Fraternal life insurer Foresters Financial Company may be a 150-year-old business, but it’s in growth mode – and repositioning itself to get back to its roots selling simplified products to working families. 

Much of this reworking has taken place over the past two years, during which Foresters sold off its asset management business in the United States and in 2020, bought Canada Protection Plan, now basically Foresters’ Canadian division. Since the beginning of 2021, sales forces at Foresters and Canada Protection Plan have been promoting the product lines of both companies. 

In an interview with Insurance Portal from Foresters’ home office in Boston, president and CEO Jim Boyle said the purchase of Canada Protection Plan has reawakened the Foresters name in North America. That’s good, said Boyle, but he also wants Foresters to doubleback to its origins. 

“The middle market is very underserved from a life insurance protection perspective, both in Canada and the U.S.,” said Boyle. 

On top of that, as a fraternal life insurer, Foresters is a socially responsible company, an attribute that has gained much ground around the world in the last few years. For Foresters, this means investing its profits back into client’s communities.

Automatic member benefits 

There are automatic member benefits when a client buys a Foresters product, all included in the price and consisting of everything from help with legal assistance, scholarships and grants to investing back in the community. 

“So an advisor trying to differentiate their products knows now that we have a commitment to Canada, a heightened brand awareness and the fraternal membership of our products that really nobody else has in this market,” said Boyle. 

Boyle also said Foresters had a jump on most other life insurance companies during COVID-19 in that Foresters’ modus operandi has been paperless and no medical for years and in those areas is doing a better job than even some insurtechs and fintechs. 

Business model proved efficient in a COVID world 

“So it was serendipitous that our strategic decisions were to be selling to the middle market simply because we had the abilities to do non-face-to-face, without medicals, without fluids. It just so happened that our business model was the most efficient model in a COVID world. We just had to execute that model, whereas others had to pivot to that model. 

“It’s put us in the position where we are executing for growth to support the Canadian advisor and the Canadian marketplace.”

It seems the moves Foresters made are working. Canada Protection Plan exceeded its sales target for the first half of 2021. 

Through its subsidiary, Foresters became the third-fastest growing life insurance company in Canada in 2020 and second in terms of sales that year. 

Growing its offerings 

While Canada Protection Plan was known initially for providing life insurance products for the hard-to-insure, it has grown its offerings to include everything from guaranteed issue to traditional underwriting and simplified issue. 

Together, Foresters and Canada Protection Plan have about 35,000 advisors they deal with in Canada, but Boyle believes that number will grow especially with sales for this year doing so well. 

Canada Protection Plan is advanced in the way it advertises to its middle-market consumer, said Boyle, enabling Foresters as a whole to grow and serve clients in both a modern, yet simple way. 

Brand presence 

“I think advisors will see a renewed commitment to the Canadian market from the combined entity of Canada Protection Plan and Foresters.” - Jim Boyle 

Advisors may be drawn to the fact that most Foresters policies are issued and commissions are paid within a few days, said Boyle. The big difference in Canada is that much of the brand presence is coming through Canada Protection Plan.

“We expect to be adding employees, advisors, new members all the time. We are definitely what we view as being in growth mode,” said Boyle. “I think advisors will see a renewed commitment to the Canadian market from the combined entity of Canada Protection Plan and Foresters.”

Wellness app 

Meanwhile, Boyle said Foresters isn’t standing still. It has piloted a wellness app, similar to Manulife’s Vitality app, that can monitor health and wellness and provides challenges and incentives for healthy behaviour. As a fraternal organization, it will be offering the app free to everybody who has a policy with Foresters. The product is being rolled out in the third quarter of this year. 

No to demutualization 

And while many a life insurer in Canada demutualized a number of years ago, it’s not something on Boyle’s plate.

“I would never want to go public because I think this is the optimal design of an insurance company. It has the best value between the advisor and the consumer.”