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Clients take out insurance policies and sign up for investments with good intentions of paying premiums and contributions for many years. But good intentions don’t last forever.
Not everyone keeps up with the premiums and contributions, plus keeping policies and financial plans updated becomes too time consuming, and annual reviews become a burden. The result is, too often, lapsed policies and underfunded investment accounts.
1Plan, 1Life’s FNA, available on Vantage, takes these issues into account upfront, helping clients stay committed to their financial plans and products.
We took a closer look at some of the unique features of 1Plan, and how they help your clients keep policies up to date and investment contributions current.
1Plan takes affordability into account
Asking a client to commit more funds than they have to insurance and/or investments, even if there is a genuine need, is quite simply asking the impossible. Some clients try. They make the commitment, sign up, and contribute for a few months, until it just becomes too much and they stop paying. Policies lapse and investments are discontinued before they have any time to grow.
These situations end badly, as many of these clients become disillusioned with the financial services industry. It doesn’t benefit anyone – adviser, client, insurer or wealth manager – to ask a client to commit more than they have. There are FNAs that do this, but 1Plan does not.
1Plan identifies needs, as any FNA does, but only recommends products that fit into the client’s budget. Clients aren’t disheartened by how much they have to change their budgets or cut other expenses to pay for financial products. They start off with premiums and contributions they can afford, so the end result is happier clients who are more committed – and stay that way.
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1Plan makes room for asset protection and asset growth
With limited financial resources, which most clients have, they have to decide how much of their budget is allocated to savings for retirement and other goals, and how much is spent on protecting assets, including life insurance.
At best this is a difficult decision for clients. At worst, it becomes a complete trade-off, i.e., one or the other. This isn’t necessary, as most budgets can accommodate both.
But how much should be allocated to risk, and how much to investments?
1Plan takes away the pain of these difficult decisions by optimising the current amount available for spend on protection and growth, and allocating appropriate amounts to each, based on the client’s unique circumstances such as age, occupation and life stage.
For example, a young adult with two young children will need some protection to make sure the family is not financially insecure should they die unexpectedly. 1Plan will allocate funds for this, as well as some funds to investments, to ensure the savings can benefit from time and compound growth.
We designed 1Plan to optimise these allocations to suit the client. This is where we use big data and years of research. Advisers can tweak the allocations, but in most cases, this is not necessary. A difficult decision becomes an accessible, easy to understand, and clear option, thanks to 1Plan.
This is just one area where tech is used to make your and your client’s interaction with financial services quicker and easier. This human tech collaboration is a unique feature of Vantage. For example, in a life policy application, clients can opt for limited underwriting, comprising six questions, and have a life policy applied for, underwritten, approved and put into force in 35 minutes.
1Plan makes reviews quick and easy
When a client’s circumstances change, or it is time for an annual review, all it takes is a quick phone call to redo your client’s 1Plan FNA to see how you can assist and meet any changed needs and budget. It can, quite literally, take five minutes. Clients appreciate the quick service and won’t put off reviews, as some do, citing time and inconvenience as reasons,
1Plan is completely digital, so reviews can be done over the phone or via online meetings such as Zoom. The record of advice (digitally signed by the client) is captured and stored online. No paperwork is a real bonus for clients and advisers.
This is the kind of excellent service clients expect, and the kind you can deliver with the assistance of digital solutions such as 1Plan.
1Plan is a tool that delivers customer satisfaction
The latest customer satisfaction index reports for the life insurance industry indicate that clients are looking for services and advisers that deliver holistic solutions, quickly. 1Plan helps you do that. And when you meet these criteria, you have satisfied clients who you can easily retain and who are more likely to keep paying premiums and contributions.
Better outcomes for everyone
Our goal in developing 1Plan was to design a tool that took real world circumstances such as limited financial resources into account. We also wanted to give financial advisers a tool that would help them advise and give them more time to spend getting to know their clients. By tailoring recommendations to circumstances and affordability, 1Plan helps advisers and clients select the most appropriate product mix at a price they can afford – reducing the chances of lapses and unpaid contributions. That’s a far better outcome, one that will help clients stay the course and ultimately grow their generational wealth.