The sentence that should scare (or excite) every advisor

Last week I heard a sentence that stopped me mid-conversation.

Not a long sentence.

Just ten words.

“We’re building the insurance offering in-house at our firm.”

That was it.

But that sentence is the crack in the dam.

And when the dam goes, it’s not going to drip…it’s going to burst.

If you’re an advisor who eats off COIs (accountants, lawyers, tax teams)…

that sentence should make your heart beat a little faster.

Not out of fear, but awareness.

Because the next decade of our industry is about to look nothing like the previous one.

How It Started

(And why it matters more than most realize)

A large accounting firms in Canada.

Smart people.

Good brand recognition.

Deep relationships with business owners, lots of them.

Historically, when one of their clients needed insurance, they referred it out to an advisor.

Plain. Simple. Profitable for the advisor.

And then one day, someone asked a simple question:

“Why are we giving away insurance revenue?”

Not referring.

Not partnering.

Why not build the offering internally?

And when the answer was:

“We could, if we had someone to run it”…

They did.

They built their own insurance shop.

Hired internal insurance capacity.

And now instead of sending deals out the door, they’re keeping them.

That is the moment the game changed

This is a market signal.

When a major accounting firm moves into insurance revenue, other firms start watching.

Not today. Not tomorrow.

But the seed is planted.

And seeds grow.

Even if they stumble.

Even if half the accountants internally hate the idea.

Even if there’s internal politics and teething pains.

Because the logic is pure:

“We already have the relationship. Why give away 100% of insurance revenue?”

See the pattern?

Insurance → investments → planning → tax → discretionary PM → bundled ecosystem.

We’ve seen it already:

• Insurers buying MGAs

• MGAs chasing IIROC distribution

• Carriers creating internal planning teams

• Wealth management absorbing insurance offerings

• And now, accountants entering the ring

Everything is converging.

Everyone wants the full client wallet.

And advisors sit dead centre.

You, the independent advisor, are now the battlefield.

If the accountant controls the client relationship

and now has a way to monetize insurance…

They only need one move to remove you:

“We’ve got a preferred partner internally, we’ll handle the insurance.”

Gone.

No malice.

Just business.

Not tomorrow.

Not immediately.

But the long-term trajectory is unmistakable.

The same way travel agents disappeared slowly, then suddenly…

Advisors who depend on COI referrals without anchoring themselves into the client’s team risk getting quietly cut out of deals.

And nobody is talking about it.

Not carriers.

Not MGAs.

Not industry associations.

Because it’s uncomfortable.

And because the people who should be warning you don’t benefit by telling you.

Carriers win if accountants sell insurance.

MGAs win if accounts push volume through one distribution pipe.

Discretionary PM firms win if accountants refer wealth internally.

The only person who loses is the advisor who isn’t prepared.

Let me repeat that in plain English:

The future will reward advisors who build their own multidisciplinary teams

and eliminate advisors who rely on COIs without integrating them.

And here’s where things get interesting…

Some advisors are already seeing it.

The smart ones.

The ones who think 10–15 years ahead.

Not just next quarter’s premium.

They’re pulling accountants closer, into their model.

Not orbiting around them.

They’re creating:

• Internal tax resources (or fractional ones)

• Preferred estate lawyers

• One-stop discretionary portfolio management partners

• In-house family planning continuity systems

• Insurance + wealth + planning under one front door

Clients don’t want five professionals.

They want one solution.

The future belongs to advisors who become the quarterback, not the vendor.

When you can say:

“We have our own accountant, our own lawyer, our own PM bench, everything is integrated under one experience.”

You’re no longer “an option.”

You’re the default.

That’s power.

That’s defensibility.

That’s how you protect your revenue stream when accountants stop referring externally.

The Advisors Who Will Dominate the Next Decade

Are not the ones closing the biggest cases today.

It will be the ones who:

• Build teams instead of pipelines

• Create internal expertise instead of outsourcing everything

• Form ecosystems instead of referral lists

• Become mandatory instead of optional

Winning won’t be about knowledge.

Everyone is smart.

Winning won’t be about product.

Products are commodities.

Winning will come from infrastructure.

A well-built firm creates gravity.

People orbit gravity.

Money orbits gravity.

Referrals orbit gravity.

I’m watching it happen right now in real time.

Some advisors are assembling their team like Avengers.

Others are clipping coupons waiting for the old world to return.

Only one of those strategies ends well.

And speaking of building modern teams…

I’m running a private call on December 15th.

It’s not a carrier webinar.

Not a product deck.

Not “How to sell more PAR.”

This one is for advisors who understand what’s coming.

On the call I’m breaking down:

How to build your own investment team using discretionary portfolio managers

Because wealth integration is the other domino falling.

When accountants start keeping insurance, they will quickly ask:

“Why aren’t we also monetizing wealth?”

Many are already asking it.

Discretionary PMs are one of the most powerful ways advisors can protect and expand their value proposition into a team-based model.

On December 15th I’m going to show you:

• Which PM platforms are actually advisor-friendly

• How to integrate them into your practice without losing control

• How top firms are structuring wealth partnerships

• How to position it with COIs so they lean in, not compete

• How this ties directly to defending your advisory revenue long-term

It’s not a pitch.

It’s infrastructure.

This is how advisors win the next decade instead of watching it happen to them.

If you want an invite, reply to this email and say:

“I’m in for Dec 15.”

If you’ve already emailed me, you’re on the list.

I haven’t sent the invites yet, they’re coming soon.

This will be one of the most important discussions I’ve ever led publicly.

And it might be the call that separates advisors who survive

from those who dominate the next era of financial planning in Canada.

No hyperbole.

No drama.

Just reality.

And it’s moving faster than people think.

The sentence that shook me might end up being the sentence that wakes you.

“We’re building the insurance offering in-house.”

When you hear those words, whether next year or in six…

I want you to be the advisor who smiles and says:

“Perfect. So are we.”

Talk soon,

Andrew