The Diary of a Life Underwriter

My new website

2009-04-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

I finally was able to buy my own domain name.

http://thewealthwarrior.net

Sun Life's Reply to Christ--Hidden charges of VUL

2009-03-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

Please click on the link.

http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2009/03/11/understanding-vuls-sunlifes-reply-to-chris/

Hidden charges of VUL (as told through other blog)

2009-03-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

I recently read an article posted in one of the most read and respected blog in the country: Money Smart. The most recent article is regarding Sun Life client (not mine) complaining of our VUL policy and its "hidden cost".

http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/2009/03/05/hidden-costs-of-vuls/

Not explaining the charges clearly despite them being written in the contract is itself a problem brewing. While I may have been in the industry for only 3 years, my colleagues' experience is that sometimes, clients may have selective memory meaning they only listen to what they want to hear. Things that they like to hear are but not limited to:

-Guaranteed face amount
-Endowment benefit
-Length of payment (should be over as soon as possible)
-Dividends (they thought it is guaranteed despite being explained otherwise)

In the end, it may be a case of your word against my word. While Chris can file a complaint against his agent, i don't think that it can hold in court if it reaches that high. After all, the policy contract is transparent in stipulating all the charges that the policy holder will incur.

This is not the first time it happened and I doubt if this will be the last. As long as there are life insurance agents, form Sun Life or otherwise, who is out to just make quick bucks and client's who have selected memories, the problem will linger and persist.

Unethical Sales Tactics and Caveat Emptor

2009-02-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

Monday morning was going on like an ordinary Monday morning when one of my associate brought to me the concern of one of our prospects, Jen. Jen apparently was "hypnotized" into buying a policy from Danvil Plans through one of their "poaching" tactics seen in the mall which happened during the weekend.

She relayed to my associate that she didn't know what actually transpired during the course of the discussion with the agent but she felt like she was in a trance and just couldn't say "no". It was as if she was held at gun point into purchasing my policy.

Lo and behold when I searched through the Internet regarding this, I found several blogs also posting complaints against them (just google, Prudential Life-hypnotize, scam). They claim they were really insistent to the point that they are stepping over boundaries of their presentation and thus, becoming insulting and rude.

I thought of how the sales presentation got out of hand and how the clients were 'forced' to sign a policy right then and there. I once deliberately listened to their presentation and I found it quite informative but of course, the agent, knowing I am from Sun Life (which is way better than their company) realized that I will, in no way, get a policy from her regardless of how good she is (she's not).

I walked out of the room with a free pen and key chain and a stupid piece of paper containing random ballot numbers and WITHOUT any plan from them.

Some however were not as lucky. But for those who are not award of their modus operandi, these are ways how you can protect yourself:

1.) Don't entertain sales people from Danvil Plans, Inc. (formerly Family First) to begin with. They will ask you if you have a credit card. Just say you don't have one and they will simply walk away (okay, they'll snub you). Without a credit card, they cannot proceed with the transaction.

2.) If by whatever reason you were unfortunate to be dragged into their office, don't give them your credit card. What I have heard is that they immediately swipe it and force you to sign the receipt without your consent.

3.) You have the right to say no to any of their proposal. Argue with her, debate with her. Make yourself as hard as possible if this is only the way she'll give up on you and just let you go.

4.) If by whatever reason, you still were force to sign up for their plans, you have the right to have it terminated with a full refund of your money. The SM administration recommended this and this must be done within 24 hours of your purchase.

5.) Lastly, if you have any other concerns, go and seek the help of authorities like the DTI, SEC and the IC and file a complaint against malpractice and misrepresentation.

Don't let yourself be a victim of this unscrupulous financial company. They are the ones that give the industry a bad name. Financial freedom starts with financial knowledge and this is just one step of it.

My first article published

2009-02-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

Finally, my first written article has been published. Thanks to Mr. Heinz Bulos of Money Sense and Mr. Randell Tiongson of RFP and income-tacts (www.income-tacts.com) for giving me this opportunity.

And the going gets tough (again)

2009-02-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

Pre-Need companies going under again. Well, that's no news. They were going under since 2005. Just when things are hopeful for the local financial markets at the onset of the year, here is another news to drive potential clients and investors.

I just realized how things have deteriorating when several clients emailed me regarding how Sun Life is doing amidst the shut-down of these pre-need firms. I never gave them a second thought at first since I believe my company is well-capitalized. In fact, we have just renewed our pre-need license!

But for the investing public. Everything is lump into the same basket. One banana is the same as another banana. No more no less. One company in danger, the rest are in deep s*it! Harsh as it may sound, that is how the industry is perceived.

How long the trial and hearing of delos Angeles case will go, only God knows when. And until then, the public will be skeptical about putting their hard-earned money into the pockets of the owners.

Could there be an "anti-hero" agent?

2009-02-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

An anti-hero is defined in fiction as a hero whose character and goals are antithetical to traditional heroism. An anti-hero has a dark character and often in contrast with the personalities of a hero but they fight for the good.

In insurance selling or any sales profession for that matter. I have observed that there is also an "anti-hero" who does everything necessary to fail but don't and instead, still gets the job done!

They are not your hard-working sales professional. They know little about the products they are selling and the industry. They don't wake up early in the morning and don't work late and certainly are not seeing the required number of people. But still, anti-heroes close one account after another making them the envy of others who did everything in the book but still produce less than what the formers are producing.

So could there be an anti-hero agent? I certainly do and if I discovered what their secrets are, I'm changing my tactics.

Maturing on rejections

2009-02-10T04:49:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday when we we were stationed at Glorietta for our promotional campaign, I was able to discuss life insurance with a married couple. Throughout the discourse, the wife and the husband seemed interested. Too interested if I may add. No objections, no apprehensions and certainly no rejections...until today.

I called the wife up as was previously promised which she consented as well. Upon hearing my voice she immediately hang up. I wasn't surprised on the rejections. What is too good to be true sometimes is indeed too good to be true. I was hopeful but never expected the sale. I reminded of our saying of the 4 SW

Some Will
Some Won't
So What
Someone's Waiting

I'm off to the next.

A pension account in a long, long time.

2009-02-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

I close a pension plan today and it was my first in two and half year. For obvious reason, pension plans are not as attractive as they were before (meaning 2006). Back then, our plans are still yielding about 6%-7% per annum. Plus we were giving free appliances and furnitures to go along with it. Now, the IRR are down to just 2%, not really as attractive as it was.

That being said, it is still the only plan in our diverse products that can give the investor a profit after 10 years of premium payments--GUARANTEED! Endowment plans won't give him that. VUL can but of course, it still depends on the underlying asset attached to it.

But once I was able to provide him with that, we finalized everything after a couple of days (I'm still not an excellent closer and I needed a couple of more days to seal the deal). Nevertheless, a sale is still a sale and I thank God for this one.

Good thing though is he still keen on availing himself of a life insurance policy and hopefully, we can finalize everything before he turns a year older next month.

Substituting Sun Life's Education Plan for a Pension Plan

2009-02-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, one of my lawyer-client was asking me about a proposal that was given to him. He finds the proposal very interesting and felt that it would be a good investment. The plan was Ps. 240,000.00 a year for 5 years for a total of Ps. 1.2M. On the 8th to 11th year, there would be a payout of Ps. 100,000.00 each year. on the 12th to 14th year, Ps. 200,000.00 will be given and on the 15th and last year, another Ps. 1M. My client asked if I can match this and give him something that has a smaller premium.

The returns did sound fantastic (we're talking in millions so it will sound fantastic in any way) but when I computed for the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), it only yields 5.12% per annum.

My counter proposal has a total contract price of Ps. 232,900.00 or 48,688.00 per annum. This was something that was in line with his budget. The initial payout was was Ps. 20,000.00 and increases 20% every year for a total of Ps. 258,318.00 for seven years. 4 years after, the first half of the premiums would be returned and two more years later, the other half. All told, the total benefit amounted to Ps. 491,000. And this still excludes the Ps. 30,000.00 dividends!

The returns was 1% higher than what the other plan offered. The only drawback is that I can't match the first proposal's life insurance coverage of 1M. The most I can give him was the Maturity's benefit of Ps. 491,218.00.

He liked the idea and was impressed that I was able to match the offer. He asked for sometime to review the policy and would get back to me after a week. I have high hopes for this case and I really pray this will mature. I'll keep you guys posted!

Btw, if you have any proposals that you'd like me to do a comparative analysis, I'd be glad to do so at no extra cost on your part. :)

An Inspiring Talk

2009-02-02T07:57:00.000-08:00

We had today for our weekly Kapihan a unassuming Life agent from another NBO to discuss his recent jumbo case. As in a Ps. 150,000,000 (yup, you're reading the right number of zeroes) jumbo case with a premium of Ps. 3.8 million. It was enough to make him a multi-millionaire in an instance.

What was inspiring about him was that he's only 28 and had only been with the company for 5 years. He shared that for the first three years of his career with Sun Life, he was a mediocre agent with nothing to brag except his validation. He never fully accepted his career before that was why he never at first, made it big despite his knowledge and pleasing personality.

But on 2007, with his back against the wall and debts mounting, he made the decision to turn his career around and "professionalize" it. Eventually, he close one sale after another each one with a bigger and bigger face amount such that eventually he closed the Ps. 150,000,000 coverage.

He admitted that it was stroke of luck that he closed that account and mentioned that client even have friends with Sun Life that has been trying to close this case. What made the difference he said was that he was at the right place at the right time. But I thought it was really meant for him. Odds may not be in his favor but somehow, the sale landed on his lap.

He advised that opportunities come in small pieces and had he missed out some small pieces along the way, he wouldn't have gotten this account. Truly inspiring indeed.

Just have to wait for mine. :)

A Surprise Referral

2009-01-30T05:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I received a text message from a Marjorie. That was how she introduced herself. She mentioned she was interested in Sun Life. My mind kicked into overdrive to recall who she is or who could have referred me to her. Nothing. Nobody came to my mind.

I called her up and did a little introduction about our services and asked for a meeting with her but she said she is very busy at the moment and I just faxed the proposal I have in mind for her. Uh-oh, dilemma. Ordinarily, I would have declined such request but thanks to our weekly group study, I learned to assess the situation on a case-to-case basis. She was the one who requested so chances are she is ready to get a life insurance policy for herself. I obliged. Later that night, I received a text message from her once again saying she and her husband are both ready to have themselves insured and hoped I can meet them today. Cool! Such a blessing from God indeed!

Turned out that she was the sister of a referral who never replied nor answered my calls. Haha. Amazing how God can turn out things. That referral was never a loss to begin with.

It was a timely sale since our February Love Month has now kicked-off and I have applications to submit to avail of the Ps. 500 GC they are promoting. Thank God for giving me motivating kick to begin the contest month. I believe this is going to be fruitful. S

Miting de Avance: (Chinese) New Year Sales Rally

2009-01-22T04:34:00.000-08:00

No, its not an advance meeting but Miting de Avance means call to arms in Spanish. Made the same boo-boo too. Our channel heads decided to call us to arms in lieu of our preparation for the 2009. Most of us didn't notice that January would end next week. Truly a wake up call.

Like before, it started with a review of last year's production. Something none of us would like to see but nevertheless it was presented to us and like we have expected, they were ugly. But of course they were already history and we move on with the present year.

Moving on, we were fortunate enough to have Mr. Chinkee Tan as our guess speaker for this sales rally. This guy is a classic. He can combine both humor and motivation in his talks and he does so naturally. Something not all public speakers can do. He also shared the same optimism we have for the year. I know not all will agree with us but hey, like Chinkee said, it is perception and we perceive the year to be a banner year!

Next in line we had our very own Chief Financial Officer discussing Philippine fundamentals with us. It was amazing how he explained complex economic theories. This makes our explanation to our clients much easier.

Overall, I thought it was a strong kicker for us life insurance agents. What the actual results would be remains to be seen but somehow, I'm confident about them and so are the rest of the agency force.

First Hard Client of 2009

2009-01-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

I finally met my first hard client for the year. I seem to encounter at least one hard client every year so I’m grateful I finally met my quota. Hurray!
It started with me confirming her office address and our meeting later that day. She immediately got pissed and started to raise her voice. I myself got pissed and so I replied that she doesn’t need to raise her voice on me. Being professional and keeping in mind the integrity of my company I represent, I still went and updated her on her life insurance policy.

When I arrived there, I prayed and gathered courage from the bible. I may not know the verses but it is mentioned that “Love Thy Enemies”. Haha! She just made one today. I thought it would just be a short meeting with me explaining her policy status but turned out we went and talked for more than an hour. Amazing huh? No, she’s not a fun person to talk with. I think it has something to do with working in the government and kept on ranting and cursing about her pension benefits, her first and second life insurance agent whom she described as “unprofessional” in looks and work ethics.

In the end, she implicitly apologized for her rudeness towards me saying that she just sometimes raised her voice over the phone unintentionally. Oo nalang ako. I still left the building feeling good. First because I espoused the professionalism I have committed in this career. I courteously discussed her policy with her and answered knowledgeably all her inquiries including the current stock price of Sun Life (SLF). And second, because she’s interested in our VUL policy and I’m going back next week to show my proposal.

My Buena-Mano sale

2009-01-13T07:46:00.001-08:00

It didn't take that long for me to land my first sales for this month. Actually, I was supposed to finalized them late last year but due to their remittance not getting here during the holidays, we moved it to 2009.

These sales were supposed to be education plan intended for the tuition fees of the children. The policy holders are siblings and they intend to get one for each of their daughters with the initial premium being shoulder my their mother. They have agreed already to the proposal and so it was just a matter of time before they come up with the first installments.

Last Sunday, they finally have paid me the first quarter installment for the two plans but after I got back to the office a day after, I studied once again the education plan I presented to them. I wasn't really quite sold to the idea of them getting the plan since the returns are not to their advantage. Based on the IRR, the return is only a measly 1.51%. They could have gotten a better deal placing their money in a Time Deposit Account.

And so with the recommendation of my manager, I explore the option of using the Variable Life Insurance as an alternative. After all, the Grandmother also mentioned that she wanted an education plan with insurance for the two children but in the education plan, the best I can offer was a Scholar's Accident Protection. I eventually presented the VUL to them with the following advantages against the educational plan:

1.) Larger life insurance coverage
The education plan only offers a Scholar's Accident Protection equivalent to the Gross Contract Price but the VUL guarantees a Php 500,000.00 face amount.

2.) Lower premiums
Quarterly mode of payment in the first plan means an additional 10% premium. So even though it is not advantageous to the client, there is practically no choice but to accept this unless she wants to pay it in annual. But in VUL, simply divide the annual premium by four and that is the premium required. No modal factor needed.

3.) Potential higher education benefit and flexibility.
While the education benefit for the VUL is not guaranteed, I believe that 15 years down the road, it would have generated a bigger fund value compared to the old-fashion education plan. Also, it allows my clients to access their respective funds without having to wait until college.

I have mentioned in my previous post that life insurance offers lots of alternative besides just protection. This is indeed one case where it offered an education benefit, an alternative from the traditional education plan.

Why People Buy Life Insurance Policies

2009-01-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

Life insurance policies has been the corner stone of financial planning. Despite how negative the term is to most, it is actually the most important piece of investment one should have. Contrary to what people think, I believe life insurance serves more than just a legacy to the beneficiary in case of an untimely death by the breadwinner of the family. While this is the main purpose of this product, surprisingly, a lot of people a life insurance policies for different reasons. Here are some of them:

1.) Force-savings
In the Philippines where majority of the people have a hard time saving, a life insurance policy is actually an answer to their saving woes. By forcibly paying the premium of a life insurance policy, they are actually setting aside money for the long-term. Of course don't expect to receive break even in the first few years of paying your premiums but 20 or 30 years down the road, the money that should have been spent away actually was saved up!

2.) Capital growth and investment
With the introduction of Variable Universal Life polices to the Philippines, sales of insurance policies has gone up tremendously. The VUL is a life insurance with a mutual fund investment. Since the mutual fund investment is well received, the VUL naturally also rode with the waves.

Compared to traditional life insurance policies, there is a much potential growth in VULs since the underlying investments, either equities or bonds depending on your risk tolerance, can have promising returns. Of course, caveat emptor, the investor bears the risk of losses.

3.) Children's Education
An endowment type of life-insurance policy can actually serve as an alternative to an education plan. The Internal Rate of Return is actually higher. A Sun Peso Provider 10 can be used to fund the college tuition of the child through a program called Variable Fund or what we popularly call as Var-Fu. The payout can then start at age 16 and ends at age 20. Unfortunately, this type of plan is a little bit pricey but hey, education is pricey nonetheless.

4.) Preparing for final expenses.
Sometimes, when you have lived a full-life with your children all grown-up and the money is just enough to let you live a comfortable life for the rest of your golden days, buying a life-insurance policy to answer your funeral expense is also practical. You don't need to burden your family for your final expenses and they'd greatly appreciate that. Of course, this is just an alternative for memorial plans but the advantage of this is this is given in cash to the beneficiaries instead of just the funeral services.

5.) Estate Protection

Inheritance taxes in the Philppines is astronomical! High Net Worth individuals will be taxed Php 1,250,000.00 for the inheritance worth Php 10M and up. And 20% of ever peso beyond Php 10M. For illustration purposes, if the person left properties worth Php 100M, the taxes that would be collected by our very dear Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is Php 19,250,000. That's a pretty hefty sum to be collected. Now, alot of High Net Worth people are actually asset rich and cash poor. If the beneficiary cannot come up with that sum, the BIR can liquidate the properties to collect his share. That's not good.

A good solution to the problem is to create another fund to pay off the taxes. Life Insurance can do that. By paying only a fraction of what its worth, the estate owner can protect his properties from the (grimy) hands of the BIR and his heir, can enjoy the inheritcance.

So you see, life insurance is not only for those who have dependents and it should not only be for breadwinners. It is actually for everyone who has a particular financial concern. Whether you're seeking to let your money grown, or planning for your golden years or simply wishing to leave a legacy for your heirs, life insurance is the way to go.

2009 Wish List

2009-01-05T05:33:00.001-08:00

2009, A new year dawning. Today marked the first day after an 11-day vacation. I'm still feeling a bit lethargic after taking a 10-day vacation in HK and another 2-day in Laguna after. But still, cannot dilly-dally and I must jump into work immediately.

Contrary to what many are saying about 2009, I feel optimistic about my professional work this year. I feel I'm going to thrive this year. After all, I have withstood my first financial crisis and I'm raring to thrive once more. And so I have came up with my 2009 wish list an here they are:

1.) Qualify for the 2nd time for Macaulay Club. I made it into the club when I qualified as a bronze awardee. But it wasn't repeated last year. Times were indeed tough and I got frustrated with the market. After all, most of my cases that let me qualified was the VUL Single Premium and so when the market tanked, my morale went along with it.

This year, I don't plan to do the same and I pursued for whole-life plans instead and I have some potential clients lined up already. Hope most of them turn to gold.

2.) Have an Asset Under Management of Php 20M. This is going to be tough considering the investing environment right now but who know, maybe I'll meet one (rich) brave soul and invest immediately some Php 10M and add that to my existing AUM of Php 10M--mission accomplish!

3.) Have a jumbo case of Php 10M. Every year, the Face Amount I'm offering my clients have been constantly increasing. I sold more Php 1M FA than Php 500,000.00 and hopefully my average FA this year would increase once again and close a jumbo case of at least Php 10M.

4. Online networking. I know my company has some limitations regarding this but I'd like to explore this opportunity to network online. Let the World Wide Web by my advertiser and promote my business. It's not being explored much by my fellow life insurance agents so I'd like to be one of the pioneer of this marketing tool.

5. Be an active member of Professional Insurance and Financial Advisors of the Philippines. To enhance my knowledge of the industry and practice exponentially, it is essential for me to mingle with the industry's best of the best and they can be found with PIFAAP. Learning the tools of the trades of my colleague is surely a membership worth paying for.

Already, I'm excited for the year of the OX. Although my Chinese Horoscope tells me that my sign would not be amongst the lucky ones, I still believe I'm destined to create my own fate. And I wouldn't let that deter me from fulfilling my wish list. Happy new year to all!

2008 In Retrospect

2009-01-02T05:37:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to everyone! 2009 has since dawned and everyone, I'll bet, is hopeful for this year. Hopeful in the sense that they are hoping against hope that this year would be better despite all the tell-tale signs that its not going to be as what the professionals are saying.

Hindsight, my 2008 as an insurance agent was a realization for me. I have been only in the industry for two and a half years and last year was my first year to experience financial chaos. It wasn't pleasant. In fact, it was downright ugly. Shrinking portfolios and lower sales and all. Uggh!! I also experience two separate cases of discouragements. But thank God I have recovered from those and have since moved forward.

However, I'm still grateful and thankful for God for the following:

1. Having met my validation requirement. Despite the trying times, I have managed to still come up with the sales quota required of me.

2. Renewal commissions as buffer. I may not have much sales last year but that didn't mean I didn't earn much income. My renewal commissions saved me. It is indeed true that the longer I stay here, the bigger my income is.

3. No irate clients. Surprisingly, I didn't encounter any difficult client last year despite having their investment shrunk shockingly. I thank God that I didn't experience being sued. Mind you, some did and it is possible.

4. Opportunity to join a professional organization. I joined the Professional Insurance and Financial Advisors of the Philippines late last year and it was my first professional organization I became a part of. I hope to learn a lot next year from them.

I managed to survived 2008 but I'm hoping to thrive in 2009. I did tell myself that this would be the tipping point of this career. 2009 will dictate whether I will stay or move on with this profession. Again, Happy New Year to all!

PIFAAP Member

2008-12-17T05:03:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to join a professional organization for quite sometime now. I believe that joining one would increase my knowledge of my profession and practice exponentially. After all, I would be with the industry's cream of the crop, the best of the best as they say.

Upon the recommendation of my manager, I joined the Professional Insurance and Financial Advisers of the Philippines (PIFAAP url: www.pifaap.org).

Taken from their website, PIFAAP is an association of leading insurance and financial services professionals dedicated to promoting high standards of ethics, client service and productivity. With its focus on professional excellence thru continuing education, PIFAAP aims to provide practitioner-based channels for learning as well as foster camaraderie and esprit de corps by implementing programs that build collaborative relationships among peer professionals.

Unlike other organizations, PIFAAP doesn't allow non-members to attend their lectures and trainings. This makes the members feel exclusive and proud to be part of the organization. I have attended other professional organizations and believe me, they (without mentioning any) are not in par with this one.

One more thing about PIFAAP is that their line of speakers are from the industry's most respected. I have only attended two lectures this year conducted by Mr. Rex Mendoza and Mr. Jeff Gonzales and to say that I learned tremendously from them is an understatement. It is only through these lectures that I understood the CDOs, MBS, CDS and other acronyms on the recent financial crisis.

I plan to make 2009 my banner year. Already, I'm committing myself to excel next year. Being a member of PIFAAP makes my 2009 more exciting and I can't wait to get started.

Living up to a Promise

2008-11-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

One of the customers and clients consider when purchasing a sale is the after sales-service they will receive. The life insurance industry is no different. In fact, I would like to think that our warranties are limitless and sometimes, even beyond the termination or the maturity of the policy.

I would experience first hand what it meant by client satisfaction. Just yesterday, I met with one of my clients. He works as a call center agent in a not-so-big BPO firm. And so he narrated how he foresaw the retrenchment of their company prompting him to resign before it happens. With other series of unfortunate events, he frankly told me that he would not be able to come up with the premium for his policies and his parents’.

Of course, I was disappointed and the first thing that crossed my mind was, “uh-oh, bye bye commission.” But I realized that this is not the important issue to tackle at this moment. The main thing here is how I can help my client continue his policies. I remember our code of ethics, Clients interest first before ours.

On a positive note, his policies are all VULs therefore premiums are flexible for this type of plan. I calculated the cost of insurance and other charges and made an approximate for him. After seeing the figures, he breathed a sigh of relief. The figures that I came up for him were within his budget. His fears were dissipated.

I felt proud and happy over what I did for him. True, I may have lost the commissions but I earned his trust. The trust I’m sure will appreciate over time, literally and figuratively. Life insurance agents have been branded selfish and insensitive and I hear this more often than not. I don’t want to be called one and I don’t want to be classified as one. I want to be in the new breed of life underwriters who place the interest of clients above ours.

And I was fortunate to be able to do so.

Fringe Benefits

2008-11-27T07:21:00.000-08:00

Finally, an update! The past month has not been really much productive for me so I have nothing really to blog about. Let’s face it. This industry has not been spared from the crisis. People who once put their trust into the strongest of the strongest financial institutions suddenly saw that foundation rock. And rock hard it did!

Since I haven’t really produced much this contest month, and nothing insightful has happened, I have been diverting myself into internet marketing, but that’s another story. But enough of that and as the month again comes to an end, let me share some events that took place.

Fringe benefits: Free Blood Test

Since I started being a life insurance agent, my colleagues have always been emphasizing the ingredient in staying long in this career: relationship. Indeed how true it is. Just recently, I presented to one of my servicing clients, a doctor in one of a government hospital of increasing her life insurance coverage, a Ps. 500,000.00 Sun Flexilink with an added rider of Critical Illness Benefit for Ps. 250,000.00. I positioned it as a savings plan for her. Needless to say, she liked the idea especially when I told her we can use the dividends from her existing policy to pay for part of her premiums amounting to Ps. 16,000++. She loved it!

However, she is to undergo a hysterectomy this coming December to remove her Myoma. I immediately consulted with the underwriter and it was suggested to wait after the operation to be certain that it is benign. I was disappointed but I have to put the interest of the client first and so we wait. But I didn’t leave the place empty handed.

After discussing some medical issues, she suggested I take a blood test to see if my body is in good shape. Boasting that I am a healthy specimen, I agreed. Best part of it was she told me, “Akong bahala sa iyo kasi mabait ka.” And so she proceeded to fill out a form and indicated the tests that were to be included. Wow! I was surprised indeed. I may not get the sale yet but indeed I have established a solid relationship with this doctor. The event inspired me to strengthen our relationship even more in the future.

Seminar reivew 2: Pesos and Sense: Weather Proofing Your Personal Finance

2008-10-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

Question: What's better than attending a financial literacy seminar with one of the country's top motivational speakers?

Answer: It's attending a financial literacy seminar that has the three (note: three) of the country's top motivational speakers!

And they are (drum roll):
1. Chinkee Tan
2. Randell Tiongson
3. Francis Kong

The event boasts to be the top personal finance event of 2008 and guess what? It did live up to the expectation and way beyond it! The deliveries and presentations were mixed of theories, applications and best of all, humor.

While I have only been in the career for two and half years, my knowledge about the financial industry, through trainings, conventions and seminars, is comparable to the more seasoned advisers. Nevertheless, I still picked up several ideas (not just a thing or two) from the three speakers. And let me share some of them:

-Play now, pay later; Pay now, play later
Chinkee was referring to prioritizing savings first before indulging in luxuries. Being a life underwriter which continually advocate saving and investing as young as possible, this is a very powerful phrase which I can use to convince my clients to start a saving and investment plan as soon as possible.

-Invest early, invest wisely, invest regularly
The prescription of Randell for financial independence. Start accumulating as young as possible and invest that prudently based on your risk tolerance and developed that discipline and habit. Missing one of the three I believe, will turn your glorious days ahead to a living hell. Now you don't want to go through that would you?

-It's not bad to have too much money; But it's bad for money to have you
The society complains that the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer but upon closer examination, these rich people, the reason why their wealth grows exponentially is because they control their money and not the other way around!

Francis further mentioned the reason God wants us to give is to have room to receive more. I couldn't agree more. The rich knows that money is not everything (but is as important as oxygen, Francis kidded). That is why the reaction of the losers with money is, "Pera yan!", while the rich, "Pera lang yan.".

Further references of bliblical wisdom on money and possessions, which has over 2,000 teachings, can be found in:
-Proverbs 13:7 Check your lifestyle
-Proverbs 28:19 Cultivating discipline
-Ephesians 4:24 Devloping the right perspective
-Romans 13:8 Be debt free

Pesos and Sense definitely neutralized whatever aggravation I suffered from the previous seminar I attended (I'm not exaggerating). Furthermore, this was a great reprieval from the on-going financial crisis. My only recommendation is that a similar event be held in a weekend. I'm sure more people will definitely attend.

To Francis, Randell and Chinkee, thank you very much for sharing your valuable knowledge to all of us.

Philippines's Own Black Monday

2008-10-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

Black Mondays are now becoming popular and seems like our very own PSE wants to join the trend which is very unfortunate for us.

The disastrous trading days are nothing new to Wall Street:
-Dow Jones dropped 508 points 22.6% on October 19, 1987, the largest percentage dropped in history;
-Following a failed $700billion bailout, Dow Jones plummeted 777 points or 6.98%, the largest point drop in history
-A week after, Dow Jones was not contented and it crashed another 670 points.

And so on the (un)eventful day of October 27, 2008. The PSEi lost 239points or 12% decline in a day. This brought our index to a four-year low and recorded a new largest single day drop (i think). The last time the index dropped more than 200 points was the China market crashed last February. But hey, the index was a 3,300 level and so the percentage decline wasn't as significant as it was now. Arrghhh!

So much for the resiliency of our stock market. Comparative to other Asian indices, we are still doing better surprisingly even with the likes of the Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Singapore's Straight Times Index. But still, its not a consolation.

Relative to the crash, Sun Life's Prosperity Balanced Fund and Equity Fund only dropped 4.6% and 7.35% while the Variable Universal Life Balanced and Equity Fund declined by 5.25% and 8.21% respectively.

Prudent fund management indeed works wonders for the investors.

Five Insurance Questions You Should Ask

2008-10-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Article courtesy of Yahoo Finance. These questions are what prospects should ponder first before taking out a life insurance policy. For my fellow underwriters, these are the questions we should ask our prospects. We will sound more like an "adviser".

There is no geographic difference for a life insurance. It works the same way in the United States as it is in the Philippines or the tiny island of Timbuktu.

http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/105490/Five-Life-Insurance-Questions-You-Should-Ask

Seminar reivew 1

2008-10-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

I have been debating on whether or not I'll push through with this review. For one, I don't have any intention of lambasting organizations especially one that helps life insurance agents out there. But on the other hand, I just can't contain my disappointment on the recent seminar they hosted. To address both concerns, I'll just refrain from naming any names lest I be accused of being unprofessional and banned from the industry. Sounds like showbiz.

Last Friday, I attended a seminar hosted by one of the organizations in the industry. This seminar was very timely in the midst of the financial crisis going on and I commend the organization for that. Needless to say, I was pretty much excited to attend this seminar as I have been weighed down by the pressure of portfolio management. My portfolio and my mom's to be exact.

Disappointment 1
The first speaker, a high ranking executive in an insurance company discussed how we can deal with the current crisis. Alright! I wasn't expecting any less though. However, I realized half of his presentations were in Scriptures! Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind scriptures but if I wanted to hear about bible verses, I would have gone to a church instead. They don't even charge me for listening to that.

Disappointment 2
Second speaker was a consistent MDRT from a reputable insurance company. He was supposed to present selling the Variable Universal Life Insurance product. Note, this IS an insurance product, and not an investment as how he positioned it in his presentation. We were already told by the management that we as life underwriters should not misrepresent on our products and therefore not selling the VUL as an investment because at the end of the day, the VUL is still a life insurance product governed and regulated by the Insurance Commission. Why is this speaker saying otherwise???

The rest of his presentations were so basic that all insurance agents, prior to being coded underwent the trainings he was sharing with us! In short, its something all of us should know already! Dang! I paid good money for something I myself can present???

Disappointment 3

My most expected part of the seminar turned out to be the most disappointing of all. When snacks were served, I only got an ensaymada and an b0ttled Nestea. Don't get me wrong, I won't complain about the food if I paid only Php 100. But I paid much much more than that and this is what we participants only get? Arrgghh!

I didn't finish the seminar as I was already much pissed. They should have screened the presentations of the speakers prior to the event. They know their audience more and they could probably have given recommendations on how the presentations can be improved. This wasn't the first time I experienced this and the first one wasn't less frustrating.

The only bright spot about the whole ordeal is that I didn't waste good money on being a member. Thank God for that.

Blog Launching

2008-10-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ah...my very own blog, finally! For months now I have thoughts of starting one and it is not only today that I get to finally start one.

I'm Ken and I am a Life Underwriter for Sun Life Financials. I put up this blog in order to document my career as a life insurance agent. I have been in the industry for two and a half years now and I must say I am enjoying my work.

My blog will talk about my activities as a life underwriter and this includes, client calls, closed sales, case studies among others. I will also add upcoming seminars as well as reviews of books, articles, seminars which I may find useful or utterly worthless.

One disclaimer though, everything written here are my opinions only. I will not be responsible for any consequences of your actions that have been derived from the articles written here.

With that said, I welcome you to The Diary of a Life Underwriter.