Every large case is unique. Yet in responding to them, certain principles apply. Our goal is to optimize the product solution, working with our underwriting team and reinsurance partners, to achieve the maximum amount of coverage for your client’s needs. We provide special handling at each stage. And the core client needs remain at the forefront.

What draws advisors to Manulife for their large cases? Our range of expertise and long history with a range of large complex cases. Our product specialists, our large case underwriting experts, and our tax, retirement and estate planning services team all come together to find the best outcome for your clients.

Large cases typically have multiple needs. Some objectives may include the ability to accumulate wealth and defer taxes, pass funds to the next generation, secure collateral for a loan, provide additional retirement income, and optimize estate planning. We’re here to help you ensure you’re putting the right solution in front of your client.

Depending on the situation or the details of your large case, Manulife Par could be an excellent option to achieve your client’s needs. It may also be a good option for clients who want to protect their business and maintain access to cash, pass on value accrued in a private company, secure collateral for a loan, pay off tax liability at time of death, and leverage tax-advantaged management of extra assets.

In other instances, Manulife UL can also be a great product solution. It can work wonders when your clients need to maximize their insurance coverage from the onset, and want to increase their long-term wealth with tax-advantaged investment growth.

Manulife UL is also an option for cases that require more flexibility for planning needs, such as the ability to make large deposits in the future or to reduce deposits without also having to decrease their insurance coverage or cash values.

Since Manulife Par and Manulife UL cater to different client profiles, my team of product experts and I work with advisors and their offices to optimize the insurance structure. We do so in a case-specific manner, in a way that best fits the needs of your affluent and business clients.

Fundamentally, that’s how Manulife approaches every large case. Of course, no two are the same. So having a product expert to assist with structuring your solution is part of The Summit Experience. That’s what Manulife calls personalized support for large cases throughout the application, underwriting and delivery processes.

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) or disability insurance has a $20,000 monthly benefit (or $10,000 of annualized premiums).

Each case is unique. Because of Manulife’s great reinsurance strength, we can work together to provide the most competitive offers and the optimum product solution on every large case.

While doing so, we also give priority attention to large cases via advisor meetings, communications at every step, guidance, special handling and collaboration from start to finish.

Learn more about how the right products and solutions can serve the needs of large insurance cases.

PAID CONTENT

Large insurance cases can be highly complex, and at the heart is the underwriting process. At Manulife, that’s a true team effort involving many experts from start to finish.

Specialists from tax and estate planning, wholesaling, field underwriting, underwriting, case coordination, product and pricing all collaborate seamlessly. Our team provides thoughtful guidance and ensures continuous communication. That makes for a positive experience and the best possible solutions for our advisors and their clients.

It’s all part of The Summit Experience, which we launched in April 2022 as a way to offer personalized support throughout the application, underwriting and delivery processes.

The Summit Experience is available for all advisors working with Manulife on a large case. We define that as 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) or disability insurance has a $20,000 monthly benefit (or $10,000 of annualized premiums).

Such cases require creative ways to solve difficult problems. Our underwriters have extensive experience and excellent relationships with our reinsurance partners and are skilled negotiators.

Manulife is among the few insurance companies in Canada with a proprietary Life Underwriting Manual, backed by a dedicated research team. Our manual helps us to deliver true value to you and your clients.

Manulife’s commitment to research gives our underwriters the most up-to-date guidelines, tools and resources to manage your large cases efficiently. Our team is dedicated to developing new approaches to underwriting based on advances in medical science. That allows us to make extremely competitive offers.

Throughout the process, constant communication is essential. In some cases, the sale may have been years in the making and Manulife’s underwriters recognize this. We aim for a caring partnership without surprises or gaps in communication.

How can advisors help the process go as smoothly as possible? Providing a solid cover letter with background on the client and their business and walking the underwriter through the financial planning can set the stage for a streamlined underwriting experience.

A key challenge on very large cases can be reinsurance gridlock. You can be locked out of reinsurance capacity by submitting applications to several companies and not stating the total line you intend to place, or that you intend to use a lead underwriter.

If making multiple applications for large amounts on the same client to more than one carrier, be sure in the cover letter to:

• Clearly state the total amount the client intends to place;
• Appoint a lead underwriter;
• Indicate that you intend to use that lead underwriter to gather evidence.

Our field underwriters help you to develop and package cases before they’re even written and submitted to underwriting. They can tell you what information is required, whether the case will meet our financial underwriting guidelines, address insurability issues and help prepare a cover letter. At your request, they can also speak to your client to gather broader medical history details, provide a more refined preliminary quote and answer any questions about the underwriting process.

We advocate strongly on behalf of advisors and their clients and keep a significant share of every case. If we do “shop” a case, we advise the reinsurer of our assessment, and we send the case details to several reinsurers to determine if any company will match or improve on our offer.

Because we retain a significant portion of all risks and have one of the highest retention limits in Canada, we can negotiate more favourable outcomes with our reinsurance partners on your difficult cases.

Underwriting and every other aspect of The Summit Experience takes a group effort. Everyone at Manulife works together to focus on the end-to-end experience and provide customized insurance solutions. That helps you to be more successful in securing insurance coverage for your most important clients.

Learn more about how the experts on the Manulife team can ensure a smooth underwriting experience with the best results.

PAID CONTENT

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) or disability insurance has a $20,000 monthly benefit (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.