Why an Independent Agent?

Most people are familiar with life insurance agents as someone who works for a major carrier such as Northwestern Mutual, Met Life, Prudential, etc. These agents are considered ‘captive’ agents due to the fact that they only present and sell the products their company offers. They match their clients’ needs with the best fit in the product line they have available to them. Their are obvious limitations with this situation since better products may be available but cannot be presented to the client because they are offered by a different insurance company.

Captive sales agents are also sometimes limited in the services they offer. They may or may not be licensed to offer advice on securities, tax planning, estate planning, etc. This becomes important for two reasons. Any good financial plan starts with a careful assessment of a person’s objectives, income, assets, and potential inheritance. Unfortunately most insurance agents are not licensed, trained, or qualified to do financial planning instead they are trained to be good closers to product sales with little regard for suitability and actual customer objective. The second reason is the inherent conflict of interest with captive agents and commission products. When an agent has limited products to offer, and his/her only compensation comes from the sale of those products, the question always remains, “Have I been advised as to what’s best for me? Is this the best product or the best commission?”

In contrast, an independent financial planner works for the client. Although as financial planners we are licensed insurance agents, our commitment is always to find suitable solutions to meet client objectives at the lowest cost. Therefore it is necessary that we be able to quote and service insurance policies with virtually any company. The determination of what is considered “best” is based on our comparative analysis of a company's financial strength, policy provisions, and pricing.

A true independent financial planner must be licensed and have advanced training in many disciplines. Unfortunately, most insurance agent/financial advisors are only licensed to sell insurance, annuities, and mutual funds. Such limitation would make comprehensive planning difficult and expensive compared to a more comprehensive approach by an independent financial planner. Such a professional is focused on plan design, researching suitable solutions, and performance, versus being product and transaction driven.

We have always valued the client’s needs first and have designed our organization around those beliefs.