Taking an active role in the industry
Tracey Cambridge is a firm believer in taking an active and contributory role in the industry in which she works.
A lifelong member of Advocis, Cambridge can trace her first involvement with the life insurance association to the 1990s when she was treasurer of her local chapter. Cambridge then joined Gama Canada (General Agency Managers Association), where issues affecting MGAs are front and centre.
Now the president of Surrey, B.C.-based MGA Global Pacific, Cambridge keeps her finger on the pulse of what’s going on throughout the industry. Three years ago, an opportunity was presented that offered a different and rewarding approach to contribute to the industry. She was nominated and accepted a seat on the executive board of the Canadian Life Insurance EDI Standards Association (CLEIDIS), which promotes the advancement of electronic data exchange within the insurance and investment industry.
“We have many stakeholders in our industry and we work together to make the change from a paper-intensive business to electronic. When industry stakeholders use the standardized practices to exchange data electronically, we are all closer to the goal.”
All of these different associations have given Cambridge the necessary broad outlook to oversee a successful business. “I’ve gained a lot of perspectives of the industry.”
It was early in her life that almost pre-destined Cambridge to enter financial services. When just a child she would she listened to her father, Frank, at dinner talk about how life insurance helped people in times of stress.
“He came home quite often proud of his accomplishments and the work he was doing,” says Cambridge. “I don’t know that I heard from my friends about their parents and their work. I was proud to hear the stories and from that, I gravitated and followed in his footsteps.”
In 1975 Frank Cambridge founded Global Pacific, where he remains today as CEO.
As for Tracey Cambridge, she received her life insurance licence in 1989, taking on bigger projects and more responsibilities at the MGA.
“My licence has allowed me to provide financial planning to clients during times of extreme personal turmoil,” she says. “We are a calming factor at these times of distress.”
In the years that she has been working, she is most proud of the fact that Global Pacific is known as an MGA that puts advisor needs ahead of its own.
Win/win solutions
“Because of that we’ve grown, we’ve faced challenges and overcome them and we provide the service and the support needed to help them grow their businesses. We also work on behalf of insurance companies,” she says. “I enjoy the opportunity to find win/win solutions to situations that otherwise may not be in the client’s best interest. We unite as an industry to ensure the client is being served.”
Growth has been strong in the MGA channel. “When I entered the insurance industry back in the ‘80s, the MGA distribution channel generated less than 20% of the business, and today, life insurance accounts for 58%, while segregated funds measures 65%.”
Cambridge encourages all women entering the business to get involved in industry meetings.
“People learn from others and if they want to have a voice they can have a voice and make a difference.”
