Two Questions from a New Guy

Steve

Super Genius
100+ Post Club
135
I have been looking into the insurance field for a number of months now and have taken all of my classes for L&H, but have not yet tested. IÂ’ve had a fairly successful past in Sales & Marketing as well as entrepreneurial ventures over the past 25 years, but I am prepared for a change.

My personal tendency would be to jump into this industry as an independent, but am looking seriously at a couple of captive situations – mostly because of information previously posted on this (and the previous) forum regarding training, mentoring and experience. By the way, I am in a new city and do not have a massive database of local family and friends.

I have two questions:

1) Increasingly, the financial groups are in the insurance business, (Ameriprise, Principal, Merrill Lynch) and the insurance groups are in the financial business (Northwestern Mutual, MetLife, Farm Bureau). I have an interest in insurance over financial planning. Should I limit my discussions to the latter groups, or is the “one stop shopping” of the financial services groups the direction of the future?

2) Does anyone have direct experience with Farm Bureau Services, or more specifically, Rural Mutual Insurance?

Thank you for any feedback.
 
Well you keep talking about being torn by Insurance and or Investments, maybe you should look into getting your license and then taking the IA or RIA license, its not a hard test. Then you would have wider choice and you could go with any one you want and do both as a Advisor.
 
Thank you for the reply James. I wouldn't say that I'm torn between insurance and investment. It seems that capable newcomers can have both types of companies interested in them prior to being licensed. My curiosity is, with more interest in insurance than investment, is it better to focus on the traditional insurance based companies?

Ten or fifteen years ago, it seems the insurance business and the financial advisor business had much clearer lines between them. Now that they are in each other's playground, is there a big difference between them?
 
No question the Securities field has taken a direct interest in Insurance and have some funny ideas and of course the same can be said about Insurance taking a interest in Investments with their own ideas. If you want to sell insurance then go with a Insurance Company, you'll find the B/D enviroment a hard place to sell insurance, IMHO.

Yet though let me ask you this, in 5 years or so where would you like to be? In other words, do you see yourself selling Insurance strictly or would you rather see yourself as a Advisor for Insurance and Investments since they are so closely linked?

As a IA or RIA you are under State control and a better enviroment then the B/D and being restricted by SEC and the NASD compliance issues.
 
From the knowledge I have at this point, I'd rather be in the insurance business in five years than in the financial services business. I tend to also believe that I either will be, or will be making plans to become independent. That being said, (and presently inexperienced,) I may find the captive world a comfortable place to be. As I continue to move forward, I try not to rule anything out until my own experiences and/or the experiences of others give me reason to do so.

One example of that would be choosing not to become affiliated with NAA a few months back! Researching NAA led me to these forums, which in turn helped me formulate an opinion on that direction!
 
Once again I would suggest Mass Mutual or Guardian. I really don't think you'll get better training anywhere else, you have NYL plus many others that are great companies. So what kind of Insurance most interest you?
 
Steve said:
From the knowledge I have at this point, I'd rather be in the insurance business in five years than in the financial services business. I tend to also believe that I either will be, or will be making plans to become independent.


If you go with a captive make sure you chose a vested contract so when you leave you take your renewals with you!!!!
 
The only thing I would add, would be to find yourself a Mentor. Someone who doesn't mind splitting cases with you, showing you the ropes, explaining the specimen contracts.

I agree that Guardian will provide excellent training. I began with Berkshire Life (now Guardian, here in the state of GA), and found their training to be so superior to anyone else's. That being said, having a Mentor (in my case, my insurance agent who got me on board with Berkshire) ramped up my training, and got me on track quicker than would otherwise have happened.

Make sure you find someone who is secure enough with their own situation that they don't feel threatened by your success. You may find yourself doing alot of the gruntwork, and sitting in on presentations, where you don't say a word, but, believe me, that's part of the process.
 
If I were you, I would get licensed, then start with a managing general agency/ IMO such as the Sunderland group: http://www.sunderlandgroup.com/index_flash.htm Life Pro: http://www.lifepro.com/ or Roster: http://www.rosterfinancial.com/ Get appointed with one company that doesn't require errors and omission insurance, and give it a try on a part time basis selling term insurance. If things start to work, you can add additional carriers and products. A representative with Life Pro was pretty hot on West Coast Life; he said the tele application was popular. However, WCL requires E&O. I also talked to the Sunderland group, and they seem to be pretty on the ball as well. They advertise strong training and marketing support (like everone else). I know of Roster because they are located near me. They are big into Allianz.
 
If I were you, I would get licensed, then start with a managing general agency/ IMO such as the Sunderland group: http://www.sunderlandgroup.com/index_flash.htm Life Pro: http://www.lifepro.com/ or Roster: http://www.rosterfinancial.com/ Get appointed with one company that doesn't require errors and omission insurance, and give it a try on a part time basis selling term insurance. If things start to work, you can add additional carriers and products. A representative with Life Pro was pretty hot on West Coast Life; he said the tele application was popular. However, WCL requires E&O. I also talked to the Sunderland group, and they seem to be pretty on the ball as well. They advertise strong training and marketing support (like everone else). I know of Roster because they are located near me. They are big into Allianz.
 
Back
Top