The recent instability in stocks is rendering people more willing to consider guaranteed income products.
Pui Ka Lam did not sell many annuities during the previous two years. Clients, especially business owners, balked at the idea of an insurance company holding their money for many years before it matured when investing in the market or in their companies could produce higher returns.
“I see the difference this year because the market is so unstable,” the eight-year MDRT member said. “Now more of my clients value annuities. I’ve seen their perspective shift from being a risk taker to appreciating that, regardless of what the market does, the annuity will give them guaranteed money they can use for their retirement or for their children’s education.”
One of her clients, a restaurant owner, wants to give her 5-year-old daughter a substantial sum of money when the daughter marries and starts a family.
“I asked her, ‘Could you guarantee that your business will provide the money you want to give to your daughter to start her life in 20 years?’” Lam said. “She said, ‘I do not know, the market is very unstable.’ So I said, ’Then why don’t I help you build something with this annuity so, regardless of the market or geopolitics, that money will be there for your daughter?’ She bought the annuity. She realized she can’t guarantee her businesses’ success, but she can guarantee that she can give her daughter this gift when she turns 25.”
When Lam sets expectations during initial client meetings, she always explains the difference between investment and insurance: One is to grow your money; the other protects what you can’t afford to lose. However, the current volatility seems to be making that distinction clearer, particularly for clients who thought investments alone would protect their families.
During the first quarter of 2025, she called five to eight clients a day, starting with her high-net-worth individuals, to update them. Some of those conversations turned into upsell opportunities. One client had split his portfolio between equities and insurance. Lam explained that his stock investment is vulnerable to the market and could shrink, whereas insurance would still protect his family. He thereupon doubled his insurance coverage.
This was excerpted from the September/October 2025 Round the Table article, “Guiding clients through turbulence.”
