SS&C Technologies Boosts Wealth Solutions with New Insurance Integration
SS&C Technologies Holdings has enhanced its Black Diamond Wealth Solutions platform by integrating tools for term life insurance quoting and policy review, in collaboration with DPL Financial Partners.
This significant development launched as part of the Annuities & Insurance Marketplace (AIM) underscores the evolving landscape of insurance services for financial advisors. By expanding its services, SS&C aims to streamline insurance management for registered investment advisors (RIAs), allowing them to integrate insurance offerings more holistically with other financial planning elements. This integration addresses historical challenges where insurance products were often detached from the wider client portfolio.
A New Era of Integrated Insurance Solutions
The platform now includes two new partners: Jackson National Life Insurance Company and Protective Life Insurance Company, expanding the total number of integrated carriers to seven. Notable partnerships with Allianz Life, MassMutual, and Pacific Life remain central to the platform. Jackson National provides specialized products for RIAs, incorporating tax-deferred growth and protected income strategies within retirement plans. Protective Life Insurance offers an array of annuity and life insurance options serving both accumulation and protection planning needs.
In discussing the enhancement, Steve Leivent, Senior Vice President and Co-Head of SS&C Wealth & Investment Technologies, emphasized that advisors would benefit by integrating insurance management into their existing workflows. This integration facilitates term life insurance quotes and detailed policy reviews, allowing advisors to pinpoint potential coverage gaps, a capability which greatly enhances client servicing by aligning insurance strategies with broader financial goals.
Key Tools and Their Impact
The newly introduced tools empower advisors to compare rates from highly-rated insurance carriers thoroughly. A critical feature is the policy review capability, which enables advisors to assess existing client policies to identify and address potential shortfalls in coverage. These tools build upon AIM's current offerings, which include fee-based annuities and diverse insurance products such as life, disability, and long-term care insurance.
- Term life insurance quoting from top carriers
- Policy review feature to assess coverage gaps
- Integration with existing advisory workflows
- Support for both accumulation and protection planning
Industry Trends and Future Outlook
Alison Reed from Jackson National highlighted the growing demand for adaptable solutions to better prepare clients for retirement. Concurrently, Lauren Drapeau from Protective Life Insurance noted that the platform enhancements allow advisors to deepen protection strategies within broader planning discussions. These updates come on the heels of prior innovations by SS&C, such as the legacy annuity review tool that facilitates transitioning commission-based contracts into advisory assets, mirroring industry trends of rising fee-based annuity sales.
According to insights from LIMRA, the prevalence of fee-based annuities has doubled since 2020, driven by technology advancements aiding RIAs. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs Asset Management's recent Annuity Industry Survey recognized substantial growth potential within the RIA channel, with many insurers forecasting this sector as a leading growth driver over the next three years. As artificial intelligence progressively transforms client education, it holds the potential to expand annuity adoption and enhance the insurance advisory field significantly.
"Advisors can now expand client services by integrating insurance management with financial planning, enhancing the client experience across the board."– Steve Leivent, SS&C Wealth & Investment Technologies