What has the industry learned from the COVID-19 crisis and how will the pandemic shape its future? Financial Horizons Group CEO Nick Pszeniczny outlined the most plausible outcomes in an exclusive interview with the Insurance Portal. We present his analyses in a series of articles. This is the second.
What’s more, an article covering the in-depth strategic interview with the Financial Horizons Group CEO will be featured in our October 2020 edition of the Insurance Journal magazine.
Financial Horizons Group CEO Nick Pszeniczny plans to start construction of an end-to-end channel between insurers, his MGA and advisors very soon. “We are building our digital strategy and roadmap to be completed by September 2020,” he told the Insurance Portal in an exclusive interview.
This digital platform will let the MGA receive client information sent by suppliers directly in its systems, which it can then share with advisors. The goal is to give advisors an overview of the products held by each client, from all suppliers.
Enlisting carrier support
Pszeniczny says he has almost finished the planning phase, “with the help of our field digital advisory council and carrier partners.” The MGA is working with partners to identify the specific capabilities that can trim advisors’ administrative overhead and let them improve the client experience.
“This means we will work closely with each of our carrier partners to build out the capability of securely delivering accurate data to our advisors,” he adds. Everyone’s contribution counts. “Without timely and accurate data feeds from the carrier partners, we will be unable to create long-term sustainable benefits for our advisors,” Pszeniczny explains.
Some suppliers have more advanced capabilities, Pszeniczny adds, “which will provide us with a good starting point. To supplement this, we will provide field digital specialists to increase advisor functionality and skill development.” The Financial Horizons Group website says that the firm does business with 23 individual life insurance suppliers.
Encouraged by e-applications
Satisfied with the digital information exchange that carriers’ remote selling platforms currently allow, Pszeniczny wants to go a step further. “Beyond e-apps, we’re concentrating on a digital platform rebuilt on our strategy where we can look at the customer holistically. Advisors will have access to all of their customers’ information, like their coordinates, their policies with different carriers, face amounts, cash values in their policies and values in their segregated funds. It will really be a strength for an MGA to have a holistic view of the consumer,” Pszeniczny explains.
Since the start of the pandemic, adoption of e-apps has grown sharply among advisors who deal with Financial Horizons Group. MGAs have experienced varying success in the use of e-applications, but most reported growth since the start of the health crisis.
Since March 15, Financial Horizons Group reduced paper application use to 40%, Pszeniczny says. “From January 1 to March 14, 35% of our applications were e-apps. Since March 15, this proportion increased to 60%,” he specified in an update on August 6, 2020.
Fluidity
E-apps offer several advantages. “The digital information process from the companies coming to the market with their e-apps is very slick and efficient. Those companies that already have it are very capable, very slick. No issue with them. In any case, e-apps allow the information to come back directly. No re-entry needed,” he says.
BY ALAIN THÉRIAULT, with contributions from DONNA GLASGOW and SERGE THERRIEN
