7. Industry Research

Research Overview

We provide industry research services in the following areas:

• Agency Terms
• Pricing
• Commission Terms
• Industry News and Events

Agency Terms

Our agency terms review service is a new research service offered for the first time in mid 2010. The initial comparison of the contracts offered to financial advisers by life insurance providers revealed many interesting inconsistencies and sharply divergent views on the key terms, the role of the contract, the strength of vesting clauses, and the structure of the contract. Our research makes it easy to reference the relevant sections, highlights key findings, and makes recommendations for developing better agency terms and adviser management systems in the future.

Pricing Research

Our review of industry pricing enables rapid comparison of prices from all the leading life companies offering their products through financial advisers. It enables comparison on a large scale and includes many powerful analysis tools. Graphical depictions of the data make exploration of pricing positions and inefficiency easy. Below is a sample chart built from some of the data available.

Commission Terms

Our commission terms survey makes it easy to dynamically review the ways the commission terms offered to financial advisers by life companies vary depending on business size, persistency, business mix, and so on. Sensitivity is rapidly determined using visual modelling. The service is updated whenever major changes in remuneration are announced by the major life companies.A sample of some of the output screens is shown below.