Social
At Honan, we’re big believers in growing an exceptional brand, business and reputation through exceptional people. People with market-leading expertise, proven results and a fierce commitment to serving their clients, but also people with creative, considered points of view and a willingness to share them. These are our challenger champions - the ones who progress, lead and succeed by doing things a little differently, delivering on promise, and proving their passion through outstanding performance. In this series, we get to know them a little better; picking their brains for exclusive industry/category insights, future predictions, and the secrets behind their success.
.jpg)
I’ve been at Honan for seven years now. It was my first corporate job following years as a builder’s laborer while I finished my studies. I completed both an international business and financial planning degree, and like most people who studied finance, I thought my career was headed to Wall Street, New York. I remember my criteria for my first corporate job were that it’d be in the city so I could catch the train in, and I wanted to wear a suit. It’s not how my journey went after getting a job at an insurance brokerage although I do get to wear a suit every day. With no family ties to the insurance or financial services industry, I just took an opportunity that was offered, and haven’t looked back since.
During my time at Honan, I’ve worked in different roles within the Life Insurance team. Starting in client services, moving to para-planning, and the last 3.5 years providing Life Insurance advice. Honan has been a great support throughout my seven-year journey, providing a platform and pathway for me to succeed. The most recent opportunity was relocating to Sydney to evolve our Life Insurance presence here. Honan is actively seeking growth through acquisitions, and we’ve recently closed our first acquisition in Sydney.
Life Insurance, like all insurance, is about mitigating risk. It focuses on insuring the economic loss of an individual if they can’t work due to illness, disability, or death to ensure individual and family financial objectives can still be met.
I am passionate about this area of insurance as I get to meet great people and build personal relationships both internally at Honan and externally with clients, referral partners, and stakeholders. We educate clients on the different Life Insurance products, tax benefits, and premium structures. The peace of mind we create by providing strategies to ensure financial objectives can be met if they are unable to earn an income continues to drive me day in day out.
Wealth protection is an area of financial well-being people are often less knowledgeable about. As a financial advisor, I give advice on strategies to mitigate financial loss for individuals and families. We all strive for financial freedom; however, the majority of people don’t reach that until later in life. Therefore implementing an appropriate Life Insurance strategy to outsource personal/financial risks is something every individual should consider. This includes income protection to ensure your most valuable asset, the ability to earn an income, is insured if you can’t work due to injury or illness. Being able to pay for mortgages, school fees, debts or medical treatments are other examples of financial objectives that can be met if tailored Life Insurance is in place.
For me, ‘good’ is about taking clients on a journey to educate and advise them on all strategies available so they can make an informed decision on how to meet their personal, family, and financial objectives. Life Insurance captures a broad range of people, from doctors and lawyers to teachers and builders and many others. The Life Insurance products don’t change, however, people’s personal circumstances (debt levels, income, financial dependents, financial objectives, etc.) differ. Where individuals might look to insure their ability to earn an income, a client with kids and a mortgage will need a more complex policy, meaning no two strategies are the same. In the end, a Life Insurance portfolio is only good if it matches your personal circumstances.
Life insurance is a responsibility, not a necessity.
Using a broker for your Life Insurance strategies provides many benefits like access to professionals, internal claims handling processes, tax strategies, superior product definitions, and more competitive premiums.
When you go direct to the market, you’re on your own with no professional guidance or advice. The process of buying insurance might be easier and quicker with minimal underwriting and inferior product definitions but if you have limited knowledge on the subject, it will likely result in gaps in your insurance strategy that you might not be aware of.
A key difference between buying life insurance direct and using a broker is the claims handling process. Buying direct means handling the claim by yourself. As a broker, we’re with our clients all the way, meaning in the event of a claim we liaise with the insurance company to get claims paid. The result is many positive news stories with claims being paid, providing financial support or freedom through an emotionally difficult time for clients and their families.
The Life Insurance process is unique in that we provide in-house service from start to finish. We handle the process from the initial client meeting to the implementation of the insurance strategy and we provide ongoing service.
For me, service is all about listening to my client’s needs. We offer annual reviews for our clients, with a strong emphasis on agile insurance strategies. This process moves away from the old set-and-forget mantra, where a client would implement a Life Insurance policy and not review it for years despite changes to personal circumstances. With changing debt levels, increased income, and additions to the family, all life events prompt a need to review a Life Insurance portfolio.
Building personal relationships and educating people on appropriate strategies to protect their financial objectives. I liken my job to ‘hosting a podcast’, with each client meeting being a new episode that gives insight into people’s life journeys, backgrounds, families, and career paths. One day I’m sitting in the boardroom with a CEO of an ASX-listed company, the next I’m at a professional athlete’s kitchen table or talking to mums and dads, and other days I’m with individuals wanting to understand strategies to protect their most important assets. I ask questions to understand their personal and financial circumstances and give appropriate advice based on their exposures. Everyone has a story to tell, and I enjoy listening!
Developing resilience has been really valuable as life insurance and personal risk management are topics that fall down people’s priority lists very quickly. I’m advising on products that provide no tangible value to people, and clients implement cover with the hope it never does materialise into a claim. It takes resilience to hear people say “no, not now, I don’t have time, it’s not at the top of my priority list”, because Life Insurance is a product that is sold and not bought.
Exercise and personal relationships are the things that energise and inspire me. I’m a true optimist and can’t live without exercise, whether it be running, riding, pilates, swimming, or walking. I’m reliant on it to function and it provides me with the right energy to do my job each day. I also find people fascinating so a lot of the time you’ll find me listening to podcasts on people’s stories.
