-Type annuities for easy reference so you can see the marketplace at a glance.

Case Management Corner
By Jennifer Clow, Brokerage Case Manager

Imaging sounds pretty technical and difficult, and to be sure it can be; but here at Resource Brokerage, we’re making it easy for our brokers to be at the forefront of technology. As most of our customers already know, technology is a key part of the value-added services we bring to the marketplace and enables us to edge our competition and dramatically reduce turnaround times. How can we extend those benefits to you? With almost all of your New Business for Life, LTCI, and DI, simply fax or scan and email your documents, no need to bother sending us the hard copies (other than CHECKS.) If you don’t have a scanner, simply mail us hard copies for processing, we’ll scan them for you. If you’d like imaged copies, just let us know, and we’ll email them back to you using our secured delivery email system.

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