Shifts related to economic and regulatory upheaval may have created some interesting opportunities, insurers and brokers say.
Steve Finch, president of John Hancock Life Insurance, Boston, a unit of Manulife Financial Corp., Toronto (TSX:MFC), says the challenge of funding long-term guarantees during a time of unusually low interest rates has caused the life insurance product cycle to shift away from lifetime guaranteed universal life (UL) products.
That shift may create openings to sell UL policies that offer a minimum period of coverage, Finch says.
The MetLife unit of MetLife Inc., New York (NYSE:MET), is seeing more interest in whole life policies — products that can appeal to cautious consumers by offering a combination of long-term protection and a guaranteed cash value that grows at a slow but steady rate.
Meanwhile, in the disability insurance arena, Dan Steenerson says the turmoil seems to be creating more consumer and producer interest in individual "paycheck protection" products.
"Consumers now have a heightened awareness of financial security," Steenerson, president of Disability Insurance Services Inc., San Diego, says.
Traditionally, life insurance agents and financial planners have dominated the individual disability insurance market.
Today, many group health producers are responding to worries about commissions and the effects of the new federal health care laws and regulations by devoting more energy to cross-selling disability insurance through worksite marketing programs and executive benefits programs, Steenerson says.
- Allison Bell
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