Insight | March 28, 2016

Empire Life President and CEO Mark Sylvia and Chairman of the BoardDuncan Jackman will open the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. to celebrate the listing of the company’s preferred shares on the TSX.  You can watch the countdown live here or on BNN as they sound the siren on Tuesday morning.

We’ve announced our 2015 financial results. Read thenews release. Highlights include
·  strong earnings with an overall shareholders’ net income of $108.6 million in 2015, versus $98.7 million in 2014.
·  Assets under management (including segregated fund and mutual fund assets) increased 5% from 2014 to reach $14.5 billion
·  Our MCCSR as at December 31, 2015 was 201%

Empire Life has reached an important milestone. Our new Guaranteed Investment Funds and Class Plus 2.1 products, launched just a year ago, passed $1 billion in new assets! Thank you for your continued support - we couldn’t have done it without you!

Our handy money facts sheet has everything you need to talk to clients about RRSPs, TSFAs and taxes. Just download it to share or hand out.
English version > 
English (Quebec) version >

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We have updated our Life and Health Insurance Application (D-0082) and the Personal Health Interview (PHI) questions, based on Advisor and customer feedback. See the information circular for more details.

We have updated our Investment Illustrator featuring Class Plus 2.1 to version 2.5. Updates to the Investment Illustrator include:

Sequence of Returns table updated to include 2015 returns
CANSIM (Canadian Socioeconomic Information Management) rates updated

The updated version of the Investment Illustrator can be accessed from theSoftware Downloads section of our website.

Empire Life is pleased to announce that the current dividend scale interest rate for the 2016-2017 year will remain unchanged at 6.50%. This applies to the dividend scale interest rate for both EstateMax and Optimax plans.

Deposits to a registered plan received within the first sixty (60) days of 2016 are eligible as a tax deduction for the 2015 or 2016 taxation year. A tax receipt will be issued stating that this deposit was made in the first 60 days of the year. This year, the deadline for a 2015 tax receipt is Monday, February 29, 2016.

Read Information Circular 2016-01 for important 2015 tax reporting and RRSP season 2016 cutoff dates for all Empire Life investment plans.

Our recently revised Best Practices Handbook(formerly Distribution Partner Reference Guide) is now available in the Compliance section of the Advisor website.  This Handbook will provide advisors will a summary of industry best practices and regulatory requirements and includes many links to resources that will assist advisors in meeting their requirements.

Advisors have been speaking out about Fast & Full, our easy-to-use, online life insurance application process that helps them save time, see more clients, and reduce paperwork.

To hear first hand what this “Fan of Fast & Full” is saying, check out this short video of Brock Schultz, Riverside Financial Group."

When delivering a policy, advisors must make sure the information noted on the application and related signed declarations is still complete and correct, and has​ not changed since the application was completed. All insureds must confirm whether there have been changes in their health or any other information previously provided, that could affect the underwriting decision. Such changes must be noted on the Policy Delivery Receipt for additional underwriting ​review. If there have been changes, the advisor should not deliver the policy.
By signing the delivery receipt, all owners and insureds acknowledge that all statements and answers provided on the application and delivery documentation, including the policy delivery receipt, ​are true as of the date of policy delivery. If any of the statements are incomplete or untrue, the insurance coverage may not be valid and a claim could be denied.​

Our Mailroom has been hard at work mailing the tax slips and the mailing is complete.You can expect to receive your T4A and Releve tax slips shortly.

Our new Emblem video makes it easy to engage with clients and prospects. Available in a segregated fund version and mutual fund version, it explains the benefits of Emblem in terms your clients will understand and appreciate. You pick up the conversation from there!

Clients need to submit banking change requests at least 10 days prior to the draw date. This ensures that the request is completed before the next withdrawal goes through.