Sales Commission Versus Product Performance in Financial Services Buchkatalog

This book reports a study of universal life insurance as a case study for analyzing the tradeoff of selling commission against product performance, using policies that have the feature of varying sales commission by using a noncommissionable term rider in the policy. This study first looks at whether the use of the term rider has a statistically significant effect on the policy''s performance over the long term. The study reveals no statistcal significance, when measured against other independent variables. The study then performs a discounted cash flow analysis of four different case profiles to determine what improvements in performance a policyholder could expect given various degrees of commission reduction. The results indicate that there is a tradeoff, but predictability is problemmatic. The study is a cautionary tale to agents and clients who assume any predictable result from commission reductions in these products, and leaves the reader with the question: Who then is getting the better part of the negotiation over commissions in these products? The agent, the client, or the insurance carrier itself?