What I’m telling the Desjardins wholesalers this week (and why it matters for you)

I’m heading to Toronto next week to speak to the Desjardins wholesale team.

And I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m going to say.

Because the truth is, I think the role of a wholesaler is about to change dramatically.

And if you’re an advisor reading this, you might be wondering why you should care.

But stick with me.

Because what happens to wholesalers directly affects what happens to you.

Let me tell you a story.

A friend of mine came down to Ottawa last week. He’s a wholesaler at one of the insurance companies. We went out for a drink, caught up, and started talking about the future of the industry.

At some point, I said something that made him pause.

“I think what you do is going to look completely different in five years.”

He looked at me. “Really? How so?”

So I said, “Give me a case. Give me something an advisor would call you about. A client with some health issues.”

He thought for a second and said, “Okay. 45-year-old male. Type 2 diabetes. High blood pressure. Some elevated liver enzymes.”

I pulled out my phone.

I have a custom AI project set up with all the underwriting guides from the major carriers uploaded into it.

I spoke the case into my phone.

And within seconds, it started rattling off possible ratings by company. What to look for. What questions to ask. Follow-up considerations. Potential exclusions.

Then I asked it for a recommendation based on the profile.

It gave me one.

All of this happened while we were sitting at a restaurant having a drink.

He just stared at it.

I said, “I’m not saying every advisor is using this right now. I’m not saying it’s perfect. But this is what exists today. Right now. If you want to build it.”

Then I asked him, “What do you think this looks like in three years? Five years?”

He didn’t have an answer.

Here’s what I think is happening.

Product information is becoming a commodity.

The stuff that wholesalers used to be essential for, the “which company should I use” and “what’s the rating going to be” and “how does this feature work” questions, that stuff is increasingly available through other means.

AI is accelerating that.

But it’s not just AI.

It’s the fact that the differences between carriers have shrunk to almost nothing.

I run comparisons all the time for large par cases. I’ll pull up the top five or six companies and look at the numbers.

And you know what I see?

When you go down to the internal rate of return at age 85, the difference between companies is often 10 basis points.

One company is at 5.50%. Another is at 5.58%. A third is at 5.52%.

We’re projecting 30 or 40 years into the future. The difference in gross numbers might be a hundred thousand dollars. But that’s over four decades. Based on assumptions that will change a dozen times between now and then.

What are the chances those projections hold exactly as illustrated?

Zero.

So an advisor can make a case for almost any of the top carriers and be completely justified in doing so.

“Yeah, Company X might be 10 basis points higher on the illustration, but here’s why I think Company Y is the better fit for this client.”

That argument can be made. And it gets made every day.

Which means the product advantage that wholesalers used to lean on is basically gone.

So what’s left?

This is the question I’ve been thinking about.

If product information is commoditized, and the differences between carriers are negligible, what does a wholesaler actually offer?

Here’s my answer.

The best wholesalers I know aren’t product experts.

They’re pattern recognizers.

Think about it.

An advisor sees their own business. Their own clients. Their own world.

A wholesaler sees hundreds of advisors. They see what’s working across the industry. They see the best practices. They see the mistakes. They see the trends before anyone else does.

The best wholesalers take all of that pattern recognition and translate it into insights that help advisors grow.

“I’m seeing a lot of advisors struggle with this.”

“Here’s what the top producers are doing differently.”

“Be careful of this trend I’m noticing.”

“Here’s how the most successful people are positioning this conversation.”

That’s not product information.

That’s coaching.

That’s strategic insight.

That’s value that can’t be replicated by an AI, at least not yet.

The wholesalers who understand this will thrive.

And here’s the thing.

When a wholesaler provides that kind of value consistently, something interesting happens.

Advisors stop caring as much about whether their product is 10 basis points better or worse than the competition.

Because the relationship becomes about more than the product.

It becomes about growth.

It becomes about partnership.

It becomes about trust.

I saw this firsthand when I was at Canada Life.

We dominated sales in my region for years. Absolutely dominated.

And I remember being on a call with a major MGA, and someone asked, “Why are advisors buying this product? Your dividend scale is lower than the competitors.”

And it was true. On paper, the numbers didn’t always look the best.

But here’s what we did.

We helped advisors find the deals.

We helped them structure the cases.

We brought in tax and legal support.

We went to meetings with them.

We helped them close.

We provided value beyond the illustration.

And advisors chose to work with us because of that.

Not because we had the highest dividend scale.

Because we helped them win.

This is the future of wholesaling.

The wholesalers who figure this out will build incredible loyalty.

The advisors they work with will grow faster.

And those advisors won’t be tempted to jump ship every time another carrier comes out with a slightly better illustration.

Because they’ll understand that the value isn’t in the product.

The value is in the partnership.

Now here’s why this matters for you as an advisor.

Imagine if every wholesaler in your universe suddenly became an expert-level coach.

Not just someone who sends you product updates and comparison sheets.

But someone who helps you build better COI relationships.

Someone who helps you navigate difficult client conversations.

Someone who helps you implement AI into your practice.

Someone who helps you think about your business differently.

How much would that accelerate your growth?

That’s the industry I want to see.

That’s the industry I think we need.

And that’s what I’m going to be talking about in Toronto this week.

The product game is over.

Let me be blunt.

If you’re a wholesaler and your entire value proposition is “my product is better,” you’re in trouble.

Because the differences are too small.

Because the projections are too uncertain.

Because advisors can now access product information in ways they never could before.

The wholesalers who win the next decade will be the ones who drive massive value outside of product.

They’ll be coaches. Consultants. Strategic partners.

They’ll help advisors grow their businesses in ways that have nothing to do with dividend scales or surrender charges.

And here’s the flip side.

If you’re an advisor and you’re not getting that kind of value from your wholesalers, you should be asking for it.

Or finding wholesalers who can provide it.

Because the best advisors I know have figured out how to extract incredible value from their wholesaler relationships.

They’re not just calling to ask about underwriting.

They’re asking about trends.

They’re asking about what other successful advisors are doing.

They’re asking about how to position conversations.

They’re using their wholesalers as a strategic resource.

And if your wholesaler can’t operate at that level, that’s a signal.

One more thing.

I should mention this.

When a wholesaler provides this kind of value, they also become irreplaceable.

Because the advisor understands what they have.

They understand the value being delivered.

And they understand that the 10 basis point difference on an illustration doesn’t matter when someone is helping them build a better business.

That’s the moat.

That’s how you win in a world where products are commodities.

You become so valuable that the product almost doesn’t matter.

This is what I’ll be telling the Desjardins team.

And it’s what I’d tell any carrier who wants to listen.

The future of wholesaling isn’t about product.

It’s about value.

It’s about helping advisors grow.

It’s about becoming indispensable.

The wholesalers who figure this out will build incredible books of business.

The ones who don’t will slowly get replaced by AI and comparison tools.

And for you, the advisor reading this, the question is simple.

Are you extracting maximum value from your wholesaler relationships?

Or are you just calling them when you need a quote?

Because if it’s the latter, you’re leaving a lot on the table.

The best wholesalers in this industry have insights that can transform your business.

But you have to ask for them.

You have to push them to operate at that level.

And if they can’t, find ones who can.

That’s the game now.

One last thing.

This is exactly the kind of support we’re building at PPI.

Not just product access. Not just case design.

But real strategic partnership.

Underwriting expertise. Tax and legal resources. Practice management insights. Help navigating the shifts happening in this industry.

If you’re an advisor who wants more than just a transactional relationship with your MGA, reach out.

I’d love to have a conversation about what we’re building and whether it’s a fit for where you’re trying to go.

Talk soon,

Andrew