Cetera using financial planning technology to help advisers sell insurance

Cetera Financial Institutions, a division of Cetera Financial Group, wants to make it easier for advisers at banks and credit unions to sell insurance products as part of financial plans. The company announced Thursday that it has improved integration between Cetera Financial Institutions' version of MoneyGuidePro and the web-based insurance purchasing portal it launched (in conjunction with COVR Financial Technologies) in 2017. LeAnn Rummel, the president and chief executive of Cetera Financial Institutions, expects the combination of technology to help advisers identify insurance products by eliminating "the artificial separation from insurance and planning." (More: Top independent broker-dealers ranked by revenue) When advisers input insurance information into MoneyGuidePro's analysis, they will immediately be taken to Cetera Financial Institutions' insurance portal to find a policy, generate a quote, and purchase life insurance. The integration currently only supports life insurance, but the firm plans to add long-term care and disability insurance later in 2018. The improved integration will allow advisers to help "determine how much insurance coverage is needed, which solutions would be most appropriate and process insurance business online," Ms. Rummel told InvestmentNews. (More: Cetera nabs Marquette Bank's $382 million program from Invest) The complexity of insurance increases the time it takes to get cases processed and delivery a policy to clients, she said. "The main thing is we wanted to provide a simplified, streamlined process that reduces the application processing," Ms. Rummel said. Cetera sees insurance as a unique growth opportunity for advisers in the bank and credit union channel. "We're excited to capitalize on it," Ms. Rummel said.