Webinar explores how behavioural insurance can help advisors grow their business

Desmond Devoy of Insurance Business Canada, previews an upcoming Key Media webinar featuring Manulife’s Michael Dawson, director, Vitality sales and distribution, will discuss the first-in-Canada program.

There’s more to life than money, and more to insurance than just premium cost.

The Manulife Vitality program, the subject of an upcoming webinar, intends to see insureds getting proactive when it comes to their health and overall wellness.

And, back to finances, it can help with the bottom line for an insured’s premiums. It is a health and wellness program, unique in Canada, that is included in the company’s life insurance products that allows members to save on their premiums and get rewarded for doing healthy things.

Find out more: Don’t miss the Manulife Vitality webinar on February 28.

Insurance is evolving and requires a more comprehensive approach, with a stronger focus on building relationships with clients. The basics, like product information and quotes, may be available online. But they will need an insurance advisor to help them navigate the waters, and help clients find programs that best meet their needs.

While the welfare of the client is always front and centre, there are benefits to insurance advisors as well when it comes to creating a deeper relationship:

Broader market appeal
More satisfied clients
Stronger relationships, leading to better business outcomes

The Manulife Vitality program will also help increase client retention and business growth. Since it is unique on the Canadian market, it will bring with it market retention and will help advisors reach new markets through better engagement.

Behavioural insurance is the future of insurance, helping Canadians to live a longer, healthier life.

Keeping up with longer lives

Life expectancy, for both sexes, reached 82.1 years1 in 2019, and will continue to rise in the years to come2. By 2040, seniors are expected to account for almost 25% of the population3. Such longevity would seem like a dream for generations gone by.

But there are challenges that come with that longevity. A person aged 65 can expect to live an additional 21 years. However, research suggests that only 15 of those 21 years will be lived in full health3. Chronic diseases leave 73% of seniors living with some degree of disability3.

Even among non seniors, adult Canadians over the age of 20, about 44% live with a chronic disease4. All told, 60% of all deaths in Canada are the result of four chronic diseases3 – cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

However, these types of diseases can be delayed or mitigated through changes in behaviour.

Some of the changes, espoused by the Vitality program, are not new (leading a tobacco-free life, with moderate alcohol consumption.) Other steps can include getting vaccines, having a healthy diet and exercise. Health screening, early detection and prompt intervention, are also part of the program.

The program offers life insurance products tied to health promotion and provides clients with attractive incentives for adopting an active lifestyle, access to a broad range of health and wellness promotion options and value through earned premium savings and rewards. This move from static to dynamic pricing offers the potential for more efficiently priced premiums that can result in savings for the policyholder.

And the Manulife Vitality program works5!

11% of members had reduced their BMI
23% had improved their cholesterol levels
28% had improved their glucose level
29% had lowered their blood pressure
82% of members said they were satisfied with the program – a measure that continues to climb each year

Join Manulife’s Michael Dawson, director, Vitality sales and distribution, as he talks more about this innovative product during her upcoming February 28 webinar.

Founded in 1881, Manulife is the largest insurance company in Canada.

Legal disclaimer:

1 OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris

2 Statistics Canada. The Daily. Reductions in life expectancy directly associated with COVID-19, 2020.

3 Government of Canada. Aging and chronic diseases: A profile of Canadian seniors.

4 Government of Canada. Prevalence of Chronic Diseases Among Adult Canadians.

5 Source: Program Member data as of February 28, 2021

Insurance products are issued by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company. The Vitality Group Inc., in association with The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, provides the Manulife Vitality program. The Manulife Vitality program is available with select policies. Vitality is a trademark of The Vitality Group International Inc., and is used by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and its affiliates under license. Vitality is a trademark of The Vitality Group International, Inc., and is used by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and its affiliates under license.

Manulife & Stylized M Design, and Stylized M Design are trademarks of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and are used by it, and by its affiliates under license.