Along with resolutions and high hopes, the new year also brings many insurance carriers promoting changes to their whole life insurance product portfolios. These revisions are due to adaptations in the IRC Section 7702 regulations. Prolonged low interest rates also continue to factor into product refreshes, revamps and adjustments. It may be overwhelming to sift through the fine print of the new products, but as you begin to evaluate them, keep these top five considerations in mind:

1. Find long term financial strength.
Your clients trust you to make a recommendation that may last 50 years. Choose a carrier with a long, strong history as well as consistently high financial ratings from third party ratings agencies.

2. Look for flexibility.
Identify products that offer robust, customizable options. Rider flexibility allows you to tailor solutions that can meet a variety of funding, cost, and coverage flexibility requirements. Choosing a carrier with flexible rider options will also allow you to adapt to different client needs.

3. Relationships matter. 
Whole life products can be complex and discussing options with insurance professionals is helpful. Consider a carrier who offers whole life as a core product — you’ll receive the care, attention and guidance you need for the life of the product which may grow with future clients.   

4. Innovation is possible.  
Consider a company that stays true to the guarantees of whole life, while also looking for innovative solutions to add options for policyholders and financial professionals. Look for opportunities to advance more than a traditional dividend scale.  

5. More change is coming!
Some carriers have chosen to wait to release their new products until they see what the competition is doing. While other carriers may modify their products further once they have a better sense of what they can realistically achieve.  

With so much flexibility in the marketplace, comparing insurance products is never like comparing apples to apples. No matter the fine print of riders, though, these high-level considerations are great reminders of the fluidity and importance of financial service representatives. For a deeper dive into whole life products, industry insiders might consider engaging with Leadership Development opportunities offered by NAIFA. 

Chris Coudret
Vice President, Career and Independent Brokerage Services
OneAmerica

OneAmerica® is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica. Guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Dividends are not guaranteed, past performance is not indicative of future results, and actual results may vary.