1. How will PPI support me in growing my business?

PPI has national services delivered locally. We tailor support to your individual needs and we’ll support your sales process from end-to-end. When you need specialized insurance expertise, sales ideas, knowledge development, or tools to power your practice, our experts are there, and at our expense, not yours. We will work with you to provide the best solutions for your clients, and our admin support team will help you with contracting, submitting apps, and managing your inforce block. We offer all of the major insurance company contracts, provide access to a full range of insurance products (life, living benefits, annuities, segregated funds, robo-advice, group benefits) and technology tools.

2. What compensation will I receive as a PPI advisor?

PPI takes a holistic view of your business across product lines. We will have an individual conversation with you and ensure your compensation is competitive. Additionally, our teams will help get you familiar with using the best digital tools, so that you move quickly through the sales process, submit your new business always in good order, and get paid faster.

3. Does PPI offer a supportive community for advisors?

We’ll stay in touch with you often, remain as connected as you need us to be, and invite you to our weekly events, and larger conferences where you can meet other advisors. At PPI, people are our priority and we measure our worth in terms of the trust and relationships we build with our advisors and employees. We want to earn your trust by solving the issues and delivering what you need. We believe in supporting both your business and your personal growth to help you shape your dreams into legacies.

4. Does PPI provide access to Wealth products and support?

PPI has a robust wealth offering (segregated funds, a robo-advice platform and private wealth referral arrangements) as well as a dedicated wealth sales team to support your investment practice needs and strategy. We offer a suite of related planning tools to help you with practice management and growing your business in this area.

5. How will you expedite the onboarding process so I can continue to do business with minimal disruption?

Our Sales and Contracting teams will help you transition as quickly and smoothly as possible. Our Sales team will start by completing an onboarding checklist with you to obtain all your necessary information to ensure your onboarding process with PPI goes smoothly. Next, our Contracting team will help get you set up on the insurance industry’s contracting and compliance system (APEXA) where your PPI contract and all your carrier contracts will be set up. Finally, the Sales team will set you up with advisor website access where you will see your new business (upon submission of your first case), provide you with training, and answer all your questions. Getting you up and running with PPI can take between 5 days and four weeks, depending on your timely submission of required information.

6. What is the process to transfer my existing book of business to PPI?

During the onboarding process, our Sales team will complete a checklist with you to identify the carriers with whom you have contracts, and do business. Our Contracting team will then help you get set up on the insurance industry’s contracting and compliance system (APEXA) where your PPI contract and all your carrier contracts will be set up, including submitting transfer requests to move your business. Once the carriers are ready, transfers of your existing book of business will take place as quickly as possible in an effort to keep disruption to your business to a minimum. This transfer process takes between two to six weeks, depending on your timely submission of required information and carriers’ response times.

7. Does PPI provide support for business transition, teaming, and succession?

Yes. PPI can connect you with other advisors who can help you grow your practice via buying, selling, merging, partnering, business continuity, or succession. Collaborating with other advisors creates immediate revenue opportunities, mentorship and coaching opportunities, and can also lay the foundation for eventual succession.

8. Does PPI provide marketing services such as a website for my business?

Yes. We can provide you with access to easily build your own custom-branded site where you can share client articles (written inhouse by PPI experts) to social media or via email, to give you a method of conducting content marketing and assist you with collecting new client leads. We will also provide you with access to technology tools such as carrier software, needs analysis tools, client presentations, and calculators. Plus, our Sales team will help you with product selection, company selection, and technology support.

9. What computer and technology services and support will be available to me?

If you and your team need computers, PPI can refer you to advisor computing specialists, NPC DataGuard, who will set you up with a network of secure managed computers, advanced data security, data migration, and 24/7 support services, for a monthly fee under a preferred pricing program. Additionally, PPI will provide you with access to technology tools such as carrier software, needs analysis tools, client presentations, calculators, your own branded client article website for social media, and more, at no additional cost to you.

10. Do I have access to office space where I can meet with clients or conduct my everyday business?

A number of our local offices have facilities, which you should book in advance, for occasional meetings with clients (not for everyday business). Additionally, you can drop off your documents and mail at any of our local offices. Note: our offices are currently at limited capacity only, and not available for meetings, until further notice from public health authorities.

11. What guidance does PPI’s Compliance department provide?

Our compliance team will help you assess whether your practice is compliant, and help you build a strong compliance program with mandatory and general practices to serve your clients’ best interests. We will provide guidelines and sample documents with respect to needs-based selling, advisor disclosure, anti-money laundering, privacy, and advertising.

12. What influence might your parent company, iA Financial Group, have on my business?

PPI is a subsidiary of iA Financial Group but we work independently and are managed by our own executive management team. iA is committed to preserving our independence as a marketing organization that represents and promotes the products of a variety of insurers. We firmly believe that advisors have the right and responsibility to access a range of products and services across the industry, and to recommend the best fit for your clients’ situations. PPI is a leading and valued distributor for the majority of Canadian insurance companies. As a service provider representing various insurance companies, PPI is mindful of the sensitivity of client information of the various insurers. Therefore, PPI assures our Advisors that our Advisors’ client lists and client information related to business activity with individual insurance companies will not be shared with any other insurance company or companies, including the iA Financial Group. Each insurance company only has access to the client information related to the business that Advisors undertake with them and that they already hold.

13. Does PPI provide me with professional development by way of continuing education, seminars, workshops, and other events? And are they CE-accredited?

Yes. We have weekly product training sessions, semi-annual symposiums (focused on practice management, cross-selling, market opportunities), market-based modularized courses to build your technical know-how and sales confidence (via our Knowledge Program), a three-day exclusive conference every two years in Kananaskis, Alberta focused on advanced planning, and self-directed online courses via our Advisor Education Portal. Nearly all of these events are CE-accredited.

14. Does PPI provide conferences or rewards for production?

Yes. We have a three-day exclusive conference every two years in Kananaskis, Alberta for qualifying advisors working in the high net-worth market. This event focuses on advanced planning with unique insights, in-depth analysis, case studies and advanced sales concepts related to current tax and estate planning topics. Additionally, our top producers across all markets qualify for membership in our Advantage Program which provides front-of-the-line support, special offers and discounts to educational resources and business tools that help you advance your expertise, build your sales confidence, promote your business, and save you time and money.