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With corporate insurance, what makes large case work so complicated?

Hemal Balsara, Assistant Vice President, Regional Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning with Manulife, talks about how the right insurance fits with smart business planning and how the needs of large cases require specialized service.

Businesses and their owners need fundamental protection. Advisors know that corporate-owned life, critical illness and disability insurance can all provide it. Often, these cases can be complex, with requirements that call for specialized service. That’s why at Manulife, we go beyond with what we describe as The Summit Experience. 

It’s a way to offer personalized support throughout the application, underwriting and delivery processes. The Summit Experience helps you to be at the top of your game and ensure the most beneficial outcomes for your clients.

The Summit Experience is available for cases where the life insurance has at least a $5 million face amount (or $50,000 of annualized premiums), critical illness insurance has at least a $1 million face amount (or $10,000 of annualized premiums).

The concerns that lead to corporate insurance solutions evolve across the business lifecycle. There are different vulnerabilities and opportunities at every stage.

For new businesses, that can include protection against the loss of key people, overhead expenses, the risks of debt financing or the loss of an owner. Growing businesses can face questions like who will continue the business and how to give employees benefits and help them save for retirement. Further along, established businesses might be looking at succession planning, capital gains taxes, enhancing owner compensation and compensating key executives.

The right insurance solutions are part of prudent business and estate planning. They also have broad implications. 

Tax efficiency and liabilities, unwinding estates, wealth preservation and the capital dividend account are just some of the issues at play. Families are often also concerned with equitably and efficiently passing on important assets, including the family business, to the next generation. Many insurance cases can encompass a number of corporations and trusts, involve multiple family members and affect several generations.

Much is at stake, and it all adds to the complexity. Why work with Manulife Insurance on large and complex cases? 

Such cases require special attention, which is why we have an entire team to support advisors and their clients. They benefit from experts in tax planning, estate planning, wealth accumulation, retirement planning, creditor protection, beneficiaries and ownership, and more. Our accountants, lawyers and other specialists are skilled in identifying opportunities related to insurance within changing regulatory and market environments.

We’ve earned a reputation as an industry leader in this market, providing the foremost solutions for high-net-worth Canadians.

Manulife launched The Summit Experience in April 2022 as a way to label and package all of the strengths and expertise we were already offering. It’s available for all advisors who are working with Manulife on a large case. We try to simplify the complex, and we bring a range of resources to do so. 

The knowledgeable members of our wholesaling team will discuss options. The experts of Manulife’s Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning Services will come at the nuances of those issues from different angles. Actuarial and product consultants will help to optimize the insurance structure. A dedicated team of underwriting consultants will help to facilitate cases. Throughout it all, the team provides guided support and transparent communication. 

We travel with advisors on this journey, so we keep you in the know and help you to keep your clients up-to-date and satisfied. That supports the essential advisor-client relationship.

Every large case is unique. While these cases can be complex in their own way, each demands the same thing. With The Summit Experience, you can find it – meticulous attention to detail, high standard of service and excellence in execution. All of that helps your large-case clients benefit from years of careful planning.

Learn more about how the experts on the Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning Services team can provide support in complex cases like corporate insurance.


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