Episode 11 | dibrokerWest Podcast with Guest Paul Sitar
Advisors often assume they need a complicated analysis before a GSI case is worth pursuing but a simple five-question screen can show a great deal very quickly. In this follow-up to the group LTD gap episode, Doug Lenhoff talks with Paul Sitar, Regional Director of Sales at dibrokerWest, about each question the screen asks, what each answer reveals and how advisors can run it against group LTD cases, benefits reviews and census files they already have.
The conversation then turns to putting the screen to work. A strong opportunity usually shows up as group LTD in place, executives or high earners above the cap, variable compensation on top of base salary and an employer open to paying the premium. Paul stresses the screen is a prioritization tool, not a pass/fail test: even a couple of “yes” answers deserve a closer look and three or four pointing the same direction is a reason to bring the case to dibrokerWest. He closes by encouraging advisors to run the screen against a census or LTD review they already have, since the opportunity may already be sitting in an existing client relationship.
The GSI screen is a simple set of five questions advisors can ask in a normal client conversation to quickly tell whether a case is a strong Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) disability insurance opportunity. It helps advisors prioritize where to focus without a full census review or benefits audit.
How many employees does the company have? Does the employer already offer group LTD? Are any employees earning above the monthly group LTD cap? Do any of those employees also receive bonuses, commissions or other variable compensation? Is the employer willing to pay the premium?
Employee count helps determine whether the case size is worth evaluating for GSI. The structure needs enough covered lives to work, so it is the first filter in the screen.
Because where there is a group LTD plan, there may be a benefit cap and where there is a cap, there may be a gap. An existing plan is the starting point for finding that gap.
If employees earn above the monthly cap, the real income replacement ratio for those people is likely materially lower than the percentage the plan advertises. That is where the GSI opportunity starts to take shape.
Group LTD typically covers base salary only. If a top producer earns a significant portion of income through bonuses, commissions or other variable compensation, that income is often completely unprotected, so the gap can be larger than the cap alone suggests.
Employer-paid design is the key requirement that unlocks the favorable, minimal-underwriting terms of a true GSI structure. The answer tells an advisor almost immediately whether a case is workable.
Typically the employer has group LTD in place, some employees (often executives, senior producers or high-earning professionals) earn above the monthly cap, some have variable compensation on top of base salary and the employer is open to paying the premium. When those pieces line up, there is a real GSI conversation to have.
No. The screen is not a hard pass/fail test. It is a way to prioritize. Even if only a couple of questions point toward a gap, the case deserves a closer look. If three or four point in the same direction, bring the case to dibrokerWest to help determine whether it is worth pursuing and what a practical solution looks like.
With cases already in hand. If an advisor has a group LTD case, a benefits review, or a census, they can run the five questions against it right now. The opportunity may already be sitting in an existing client relationship.
dibrokerWest helps advisors apply the screen, assess the case and move from a possible gap to a practical GSI strategy.