Is the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation for you?

With the many different designations that are open to financial advisors or planners in Canada, it can safely be said that anyone in this profession is very fortunate. These designations provide finance professionals with a dizzying array of opportunities to enhance their skills and expertise.

And although it’s true that financial advisors become highly competent in lending their financial expertise given enough time, some may become weary of being generalists in the financial services industry.

Finance professionals will be pleased to discover that they can pursue their desired field of study and make their practice more specialized via certain designations. One such designation that can allow advisors to offer a more specialized service is that of Chartered Life Underwriter or CLU in Canada.

In this article, Wealth Professional tackles the many questions finance professionals may have about Canada’s CLU designation. We’ll discuss what is required to earn the title, the time it takes, whether the title is worth the effort, and more.

Introduction to Chartered Life Underwriter

The most basic question is, what is the Chartered Life Underwriter or CLU, and what does it do?

In simple terms, the CLU is a professional title for people who specialize in estate planning and life insurance.

The Chartered Life Underwriter is widely recognized as the gold standard of those who offer services for insurance planning. Most certified financial planners or CFPs opt to take the CLU designation to add to their financial planning expertise.

What is the purpose of the CLU designation?

This is an advanced designation that expands on the CFP education program. What this title does for generalist advisors is it makes them into elite professional financial advisors who stand out from the rest. The core curriculum of the program for CLU certification ensures that advisors meet established standards for competent practice. It is also one of the oldest certifications, going as far back as the early 1920s.

Chartered Life Underwriter titleholders are expected to be well-versed in handling a wide range of life insurance planning and risk management issues for clients. The CLU program encompasses ethics and in-depth knowledge when advising on life insurance, business planning, and estate planning.

The CLU title signifies a higher level of knowledge and specialized skills in complex wealth and estate-transfer markets. CLU designation-holders can count themselves as among the few advisors who can help Canadians in wealth creation and preservation.

Speaking of the CLU’s uniqueness, here’s one in Canada who shares their experience as a CLU:

CLU designation requirements

Those who wish to become CLUs must fulfill certain work requirements. To qualify, candidates must have at least four years of experience in the financial services industry. Candidates who already have these designations typically meet CLU requirements:

• Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
• Chartered Accountant (CA)
• Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA)
• Certified Management Accountant (CMA)

Anyone who holds these designations can apply for some course exemptions.

Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) candidates can go on to take the Advocis Financial Planning Fundamentals Program for CLU Certification and the three subsequent courses. They must also abide by a code of professional conduct.

How to get CLU designation

Aspiring CLUs start by taking the fundamentals program for the CLU designation. This title is conferred by Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada.

To earn this designation, candidates must successfully complete:

• The CLU prerequisite course, the Advocis Financial Planning Fundamentals Program
• CLU Designation Course 255
• CLU Designation Course 256
• CLU Designation Course 257

Here are some details on each designation course:

Course 255 – Advanced Courses in Tax & Law for Personal Planning

Course 255 mainly focuses on wealth transfer and estate planning strategies for individuals and families. Descriptions of law and tax structures lead to discussions on applicable financial planning approaches for individuals and families. Learning and testing objectives in the course include:

• using life insurance and living benefits to manage personal risks and wealth preservation
• creating trusts and other instruments to ensure orderly wealth transfer
• special tax reporting obligations of individuals who enter or leave Canada
• client objectives and responsibilities at death including tax and legal obligations
• how to reconcile tax and legal obligations with clients’ wealth transfer and estate planning wishes

How to take course 255

Advocis allows candidates to take this course online. CLU candidates may complete the course at their own pace within a 120-day period. The average time for the course is 55 hours, and the passing grade for this course is 60%.

Course 255 prerequisites

To take Course 255, candidates must successfully complete the Advocis Financial Planning Fundamentals Program for CLU Certification.

Course 255 features

As you go through the process of obtaining CLU certification, here’s what you can expect from this course:

• course content in PDF format
• grades tool to track your progression through the course
• practice course exam
• ReadSpeaker text-to-speech tool
• self-study with 120-day window for course completion

Course 256 – Tax & Legal for Businesses and Their Owners

The next course focuses on wealth transfer and estate planning strategies for businesses and their owners. Learning and testing objectives include:

• describing the legal and tax implications of sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations
• tax planning strategies and issues for businesses arising from the sale, transfer, or death of a principal
• tax complexities arising from corporate operations and activities
• how to identify, apply, and synthesize appropriate income tax techniques for corporate restructuring
• tax-efficient planning and wealth transfer of a business upon retirement or death of principals

How to take course 256

As with Course 255, Advocis allows candidates to take this course online. CLU candidates should likewise complete the course at their own pace within a 120-day period; the average time for the course is also 55 hours.

Course 256 prerequisites

Candidates may advance to Course 256 by successfully completing the previous CLU designation Course 255. 

Course 256 features

After completing Course 255, here’s what you can expect from Course 256. The features are similar but with the appropriate content:

• course content in PDF format
• grades tool to track your progression through the course
• practice course exam
• ReadSpeaker text-to-speech tool
• self-study with 120-day window for course completion

Course 257 – Advanced Estate Planning

The final course rounds off the previous courses by helping advisors hone their estate planning skills.

In this phase, they learn the details of working with a client to develop a comprehensive estate plan that takes their objectives and obligations into account. Learning and testing objectives include:

• analyzing the client’s financial status and overall estate planning objectives
• explaining the pros and cons of different estate planning strategies to clients
• comparing and presenting differences of estate planning strategies to clients
• considering appropriate planning strategies via interviews and testamentary trusts
• assessing the need for life insurance that supports the client’s estate plan
• recommending alternative insurance strategies

How to take Course 257

Unlike Courses 255 and 256, Course 257 is offered on a semestral basis. The registration period was designed to allow candidates to complete all course requirements and prepare for the exam. This consists of readings, case studies, and assignments, culminating in the course exam.

If a candidate missed the registration period, they can make a late registration request after the registration deadline. Candidates can email their request to [email protected]. Should their registration get approved, they must pay a late registration fee of $150 apart from the original fee and applicable taxes.

Course 257 prerequisites

Candidates may advance to the final Course 257 by successfully passing the previous CLU designation Courses 255 and 256.  

Course 257 features

Once you have reached the final stage of obtaining the CLU title, here’s what to expect from Course 257:

• Advocis Course Book in PDF format
• required textbooks: Estate Planning with Life Insurance, 9th Edition by Steve Meldrum and Wealth Planning Strategies for Canadians 2024 by Christine Van Cauwenberghe
• practice course exam
• grades tool to keep track of your progress through the course
• ReadSpeaker text-to-speech tool

Course 257 completion requirements

The final Course 257 consists completion of:

• two written assignments based on case studies (40% of overall grade)
• module on Ethics & Professional Standards (20% of overall grade)
• final online proctored exam (40% of overall grade)
• candidates must have a grade of at least 60% to pass

After successfully passing all the required courses, CLU candidates must fill up the CLU Designation Holder’s Agreement form. They must then submit this to the IAFE or what industry insiders call “The Institute” before claiming the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation.

CLU Courses Pricing

CLU Continuing Education requirements

Before considering the CLU, advisors should consider that the CLU has requirements to maintain the title. As with many other similar finance-related designations, staying as a Chartered Life Underwriter requires Continuing Education (CE) credits.

How long does it take to get the CLU designation?

The time it takes to get the CLU title can vary from a few weeks to a few years. There is a deadline for taking and passing all the courses.

There is a 120-day window for each course, but there’s a four-year deadline to complete the courses and take the final exam. The clock starts on your day of registration.

Is getting the CLU designation worth it?

The simple truth is that there is no definitive yes or no answer to this question. Whether the CLU designation is worth it depends on the individual finance professional. To know if it’s worth the effort (and cost), weigh the pros and cons of the CLU for you, and question whether you can and intend to apply the knowledge from its course material.

Consider also that you will have to take the time to get Continuing Education (CE) credits to maintain the designation, so be sure that you can commit to this requirement. Generally, however, if a finance professional wants to specialize in insurance, then the CLU designation can be worth the effort.

The CLU designation is a revered and prestigious title that many finance professionals hold in high regard. By obtaining this designation, you can be an expert at providing effective solutions for individuals, business owners, and professionals with sound life insurance and estate planning strategies.

This in turn can help your clients with their wealth creation and estate preservation objectives.

Is the CLU designation one that you intend to pursue? Let us know why or why not in the comments.