The Pot Factor:  Authenticity Matters in Insurance Planning

The legalization of Marijuana is coming  in time for Canada’s next birthday party, reflecting new government priorities, and unique societal trends.  This indeed will impact the work tax and financial advisors do. Your clients may or may not want to talk to you about this.  Yet, insurance and financial advisors need to understand the financial implications of this major change in Canada.  This year’s Distinguished Advisor Conference will help prepare for the issues you need to discuss in a world filled with disruption — including the legalization of marijuana.

Adaptation is essential in order to enhance your value proposition for clients and differentiate your offering from the increasingly popular automated services that are facilitated by technology and the rise in Artificial Intelligence, in particular. You need to truly relate to your clients, and step outside of your comfort zone if you want your business to continue to thrive. The “traditional model” isn’t going to work with Millennials, and failing to address modern, and often controversial, issues will drive your clients to find someone who will. Whether you’re a financial or insurance advisor, as a “knowledge provider” you need to embrace the changes ahead in an authentic way.

Two insightful sessions at this year’s Distinguished Advisor Conference will help to push you outside of your comfort zone and open your eyes to new opportunities. We are pleased to welcome two innovative thinkers who demonstrate the value of taking an out-of-the-box approach when addressing the needs of your clients.

Aisha Alfa, life coach and comedian, will educate and entertain you in a session titled “How To Be a Hipster: Create More and Better Business by Becoming Annoyingly Authentic.” Her fresh perspective will help you rediscover how your unique skills, interests, talents and experience can help you better relate to your clients and become a trustworthy and essential advisor to the new generation of money-makers. Learn why adapting your approach is important and how to better understand who you want to work with, who you don’t, and lean into your uniqueness and authenticity.

Nancy Kent, Director of National Accounts at Dynacare, brings a different perspective to addressing modern issues, using a specific, timely example in the insurance industry. Her session, “Marijuana: Myths Go Up in Smoke,” will help you understand why the legalization of marijuana matters to your business. Underwriters and insurance advisors have the opportunity to strengthen client relationships by tackling this issue and providing much-needed advice.

Knowing your clients’ history of marijuana use can change the type of insurance advice you provide, and the policies that you direct them to. Asking the right questions when filling out an application is important; for example, recreational users can be declined coverage, or experience a decrease in the coverage provided by their policy, until they’ve been rated as non-smokers for approximately one year. Those who consume less than a certain amount might be rated as non-smokers, and approach to coverage varies for medicinal marijuana users. This subject might push you out of your comfort zone, but it’s just one of today’s modern issues—the new reality that must be addressed to evolve into the future.

Learn more about these speakers and review our comprehensive Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) Agenda. There is still time to register before the October 31 deadline.

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