Empire Life Insight for May 6, 2022

2022 was a challenging start for most markets, but especially so for the fixed income market, which had its worst start in over 40 years. Albert Ngo, Senior Portfolio Manager and Ian Fung, Portfolio Manager, discuss inflation as the main driver of fixed income market volatility, its impact, the outlook for fixed income, and how they’ve been implementing various strategies in the fixed income portfolios.

Read Albert and Ian’s commentary to see how they are positioning Empire Life fixed income portfolios and believe that current headwinds may become tailwinds for fixed income.

	Tax-free Guaranteed Retirement Income for Life: CLASS PLUS^® 3.0 TFSA TFSAs are one of the most popular saving and retirement accounts in Canada. Many Canadians invest their TFSA funds in High Interest Savings Accounts (HISA). But if your clients took a long-term approach to their TFSA, their funds could be working harder for them if invested in an Empire Life Class Plus 3.0 segregated fund TFSA.
	Now available! Multi-Strategy Q1 Advisor Holdings Update Dave Paterson, Portfolio Manager, shares the holdings allocations of the Empire Life Multi-Strategy GIFs at the end of Q1 2022. See the percentage of allocations by cash, equity and fixed income. Take a deeper dive into the passive, smart beta and active equity holdings at the end of the quarter. Stay up-to-date on Empire Life’s Multi-Strategy portfolios with the Q1 Holdings Update for Advisors.
	Impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict on the Empire Life Dividend Growth GIF* In light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Senior Portfolio Manager, Doug Cooper provides an update on changes to investments within the Empire Life Dividend Growth GIF. The most notable change is a reduction in international equity exposure, primarily in the UK and continental Europe, and an increase in Canadian equity exposure. * The legal name of the fund is “Dividend Growth Fund”. Read Doug’s commentary to get the full picture of why he feels expectations for Canada’s economic growth have improved in 2022.
	TRIIPSS Replay Now available on-demand: Complex family dynamics and estate planning using segregated funds As your clients age, particularly high net worth clients and those with complicated family situations, wealth transfer becomes a priority. As their focus starts to change from accumulating assets to estate planning and wealth transfer, will they think of you as a trusted resource to guide them on this new journey? And can you answer: Why would they? And why should they? CE credits are available until June 29, 2022. A quiz will appear after the webinar has been viewed.
	Get up to speed with our 2022 Federal Budget Overview Budget 2022 Overview video Our tax and estate planning expert, Peter Wouters, shares his thoughts on an overview of the 2022 Budget and how it will impact clients in this timely 30 minute video. Budget 2022 Infographic Our client-friendly fact sheet highlights what's new in the Budget and how it impacts clients.

TRIIPSS EN-2021 (1)

TRIIPSS Replay

Now available on demand: Business Owners and Estate Planning - Is there a role for insurance-based solutions?

Protecting the business as the most important family asset is certainly top of mind. Sustainability is an opportunity to build a business that will stand the test of time.

This fast paced, thought-provoking session will explore various scenarios and test whether life insurance-based solutions can play a role in addressing issues and providing alternatives for advisors and their business clients. Attendees will walk away with hands-on questions to ask to get the conversation going with business owners and their families.

CE credit offer available until July 26, 2022.
A quiz will appear after the webinar has been viewed

Great news:
Permanent changes to non-medical underwriting limits

Earlier this year we made our temporary $2,000,000 non-medical underwriting limit for life insureds aged 18 to 50 permanent. We have also made our other non-medical limits permanent!

Life insurance:

Ages 51 to 55: up to $300,000
Ages 56 to 60 up to $249,999 (was $300,000 as a temporary Covid-19 measure)
Ages 61 to 70: up to and including $99,999 will require a PHI only
Ages 71+: standard UW requirements apply (e.g., PHI and Vitals, BP)

Critical illness insurance:

Ages 18 to 40: up to $250,000
Ages 41 to 50: up to $99,999
Ages 51+: standard UW requirements apply (e.g., PHI and Vitals, BP)

Please see the Information Circular for full details.

The BIGGER eBundle Bonus is extended until June 30, 2022!

Until June 30, 2022, keep earning 15% or 20% more FYC by submitting new life and health insurance applications using the Fast & Full Life App when clients select and complete the Electronic Health Questionnaire (eHQ) and choose and receive eContract Delivery as compared to submitting paper applications and receiving a paper contract.

Please refer to the Information Circular for full details

You can now quickly and easily update your clients’ primary addresses via My Advisor Dashboard!*

The newly added address change capability on My Advisor Dashboard allows you to make client address and phone number changes directly from the portal home page, by going to the “Quicklinks” section and clicking on “Update client address”.

Once submitted, you will see a confirmation screen that you can print out for your records.

*Please note your clients’ consent is required.

	Empire Life Annual Report Our 2021 Annual Report is now available online.
	Professional titles In Ontario, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) recently announced that its proposed Financial Professionals Rule was approved by the Ontario Minister of Finance. Quebec has regulated professional titles since 1998 and Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are in the process of introducing similar frameworks. The reference document below provides a high-level summary of each regulator that has introduced or is in the process of introducing title protection rules.
	Attention to those licensed in Ontario On April 1, 2022, FSRA’s Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) Rule went into effect. The UDAP Rule replaces the existing UDAP Regulations under Ontario’s Insurance Act and applies to insurers, brokers, intermediaries, adjusters and providers of goods and/or services engaged in the insurance sector. The UDAP Rule prescribes certain activities as “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the business of insurance" and broadens the scope of the types of actions or inactions that may be considered “unfair or deceptive acts or practices”. Advisors licensed in Ontario should familiarize themselves with FSRA’s Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices Rule.
	Introducing TruStone Financial Inc. In March, we announced we’ve purchased six financial services firms and amalgamated them into one wholly-owned subsidiary of Empire Life, called TruStone Financial Inc. TruStone Financial will run as an independent MGA with full control over its day-to-day operations.
	New series! Best Practices Limited Trade Authorization (LTA) allows advisors to execute financial and non-financial transactions on behalf of the policy owner. These transactions include but are not limited to purchases, withdrawals and switches. Policy owners give advisors this limited trade authorization when completing all new segregated funds applications. The policy owner can revoke the authorization at any time by sending Empire Life a signed request. Activity under LTA should not be done without prior discussion with the policy owner. Advisors using LTA are required to retain a record of the customer’s request for audit purposes. At a minimum the records retained should include: The date, time and manner for which the instructions were provided The policy number(s) Details of the transaction Confirmation of any fees or DSC This information can also be found in the investment administrator reference guide.