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June 23, 2023

Gain exclusive access to our team of Tax, Retirement, and Estate Planning Specialists for Large Cases

We are excited to announce that the minimum annual premium amount for Large Case Support has been lowered from $25,000 to $10,000. This means that even more advisors can now take advantage of this crucial service for their clients.

You can count on our Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning (TREP) team to provide assistance with all your Large Case requirements.

Ask me anything with the Empire Life investments team

You're invited to participate in Empire Life's next "Ask Me Anything" webinar.

Hear David Mann, Senior Portfolio Manager and Canoe Financial’s Rob Taylor, SVP & Chief Investment Officer, speak about the underlying funds that are part of the recently launched Empire Life Canoe Portfolio GIFs, share their insights about current markets and offer you the chance to have your questions answered live. 

Please note this webinar will be in English only.

Pay-out Annuity Confirmation Letters

We are currently reviewing our pay-out annuity policies. Confirmation letters will be mailed this week to our annuity policyholders. If your clients are currently receiving payments in the mail by cheque, we encourage them to consider our safe and convenient direct deposit option. Their payments will be deposited directly into their Canadian bank account, so they won't need to worry about issues such as cheque holds or postal interruptions. To switch to direct deposit, they simply need to include a void cheque when they return the bottom portion of the letter. Alternatively, they can scan or provide a picture of the signed bottom portion of this letter via email and send to investment@empire.ca. 

Please encourage your customers to return the confirmation by October 31, 2023 in order to continue receiving their annuity payments.

Empire Life launches three new funds and makes several changes to GIF contract

Empire Life makes enhancements to the GIF contract that will increase choice, provide greater value and help you grow your business, including three new Empire Life Canoe Portfolio GIFs that combine the investment expertise of Empire Life and Canoe Financial Investments, a new tier for GIF Preferred Pricing for accounts with a market value of at least $250,000, and F-class/Fee for service is now available in client name.

NEW on My Advisor Dashboard

Save more time with eSignature Status for eForms

My Advisor Dashboard now provides details on the eSignature Status for eForms, making it easier to follow up on your clients' forms while saving more valuable time. You can see the status of each eSignature for each eForm listed on the dashboard. 

Now available on demand:
Corporate owned life insurance and personal estates 

There are many sound reasons for corporations to use life insurance to support their operations, objectives and the needs of key individuals and shareholders. Corporations may provide benefits or be perceived as providing benefits to shareholders, key employees and their families. This may trigger unanticipated legal and tax consequences.

This session takes a deep dive into the individual policies owned and/or paid for by the company at the time of purchase and the legal and tax implications of transferring policies or flowing benefits to family members for personal estate planning needs.

CE credit offer available until September 20, 2023.

A quiz will appear after the webinar has been viewed.

This webinar is also available in French

Dividend scale interest rate of 6.0% has been extended until June 30, 2024

Empire Life is pleased to announce that the dividend scale, including the interest rate of 6.0% for our PAR products, is being maintained from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, as approved by our Board of Directors earlier this year.

In addition to maintaining our dividend scale interest rate of 6%, we are pleased to share the following:

• There are no changes to the other factors used to calculate the dividend scale.
• The interest rate for the Cash Accumulation dividend option (Dividends on Deposit) remains unchanged at 4.0% for all participating whole life policies.
• For policies with a variable policy loan interest rate, it remains unchanged at 6.75%. This applies to new and existing policy loans.¹

For more details related to this announcement, please review the Information Circular.

¹ The policy loan rates on some older blocks of policies have a fixed policy loan rate, therefore, refer to the policy contract to better understand the applicable policy loan rate available.

Executor checklist

This is an updated tool that advisors can use in meetings with clients.

Quebec Bill 96 changes to Fast and Full for English language clients

Effective June 1, 2023, Empire Life is making some changes for Quebec residents and their advisors who wish to complete a Fast & Full Life and/or Investments application in English. Bill 96, an act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec, has been adopted in the province of Quebec to further protect the French Language. Bill 96 impacts how some English language contracts are executed in Quebec only.

For full details on these changes, including how to handle paper applications in Quebec, please see the Information Circular below.

 For Advisor Use Only

     The Empire Life Insurance Company
259 King Street East, Kingston Ontario K7L 3A8
1 877 548-1881
info@empire.ca
8:30 am to 5:00 pm, EST weekdays