Online life and health insurance firm Emma finds that in most couples, women are the ones who decide to buy life insurance. The firm has compiled data on policies sold since September 2018, when its Emma.ca platform went live. 

Emma CEO Felix Deschâtelets co-founded the firm with his brother Jacomo Deschâtelets, who acts as CMO. The executives made this assumption early in their financial planning. The forecast trend has now been confirmed: “72 per cent of Emma life insurance policies sold to date have been purchased by women,” Felix Deschâtelets told The Insurance Portal, backing his claim with statistics (see box). He says these statistics come from a few thousand clients. 

Financial security first 

Deschâtelets shared his statistics with The Insurance Portal to dispel “the preconceived notion that the man manages the couple's finances.” 

Based on his analysis of the data since 2018, the CEO concludes that men tend to think about financial prosperity before financial security, while the opposite is true for women. “We had noticed that the dad talked a lot, asked questions and was very invested in the meeting, but always looked at his spouse when it came time to make the decision,” Felix Deschâtelets says.

“We see that women initiate the financial security process and it seems that they are the ones who decide,” Emma's CEO adds. When the wife does not attend the meeting with Deschâtelets, the spouse's role is often limited to expediting a process whose outcome is predetermined, he notes. 

A female-oriented model 

Emma's business model reflects this reality, starting with the choice to confer a female first name on the brand, the CEO points out. “There's also a feminine touch to our brand with the choice of colors, the experience. Financial education of customers permeates our whole process. We give people as much information as possible without overwhelming them, to guide them through the insurance purchase," he says.

Chat, an integral part of Emma, is a much more popular mode of communication for women than for men, Deschâtelets continues. “They use this tool to start their communication with a company. Men are more comfortable answering questions in the form or asking them over the phone.” He adds that the system offers different paths depending on who is using the platform. 

More riders...  

This decision-making role that women occupy is a state of mind, observes Félix Deschâtelets. "The woman will more often take out a child insurance rider, to really act as a family protector. This difference in behaviour is notable between the two types of platform users,” Deschâtelets says, citing his statistics. 

Emma’s statistics also show that on average women purchase life insurance at a younger age than men do. Felix Deschâtelets and his wife are particularly aware of this issue: They are expecting a child. "It's a way to put some security in place, when you become a parent and ensure the safety of a being who depends on you."

Deschâtelets notes that Emma is a platform “very much focused on the life event of having a child.” “It's often at these moments that conversations about insurance get started,” he adds. Emma’s CEO explains that childbirth and the purchase of a first home are the two main factors that set the insurance purchasing process in motion. 

...less savings and debt 

In contrast with life insurance purchases, Deschâtelets has noted that requests to meet about investments are about equally divided between men and women.

Emma's statistics also show that on average, a man’s investment portfolio is “often three times larger than a woman’s,” the CEO adds. Women tend to have lower salaries and higher mortgages. At the same time, they have less non-mortgage debt.