Business Ethics
Instructor
UIE Phone
(253) 846-1155 Email
mail@uiece.com |
Course Overview
Business Ethics is designed for agents with all
levels of experience. It begins by defining what is meant by workplace
ethics. While ethics is often addressed from a philosophical standpoint, this
course looks at it from an insurance producer point of view. The course
covers why an individual or entity would choose ethical conduct over fast
profits or quick sales. As such, it looks at four basic issues: 1.
Is it possible to teach ethical behavior? 2.
What is the scope of ethics for insurance producers? 3.
What does it take to act morally? 4.
What is the producer’s responsibility to other moral
people? Each of
these issues are addressed from a producer’s point of view. Ethical selling
is not difficult but it must be a direct decision. Ethics does not happen by
accident. Ethics involves achieving a level of education that allows the
agent to both earn a sufficient living and place products in a way that
benefits consumers. Product suitability is a key issue. |
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Chapter |
Subject |
Description |
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Chapter 1 |
Ethics in the Workplace |
To correctly place products, insurance producers must
communicate the benefits and limitations of policies in a way that can be
understood by consumers and their families. Misunderstandings must be avoided
when placing products since a policy that is not correctly understood lays
the groundwork for lawsuits. This means producers must learn communication
skills. |
|
Chapter 2 |
Putting the Past Into the Future |
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Chapter 3 |
Why Be Ethical in Business? |
Insurance will always involve product replacement to some extent. This tends to be more predominate in some lines of insurance than others, but agents must always understand the possible replacement problems, no matter what line of products they represent. Not all policies should be replaced and insurance producers must be able to identify those that should not be replaced. It is an ethical issue in fact. The goal is always to better the client’s financial position (not the agents). |
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Chapter 4 |
Promoting Ethical Behavior |
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Chapter 5 |
Being Actively Ethical |
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Chapter 6 |
Greed & Ethics |
The course identifies what constitutes a so-called “fast buck” item. A fast-buck item is not the product sold, but rather the method in which it is sold. Therefore, any insurance product could become a fast-buck item if the seller is motivated by commissions and not consumer benefits. Not all fast-buck items are insurance products, of course, since any item sold for the wrong reasons can land in this category. |
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Chapter 7 |
Mores |
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Chapter 8 |
Who Are You (And Why Are You)? |
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Chapter 9 |
Ethical Selling |
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Chapter 10 |
Investing From an Ethical Standpoint |
Chapter 10 looks at investments, which includes annuities,
IRAs, and some types of life insurance, from an ethical standpoint. This
includes investment avoidance, positive product investing, an activist
approach and personal views. |
|
Chapter 11 |
Becoming A Professional Advisor |
The course covers understanding the client’s goals of
course, since that is always part of annuity and other investment decisions,
but it also looks at what is most suitable. Clients may think they want a
particular product for the wrong reasons. Part of an insurance producers’ job
is to highlight what a product will and will not do. The “will not” part is
often the most important part of the conversation. |
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Chapter 12 |
Taxes Deferral |
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Chapter 13 |
Selecting Insurance Companies to Represent |
Finally, the course looks at how insurers are rated for
financial stability. Most agents realize they should only represent top rated
companies, but they may not know exactly how to determine that. We feel they
should understand how insurers are financially rated. |
None.