After creating a new platform called Advisor Solutions, Canada Life has quietly announced that it will help its Freedom 55 Financial advisors self-brand and move away from the traditionally exclusive distribution relationship they once had with predecessor companies that have since merged with Canada Life, to a more independent relationship with the company.

“We’re not shuttering (Freedom 55) and we’re not getting rid of it. We’re not abandoning it. If anything, we’re doubling down on what Freedom 55 created,” said Canada Life’s executive vice president, advisory network and industry affairs, Hugh Moncrieff in an exclusive interview with Insurance Portal. Although the company has plans to maintain the Freedom 55 brand internally, he adds that their future focus will be on business development for a sales force of independent advisors who are no longer in an exclusive distribution relationship with the company.

“The 2,300 or so Freedom 55 advisors are going to receive enhanced support, more focus, digital tools, planning software, the ability to self-brand and the ability to grow their business,” he adds. “We are not investing in the Freedom 55 brand but what we are doing is investing massively in the advisors that were part of Freedom 55.” 

Recruiting advisors to work in teams 

More, Moncrieff says Canada Life expects to continue recruiting advisors. Rather than focus on volume recruiting, he says new recruits, rather than working as solo advisors, will be recruited to work in teams. “We found through our research that most of our productive advisors had greater success when they were part of a team or part of a firm. So we’re making a shift from hiring hundreds of advisors to be solo advisors, to hiring far less, around 200 or so. We’re going to have them either join a firm directly or they will join the Canada Life Foundations program. The end goal though, is that they will join a firm or a team.” He adds that being recruited to work in a team structure can improve productivity for new advisors significantly – anywhere between 25 and 35 per cent.

Transition must be completed by March 2023 

Existing Freedom 55 advisors, meanwhile, have until March 2023 to make their transition away from the Freedom 55 brand. Their next steps can include joining an existing firm, incorporating and starting their own firm or becoming a sole proprietor. “We have a full toolkit available to advisors to help them with this transition,” Moncrieff says.

“We’re helping our Freedom advisors transition to a more independent relationship, and I would say a more relevant partnership. We’re focusing on helping them build better businesses to serve Canadians. That is how I would characterize it. We’re doing that through technology (among other things, the company has invested in an artificial intelligence-driven planning software program for its advisors) we’re doing that through branding, we’re doing that through support and we’re doing that through development.” 

He adds that most of the firm’s most productive advisors have their own brands already. “Currently we have around 1,000 Freedom 55 Financial-branded advisors, most of which are new recruits. The remainder of our Freedom 55 Financial advisors have their own personal brand or are part of a firm.” 

Powerful brand 

Although he would not say what the company has planned for the brand, Moncrieff maintains that Freedom 55 will still be used by the company internally, going forward. “We’re not getting rid of Freedom 55. It is one of the most powerful brands in Canada,” he says.