How do most fiduciary advisors (RIAs and fee-based planners) handle their clients' life insurance needs? The answer is they don't, but think they should and would like to.
Through a new survey, the firm Saybrus Partners offers a window into these complex attitudes. You can read a summary here:
The survey revealed that many fiduciary advisors do not consider their life-insurance advice services very successful and are not often asked about life insurance by their clients.
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Yet, 70 percent said they do provide life insurance to clients "when appropriate." The main barriers to offering life insurance are that "life insurance is too complicated" and "selling life insurance detracts attention" from the advisor's practice.
The findings point to opportunities for case-sharing strategic alliances between fee-based advisors and life insurance professionals.
The fact that 70 percent of advisors say they provide some life insurance services suggests that many are insurance-licensed.
That means they can share commissions with an insurance specialist who handles case complexities, including carrier selection, illustrations, rider choices and underwriting.
The challenge is to present life insurance as a value-add expansion of the fiduciary advisor's practice that does not diminish objectivity or client trust.
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