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  1. Coming March 23, 2020 – Equimax enhancements include 60 months of flexibility to make extra deposits

    The following features will be available on Equimax Estate Builder® and Equimax Wealth Accumulator® plans!   

    Image-1-EDO-Prelaunch-Whatsnew-(1).jpg60 months of Excelerator Deposit Option (EDO) flexibility

    • Up to 60 months to make initial EDO payment or resume stopped or reduced payments. No additional underwriting required. 
    • For approved EDO amounts exceeding $150,000 annually ($12,500 monthly), clients have up to 12 months from the date the EDO application was signed or the date of the last EDO payment to make an EDO payment before a contribution cap may apply.
    • Available on all policies with an effective date of March 23, 2020 or later.


    Image-2-EDO-Prelaunch-Whatsnew.jpg
    EDO available on case ratings of 300% or less
    • If a policy already in effect has a rating over 200% and up to and including 300%, the owner can apply to add EDO provided the policy was issued under the 2017 tax rules.
    • Additional underwriting and submission of satisfactory evidence may be required.



    Image-3-EDO-Prelaunch-Whatsnew.jpgDisability Benefit Disbursement at no extra cost
    • If a life insured becomes disabled from a severe mental or physical impairment as defined in the policy contract, the owner may apply for a tax-free,* lump sum payment of up to 100% of the policy’s cash value.
    • Exclusions apply. See sample policy contract for full details, including the qualifications for the disbursement.
    • Available on all policy issued under the 2017 tax rules.



    * Tax laws are subject to change. The payment of the disability benefit disbursement may affect the adjusted cost basis (ACB) of the policy as it is considered payment of a capital benefit. Changes in ACB can affect the future taxation of the policy.

    Processing your Application
    To make the transition as smooth as possible, please take a moment to review the following transition rules.
     

  2. Can’t meet in person? EZcomplete is an EZ way to meet online


    Instead of canceling your meeting, why not meet online instead? Our EZcomplete® application makes it easy to process your non-face-to-face applications and do business with Equitable Life.
     
    EZcomplete is available on Pivotal Select™ segregated funds and all life products – Term, Whole Life, CI and Universal Life – and allows for the signing process to change from in-person to non face-to-face at the end of the application, despite how it was started.  This gives you and your clients the option to easily and efficiently connect remotely.



    How does it work?
     
    EZcomplete gives you the option to conduct your non face-to-face business easily and quickly, enabling your clients to provide their signature remotely on their own device. You simply need to enter their email address and provide them with a secret passcode to securely access the documents to review and sign.
     
    There is no limit on the face amounts or product options and the time to settle is reduced when using the application. It is a flexible, intuitive tool to use, and helps keep business on track now that many clients and advisors are opting for more social distance.


    For Life Advisors, please refer to the New Business and Underwriting page on Equinet for details about non-face-to-face delivery.

  3. Mental health support for all plan members

    As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many Canadians are dealing with increased stress and anxiety. Now, more than ever, plan members need easy to access resources to help them cope with these uncertain times.

    Through our partnership with Homewood Health®, the Canadian leader in mental health and addiction services, all of our clients and their plan members have access to tools designed to provide guidance and support, including i-Volve, Homewood’s Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tool.

    Proven therapy, at your own pace

    Included with Homewood Online resources in every Equitable Life® plan, i-Volve can help plan members identify, challenge and overcome anxious thoughts, behaviours and emotions. It encourages incremental changes in behaviour and is proven to be an effective therapeutic approach for dealing with mild to moderate anxiety or depression. Plan members work at their own pace through a series of web-based exercises, ultimately helping to change the ways in which they think, feel and react in various situations.

    Free for all Equitable Life plan members

    All Equitable Life clients and their plan members have access to i-Volve. It’s available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever you choose to access it.

    Contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager to learn more about Homewood Health and i-Volve Online CBT.

     

  4. Deposits to the Fidelity Special Situations mutual fund are being limited but the segregated fund is
    Fidelity Investments® recently said they would no longer accept deposits from new investors into the Fidelity® Special Situations Fund. This notice however does not affect Equitable Life® clients.

    The Special Situations Fund will continue to be open to new and existing Equitable Life clients. This includes clients with Pivotal Select™, Pivotal Solutions* or Personal Investment Portfolio segregated funds contracts.

    Why is Fidelity limiting access to the mutual fund?
    This award-winning mutual fund has grown significantly and now has $3.6 billion of managed assets. To preserve the integrity of the fund’s investment strategy, Fidelity® decided to limit inflows to the fund. Limiting the amount of managed assets held within the fund allows the fund’s portfolio manager to focus on what he does best - finding special situation investment opportunities and capitalizing on positive change within companies and industries across Canada and around the world.

    If you like the Special Situations mutual fund, you will value the Equitable Life Fidelity® Special Situations segregated fund. Segregated funds are similar to mutual funds but offer different features and guarantees. To learn about these features, check out the Investment Advantage. To learn more about the Special Situations segregated fund, click here.


    For more information about Equitable Life’s segregated funds, speak to your Regional Investment Sales Manager or visit our segregated funds page on EquiNet®.
     
    References:
    Fidelity’s press release announcing the limited fund closure
    Fidelity® Special Situations portfolio management strategy, webinar featuring Mark Schmehl, Portfolio Manager.


    *No Load, Deferred Sales Charge, Pivotal Solutions II
    ® or ™ denotes a trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada, except as noted below.
    Fidelity and Fidelity Investments are registered trademarks of 483A Bay Street Holdings LP. Used with permission.
  5. Excelerator Deposit Option – maximum payment limit changes

    The Excelerator Deposit Option (EDO) gives your client the option to make additional payments, subject to specified limits and our current administrative rules and guidelines, above the required guaranteed policy premium. EDO payments can help grow the long-term values in your client’s policy.  This change is regarding the maximum EDO payment limit that applies to the policy.
     
    For Equimax policies with an Owner Signature Date of June 26, 2021 or after where a term rider has increased the maximum EDO payment limit on the policy

    ● NEW! If a request is received to terminate, convert, or reduce the term rider and the term rider has been in effect for 10 years or longer, the EDO maximum for the policy will not be reduced.
    ● If a request is received to terminate, convert, or reduce the term rider and the term rider has been in effect for less than 10 years (it has not reached the 10th policy anniversary), the EDO maximum for the policy will be reduced accordingly.

    Current rules as to when underwriting is required for EDO payments continue to apply, as do current rules surrounding acceptance of EDO payments and maintaining the tax-exempt status of the policy and can be found in the Equimax Product Admin Guide.

    Want more information?  Contact your Regional Sales Manager for more information on these changes
     
  6. Changes to Short Term Disability Benefit Calculations The Canada Employment Insurance Commission and Canada Revenue Agency have announced the 2022 changes to Maximum Insurable Earnings, and premiums for employment insurance. These changes take effect January 1, 2022.
     
      2021 Amount As of Jan. 1, 2022
    Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE)
         		 $56,300 $60,300
    Maximum Weekly Insurable Earnings (MWIE)
         		 $1,083 $1,160
    EI Benefit
    (55% of the MWIE, rounded to the nearest dollar)    		 $595 $638
     
    How does this affect your clients?
     
    If your client’s Group Policy with Equitable Life includes a Short Term Disability (STD) benefit which is tied to the EI Maximum Weekly Insurable Earnings, and at least one classification of employees has less than a $638 maximum, then to comply with the provisions of their policy, their STD benefit will be revised with the maximums updated based on the percentage of EI Maximum Weekly Insurable Earnings shown in their policy.
     
    The additional premium for any increase from their previous STD amounts and new STD amounts will be show on their January 2021 Group Insurance Billing (as applicable).
     
    If their STD maximum is currently higher than $638 or based on a flat amount (not based on a percentage or regular earnings), no change will be made to their plan unless otherwise directed.
     
    If your clients wish to provide direction regarding revising their STD maximum, or have questions about the process, they can email Kari Gough, Manager, Group Quotes and Issue.
  7. Manage more details within Contract Delivery for New Business applications We are excited to announce further enhancements to our eDelivery process to empower you, the advisor, the ability to manage client details more easily within Contract Delivery.

    Effective January 15, 2022, advisors will need to create a Password within Contract Delivery when choosing “eDelivery” as the contract delivery method and provide the password to the client to use as their password:
    SetPassword_EN.png
    The Password must be between 4 and 100 alpha/numeric characters, and cannot be the Policy number. For multiple signers the password (and email address) must be unique per each signer.

    Advisors can now edit and/or update an email address within Contract Delivery, in the event of a bounce back or email change, to keep the eDelivery process moving and avoid delays in processing time. If a lock out occurs, advisors can trigger a resend of the signing email once they add a new valid email address in Contract Delivery. Simply click the pencil icon beside the Email field to enter the valid email address:
    eDeliveryJan15News2.png

    Another new feature- in the event a client has declined, the advisor will get an email from Equitable Life®. Click through to EquiNet® within the email to view the message within Contract Delivery that the client provided as the reason for decline under a new “Declined Details” section. This enables you to connect with the client to proceed with the sale by discussing the reasons for decline with them directly.

    Also new for clients with this enhancement, policy owners of a policy created after January 15 will be able to see a PDF copy of their policy within client access. Note: this PDF copy is as the policy was originally issued.
    ClientAccessEN.jpg
    Resources: 

  8. Individual Insurance product enhancements

    Equitable Life has exciting product enhancements that will help you offer more options to clients. 

    Watch our Virtual Product Launch NOW. Grab a coffee and get ready for this exciting news! Hear from our leaders and learn about our exciting product enhancements.

    - Full Product Launch Video (approx. 20 minutes). 
    - Introduction video (View on Vimeo) / Product launch page 


    Highlights of the product changes effective February 12, 2022, include:

     

    NEW! 10 pay premium option with Equimax Estate Builder®

    - The new EquiLiving® 20 pay rider options will be available on Equimax® plans


    NEW! EquiLiving plans and riders enhanced with:

    - 20 pay options with coverage to age 75 or coverage for life
    - Support from Cloud DX to help monitor a client’s well-being from treatment to recovery.
    - Added Acquired Brain Injury as a covered critical condition 
    - 30-day survival period removed for all non-cardiovascular covered conditions
    - No age restriction to claim for Loss of Independent Existence (LOIE)
    - EquiLiving Benefit now pays the higher of the EquiLiving Benefit or the Return of Premium Rider Benefit (not including Return of Premium on Death)          
    - And so much more …

    New Illustration software available on February 11, 2022 
    The updated illustration software will be available for download after 9 a.m. ET on Friday, February 11, 2022, and will include all the Equimax and EquiLiving enhancements.

    See the Equitable Sales Illustrations Update for information on how to download the software or check for updates. 

    Please review updates to the commission schedule A for these new enhancements.

    Learn more Get ready to make 2022 your best year yet for your sales! 

    Please contact your Regional Sales Manager for more information. 
  9. Product Enhancements - Critical Illness Equitable Life has exciting product enhancements that will help you offer more options to clients. 

    Access our Virtual Product Launch NOW. Grab a coffee and get ready for this exciting news! Hear from our leaders and learn about our exciting product enhancements.

    NEW! EquiLiving plans and riders enhanced with:
    • 20 pay options with coverage to age 75 or coverage for life
    • Support from Cloud DX to help monitor a client’s well-being from treatment to recovery.
    • Added Acquired Brain Injury as a covered critical condition 
    • 30-day survival period removed for all non-cardiovascular covered conditions
    • No age restriction to claim for Loss of Independent Existence (LOIE)
    • EquiLiving Benefit now pays the higher of the EquiLiving Benefit or the Return of Premium Rider Benefit (not including Return of Premium on Death)
    • And so much more …
    New Illustration software available on February 11, 2022 
    The updated illustration software will be available for download after 9 a.m. ET on Friday, February 11, 2022, and will include all the Equimax and EquiLiving enhancements.

    See the Equitable Sales Illustrations Update for information on how to download the software or check for updates. 

    Please review updates to the commission schedule A for these new enhancements.

    Learn more Get ready to make 2022 your best year yet for your sales! 

    Please contact your Regional Sales Manager for more information. 
  10. Product Enhancements - 10 Pay Equitable Life has exciting product enhancements that will help you offer more options to clients. 

    Access our Virtual Product Launch NOW. Grab a coffee and get ready for this exciting news! Hear from our leaders and learn about our exciting product enhancements.

    NEW! 10 pay premium option with Equimax Estate Builder®
    • The new EquiLiving® 20 pay rider options will be available on Equimax® plans
    New Illustration software available on February 11, 2022 
    The updated illustration software will be available for download after 9 a.m. ET on Friday, February 11, 2022, and will include all the Equimax and EquiLiving enhancements.

    See the Equitable Sales Illustrations Update for information on how to download the software or check for updates. 

    Please review updates to the commission schedule A for these new enhancements.

    Learn more Get ready to make 2022 your best year yet for your sales! 

    Please contact your Regional Sales Manager for more information.