An insurance advisor’s job isn’t easy but one expert who has seen action on both sides of the border is confident those operating in Canada have some great partners to work with and it’s important to remind clients of this
Canadian insurance carriers often get a bad rap for being too conservative, lacking innovation and under-performing their U.S. counterparts. Former Montreal resident Ray Digby is a cross-border insurance specialist based in Livonia, Michigan, understands the business on both sides of the border, and disagrees with this perspective.
“The Canadian market is the best market for a Canadian resident to get coverage,” Digby told LHP. "A key exception would be the scenario where the insurance liability is denominated in US dollars.
It’s important that advisors here in Canada remember this. Sure, there will always be issues about underwriting but in the final analysis, Digby believes, Canada rates highly.
Having spent the last two decades in Metro Detroit as an insurance broker, Digby and partner Paul MacKinnon of AmCan Financial become very familiar with U.S. insurers and while it might be the instinctive Canadian reaction to think insurers south of the border are better because they’re bigger (Sun Life isn’t exactly small), the truth is Canada’s insurers generally can hold their own against their U.S. peers.
That said it’s factually true to say the global insurance market revolves around the U.S.
“The U.S. market is the global centre of life insurance,” Digby says. “It provides market liquidity for residents in over 80 countries who either want US dollar coverage, or can't get sufficient coverage in their home markets
“The Canadian market is the best market for a Canadian resident to get coverage,” Digby told LHP. "A key exception would be the scenario where the insurance liability is denominated in US dollars.
It’s important that advisors here in Canada remember this. Sure, there will always be issues about underwriting but in the final analysis, Digby believes, Canada rates highly.
Having spent the last two decades in Metro Detroit as an insurance broker, Digby and partner Paul MacKinnon of AmCan Financial become very familiar with U.S. insurers and while it might be the instinctive Canadian reaction to think insurers south of the border are better because they’re bigger (Sun Life isn’t exactly small), the truth is Canada’s insurers generally can hold their own against their U.S. peers.
That said it’s factually true to say the global insurance market revolves around the U.S.
“The U.S. market is the global centre of life insurance,” Digby says. “It provides market liquidity for residents in over 80 countries who either want US dollar coverage, or can't get sufficient coverage in their home markets
