DarrenBarefoot.com

Bore me with the details…I have a policy with them (well one that was started for me when I was a child but is now all mine).

I’m curious to know more about your experience.

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This week I asked my mortgage broker for a referral to an insurance broker and he passed on two, one of whom was a guy named Amadeus at Freedom 55 in Vancouver. After reading your brief comments I’m pretty sure I’ll be calling the other referral instead, but I’d be interested in your experience with f55 if you’d be willing to share it.

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Sally Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:31 pm

Stay away from anyone who is affiliated with, or works directly for Freedom 55 Financial. Terrible products, sold by terrible (car) salesmen.

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I stand by Freedom 55 Financial as the knowledge and level of service I have received has been nothing but outstanding. It’s unfortunate that you had an incompetent person to deal with…..but I assure you….there are some good apples out there!

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Gary Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 11:19 am

It is not Freedom 55 Financial that you have a problem with it is 1 advisor. I know that it is a large company and with any large company there are going to be bad apples! I think it is unfair that you are putting the blame on Freedom 55 Financial when it is obvious that it is 1 advisor or a couple of advisors that was the problem. I have a Freedom 55 Financial advisor and think it is a great organization.

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Tamara Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 12:37 pm

Well said. The company supplies the products. The advisor provides the advice. When serching for an advisor you should search for some credentials. Does your advisor have a CFP? CA? CLU? Etc? This should prove some credibility as they have shown some dedication to their career and are not in the business to make a quick buck.

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Tammy Reply:
March 31st, 2011 at 12:01 pm

Tamara, I can appreciate your point of view. Although, the letters behind a person’s name does not mean they are any better with their clients’ and placing their clients’ needs first. You need to know how to treat people and respect their position with integrity. I am an advisor with the company and the respect must be first. If you do not have the basic moral fibre yourself than this business is not for you to be servicing clientele. The other side of this whole situation is did the complaintant address the issues he/she has with the person directly? As Darren said below, “I suggest you give someone else in the orgainization a chance!” Kudos to you Darren! Darren is an example of why our office is very relivant.

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Marc Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 9:27 am

Tammy, you are only defending the none designated advisor because you are one. I agree that designations do not guarantee ethics, but if someone has put in the effort to understand their “job” better and has made the effort, I certainly believe that lessen the likelihood of them being just a sales person. If someone has been in the business for 5 yrs plus and has no designations… why is that? Is it because they do not think being informed is importnat for their clients? Don’t take the job seriously, think that adding credentials is not important… what possible reason could their be for not deepening our knowledge in your chosen career especially when dealing directly with the public??

Darren, sorry to read you have had issues with the company. I am a Director for Freedom 55 Financial in BC. It is always unfortunate to see that you have had a bad experience. On behalf of myself and the company, I apologize. I would like to know more about your situation, and what had transpired. Though there are always misunderstanding in any business, I truly believe in the integrity of my eleven years with the company and what it represents. Please feel free to send me an email. Thanks

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Darren, I’m applying to Freedom 55 now due to shady dealings by the likes of RBC and AIG. Before I do so however, I’d really like to know more about your experience. Would you be so kind to advise? Thanks.

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If not them … who?

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LADIES – STAY WAY FROM FREEDOM 55 FINANCIAL, LONDON LIFE AND GREAT WEST LIFE!! These dinosaurs don’t know what century we are in!

I inherited a large sum of money and called Freedom 55 Financial for advice on investing it. The male advisor (I’ll call him “Macho”) spent the entire meeting talking directly to my husband. When I asked a question, Macho answered briefly talking to me as though I were an idiot (I have a Masters degree).

Macho recorded details about us in a blue and white booklet. My husband was the “client” and I was the “co-client”. When I pointed out that I was the one who contacted the company and I was the primary investor, Macho replied “it is standard procedure to list the wife as a co-client, we were told by management to do it this way.”

Two days later, I called Macho to ask another question and left a voicemail message with my cell number. Macho returned the call by contacting my husband at his work.

I also wanted to purchase critical illness insurance but could not imagine providing intimate health details to such an ignorant, biased person.

I’m now fully invested and insured with a modern and enlightened company.

Darren, please send me your letter. I want to write one of my own to these neanderthals.

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Phong Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 11:31 pm

I find it funny how you call them ignorant and neanderthals when you’re going to file a complaint that represents the whole company instead of this “macho”…lol

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Dave Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:39 am

Phong, I suggest that you pay attention to what you are reading.
“we were told by management to do it this way.”
Does this not imply that it is a company issue? I know that the advisor was probably lying, how is a client unfamilar with the company suppose to know what is a lie and what is the truth.
Based on what people, that I know who have dealt with F55 advisors, have said is that many of them will say just about anything and in each case swear that it is normal company policy.

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Nicola Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 3:26 pm

It’s not company policy, you just have an idiot for an advisor. I have a policy with a F55F advisor and I am listed as the client, and my husband as the co-client. Not a big deal and certainly not company policy.

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Rick: All I did was report my experience as a consumer. Clearly I’m not alone, check out comment #13 above.

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Dear Darren:

I am reading what you wrote and asking myself if you are complaining because the advisor from Freedom 55 was working harder for you than Manulife? Personally, I would rather deal with a company that takes the time to call me and meet with me, not send me a form and make a phone call. This leads me to beleive that maybe you were not as cooperative as you should have been and did not provide the proper information.

A company does not just offer disability benefits with just a phone call, Manulife would have had to look at past claims experience and gathered some information. Benefits are not done over the phone and you are complaining that the advisor was working too hard and too many companies were working to get you benefits.

There is a lot that does not add up with this story. Companies do not just offer benefits to anyone. Information has to be gathered, then submitted for a quotation, then the quotation is presented to client and finally a contract must be signed and witnessed (face-to-face)

To people reading this, there is something very wrong with this persons story and there is more than meets the eye.

Is is possible you tried to pull a fast one, got caught and now a little bitter?

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Gordan: You can speculate and conjecture all you want. That was my experience, and I’ve got the correspondance from Freedom 55 to back it up. I’ve respected the Freedom 55 people’s privacy by not publishing that correspondance.

As for the ads, those are Google AdSense ads published by third parties. They change all the time, and it’s no surprise that Manulife would advertise on a page that mentions their organization. Freedom 55 ought to be doing the same thing (and maybe they are, I pay very little attention to which ads get served).

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Good evening Darren. I just happened upon this site doing a search of my own. I am an Advisor with Freedom 55 and find most, but as is the case with all industries and companies, not all representatives to be qualified to represent a given profession.
It is unfortunate when problems arise but we are all imperfect in more ways than one, myslelf included.
I take great pride in my service and competance, as do most, but in some case we are bound to fall short from time to time – I guess the question then becomes who will admit it an prepare a viable solution.

Thinking out loud.
Best to you and yours. Take care.

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It’s interesting that when similar complaints are made about AIG/Altig (a company with an almost identical business model), employees of said company immediately come to the company and business model’s defence, offering the exact same justifications – “we can’t control our employees”, “you’re bound to get bad apples”, “overall X company is a really upright company”. Yet both AIG/Altig and Freedom 55 Financial are notorious for soliciting job seekers on large job boards. You have to assume that if they were really a company that people actually wanted to work for, and could actually achieve stability at, they wouldn’t have to recruit so aggressively. The whole every-employee-is-a-recruiter model seems very, very poor to me, and the complaints I keep reading about these types of companies confirms this.

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Darren

I too am sorry for the bad experience you had with that particular advisor. I am an advisor with Freedom 55 Financial and as much as I do hate to say it, there are a few bad apples in the bunch. But I feel that this is the case with any occupation be it professional or otherwise.

I do have a long list of clients that are quite happy with the service I provide and have a 100% retention rate. I suffice to say that we all take a rather unique approach when dealing with our clients and with that being said I feel that the honest and upfront, not to forget ethical approach is proper.

Again, sorry for your aggravation.

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I can understand a lot of people’s frustrations and positive comments with Freedom 55. As an employee of Freedom 55 whose family has worked for the company for 30 years and I am the third generation coming into the company, how come the average client stays with Freedom 55 for 15 years yet the average client stays with a broker and a banker on average only 3 years.

We must be doing something right, and again being under the Power Financial umbrella being the largest financial company in Canada allows us to offer our clients products from any provider not just our “WHOLE LIFE” scam.

By the way on that whole life insurance did you know that London Life is the only company to pay a return every year to its clients for the past 150 years on the whole life insurance. Who else can say that!! You want a scam it takes a banker 10 minitues to sell you a GIC and an hour to actually look at an investment stratedgy. Which one did they sell you???

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Mark Reply:
May 4th, 2010 at 7:00 pm

this company is ridiculous!! To all those who work for this company, tell me why they require no education? Tell me why they have a major turnover rate?? it’s a scam and all those who work for them do not want to believe it…

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Steve Reply:
May 30th, 2010 at 7:50 pm

Mark,

They do go through a licensing process and are trained in insurance and investing. That’s more then I can say about entry level bank or investor group employees out of the gate.

The major turnover is because some people think they are getting a job where they come in 9-5. The truth is you are building a business. If you are not the entrepreneurial type or are not competent you will most likely ‘fire’ yourself….The funny thing is that the ones who don’t make it and stay in the financial services industry go and work for one of the BIG BANKS. The banks take them …get this… because they are trained and have experience. They become asset gatherers and have client lists in the thousands. Ironic…. I think so!

It is not a scam. Freedom 55 offers financial products from some of the most reputable companies in Canada including but not limited to: Sunlife, Manulife, Great-West Life, London Life, CIBC, TD, RBC, Fidelity, CI Investments, Franklin Templeton, AIM Trimark, Sprott Asset Management, the list goes on and on. The issue is rarely with the product. What you need is to get an advisor who you trust and who knows his/her stuff. They need to help you plan based on your goals!

You are not going to find that at the branch level of a bank, that model is like herding cattle. If you want… get in line! Or go get an advisor you trust. Ask for a few referrals, do a little homework. I don’t care what company they are with. If you find a good one, use them! Freedom 55 or not.

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Marc Reply:
October 16th, 2010 at 4:53 am

Mark… the only scam is that you are saying stuff that you have no proof to. You have little information and going on and on because you had a bad experience.
If you went to a Subway in Nevada and it was not clean and the 18 yr old kid behind the counter was rude to you, would that mean that the Subway organization is crooked, that lettuce is unhealthy and that all Subways treat their clientele poorly, or would it mean that my experience with the Subway in Nevada was bad. I will not go back to that one.

That is exactly the same thing for F55F. All advisors are their own franchise except unlike Subway you did not have a large cash outlay upfront, and you get way more training. Our industry is very tough, and in any sales job (regardless of industry) there is a large turnover. I can assure you London life advertises at Universities as well. They are always looking for people that will represent the brand well. You never what you are hiring until they work a while.

Do you think that 18 yr old at Subway (Nevad) was hired because he was rude to the owner of that franchise? Or perhaps he gave a good interview and seemed like a quality candidate. I suspect that if the owner continues to her bad things about that 18 yr old, he will take action and have it corrected or he will be fired. Unfortunately F55F does keep advisors on too long at times, they should fire at least half their advisors (as my guess 50% of their sales staff make less than $50K/yr), but because their stock price would drop too much that will not happen any time soon As an investor that potentially could buy GWL shares, shareholder value would depreciate if those advisors were let go, although corporate profits and imagine would benefit long term, but you would have millions of Canadians with policies with F55F but no advisor.

As a successful advisor that self brands, I can tell you my goal is to have only 200 clients (big ones mind one) to provide appropriate support to my clients. If we got rid of 50% of our work force, less large clients (like you no doubt) would have no advisor.

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Gary Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 4:32 pm

Check your facts before you spout them. London Life is not, in fact, the only one to have paid out dividends every year

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Marc Reply:
November 22nd, 2010 at 9:40 pm

Ok, Gary, what are the facts. What other company has paid out dividends for 150 years?

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To be honets and frank with everyone. My experiences with Freedom 55 have been top notch. As a matter of fact it served my family very well after my wife died.
Your comments are quite irrelevant, and you should have also held your own weight (you’re a client, but you still have to dot your I’s and cross your T’s..it’s called responsibility, you must understand everyone is human, and mistakes can happen. You must take steps to ensure your communication is open. You probably were out golfing or something.
I feel be-littled because i have my complete faith in them, and your comments seem to hint that anyone who deals with them are “dumb”.
Write and book and keep your tantrums to yourself. I feel bad for your bad situation, but realize….people’s dreams and security are in these people’s hands, and your one situation should not scare anyone into “panic mode”. Think about it.

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I just spent the last 15 minutes reading all the comments for and against F55 and I think Darren is a little off base in his analysis of an entire company’s function. Anyone (yes you Darren) that would prefer to be sold a financial product over the phone in 5 minutes as opposed to having a advisor come take the time to develop a fully fuctioning and diverse financial plan with you face to face obviously doesn’t understand the fine points of the business, and one might go as far to say isn’t that bright to begin with. If I’m going to invest my money in a financial product, whatever it may be, I want to meet with the person that is going to guide me in that regard – not spend 5 minutes on the phone with them and cut a check to a faceless voice over the phone. In our lifetimes we will all meet an endless stream of naysayers and malcontents that do nothing above and beyond grunting and moaning about all the bad experiences they’ve had. It’s much easier to jump on the bandwagon and piss and moan about how you were screwed. The fact of the matter is that you likely were dealing with an advisor that lacked the necessary skills to meet your needs. There are thousands of F55 advisors out there that are fully capable and highly skilled in their profession that would have been more than willing I;m sure to provide you with the services you needed. And it;s true what a few of the other people on here have said – you can’t control every advisor, and if this particular advisor is so inept then it’s fair to say that he’s received further complaints from other clients and has likely been repremanded – as is outlined in the code of ehtics (standard training as any F55 advisor will tell you). In essence, I would have to agree with others on here that are of the opinion that Darren was either not playing with a full deck of cards, or that he wasn’t presenting all the relevant info to the advisor. I’m training with F55 as we speak and I’ve been nothing short of blown away with their competence and attention to every little detail of the business. The bottom line is this: it’s not hard to find an inexperienced, inept, “used-car salesman” to sell you a bunch of garbage policies – you can find them in all areas of the profession. But to go as far to expressly state that the entire F55 company is a racket or scam or whatever is totally offbase. Get your facts straight before going out of your way to defame people that take pride in what they do, which is providing financial services to meet the needs of their clients. And so what if the advisor is receiving compensation or remuneration in the form of commissions on units of product sold – most companies do! Almost all sales firms function in this manner and no one seems to be blogging up a storm crapping all over the entire business sector! Darren, I think you’re a sad litte man with too much time on your hands and a sour taste in your mouth from doing business with a PERSON not a COMPANY that didn’t meet your expectations. Learn the difference between the two and try and be a little more objective in you commentary.

Positve things happen to positve people – keep that in mind!

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in response to Todd Babcock:

during campaigns, advisors’ names are listed with the amount of sales they do, and commissions are posted.

in discussing business models, directors use plans to ‘tell’ new advisors how much they should be making. they are walked through it.

the Regional Director for western canada says in his welcoming speech that ON AVERAGE, an advisor makes more than “40, 50, 60 thousand” a year.

even my director said later that there is a difference between the mean and the average.

in general this business is a tough one, and one based on sales. it doesn’t matter if you are with aig or clarica.

my comments above are from my own experience at f55 in vancouver.

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Freedom 55 “Financial Advisors” are nothing but glorified sales people!

Unfortunately, I found out the hard way, as I was employed as one of these “Financial Advisors” for 3 years. The organization does not properly support its employees and requires them to subscribe to expensive office space and rental of laptop computers.

Right now, there is something fishy going on because there is money going missing from some of the company’s offices and the blame is being put on some former employees. Having no access to their old client files, these former employees find themselves being harassed to produce some documentation that Freedom 55 won’t help them locate.

Do not invest with Freedom 55 or buy a life insurance policy with them until more information is available about these missing funds (this is a big secret but many at Freedom 55 are aware of this going on).

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 12:51 am

Imagine another unsuccessful business owner blaming everyone but himself. Yes it is your fault you were not successful. Hey if it rains tomorrow who’s fault is that. If you cheat on your wife, I know it’s her fault.

Now go work for the bank or the government where you will be paid your worth. The bank will continue to make record profits, they’ll pay you very little because if they pay you too much, their profits will drop. You’ll have no potential to earn a significant income, have a boss you;ll have to kiss up to, and work on weekends instead of having that time to be with your family.

Yes you are right, F55F is a scam, imagine a company that allows you to build your own business, own your revenue stream, allow you to sell that revenue stream or not, and every year you build up that GUARANTEED revenue stream. Mine is now well over $200,000 /yr not counting any new sales and I am not even 40 yet. Again, if you had a business plan when you went into business (instead of blaming everyone), you could have worked that plan to your benefit, F55F’s benefit and most importantly your client’s benefit. Anything worth having is not given to you… well maybe not in all case, maybe you are like another of the guys on this post, that Mommy and Daddy will give them their business and they will be on easy street… He will act like he hit a home run, but really he was born on third base.

Come on people let’s be honest… Those that work hard, have a plan, work the plan and ultimately understand what their client base is looking for will be successful in business, those that think it just happens, will never be successful.

You need conviction, passion, work ethic, a little luck, some vision, determination, resiliency, motivation to be successful in business and you must action all those components every day to be successful. If you think it will just happen, or someone will give it to you, you are sadly mistaken.

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Freedom 55 is a huge scam. They run a shady business with little or no ethics. Although I have had my own negative experiences years ago I want to share the experience my sister had 2 weeks ago. My sister is 30 years old and works as a waitress in Ottawa. She has been investing monthly with F55 for +/- 5 years because a mutual friend joined the company and convinced her to move her business to him. Long story short…he quit after 1 year and she was automatically transferred to someone else. Her new rep turned out to be a dud but she stuck it out. Guess what? He quit too. She was again transferred by default to another rookie. This guy turned out to be totally unprofessional and started sending her random email from his personal account with vacation pictures, etc. She became annoyed and frustrated that she was investing her money with a company that hires fly by night investors who act unprofessionally. She finally decided that she had had enough and transferred her investments (about 10K) to CIBC only to discover after the fact that F55 charged her $800 to do so. The $800 is more than she made in investing her hard earned money over 5 years with F55. She called and called and called but was just ignored or told to get lost.

It is a total scam…buyer beware…at least the big banks are accountable!

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Marc Reply:
October 16th, 2010 at 5:14 am

Now that’s a joke. Big banks accountable! Let me know how many times the bank calls your sister for a review of her investments due to the change in the economy or changes in her life. Also you stated that your sister dealt with many advisors with F55F. let me know how many different people at the bank she deals with over the lifetime of her investments there.

It is also impossible to have paid $800 in DSC fees on a transfer of $10,000.00 The maximum DSC fee for any F55F fund is 5.5%. Please spare us the lies!

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Wade, you are totally right! Everyone here talks about a bad experience with a representative. Only few mention the company problems, but if we go to the store, gas station or any other business, idiots are all over,

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My wife and I have been with Freedom 55 re: the handling of Mutual Funds and GICs for 1.5 years but switched to CIBC because Freedom 55 replaced our Financial Advisor “7″ times within the 1.5 year timespan hence when ever we contacted the company they told us that they would return our call due to a “MINOR SHUFFLE” within the branch. Our call was always returned 5 days later. Everytime we needed to ask them a question he would say “I need to meet with you at your home” When we requested to cancel and break free they demanded to meet with us in person otherwise our request would be denied.
DO NOT GO WITH FREEDOM 55 OTHERWISE YOU WILL RECEIVE MIGRAINES AND LITERALLY GROW OLD BY THE SECOND LISTENING TO THEIR “MEETING WITH YOU AT YOUR HOME” FOR EVERY LITTLE REQUEST. THIS COMPANY WORKS IN A VERY CREEPY WAY ALWAYS UPSELLING IN PRODUCTS THAT NEVER INTEREST US AFTER TELLING THEM FOR THE HUNDREDTH TIME “WE DO NOT WISH TO BUY THAT”.

GO TO YOUR OWN BANK OR ING DIRECT.

Freedom 55 might’ve been a good company 30 years ago but now its a TOTAL SCAM AND OR CULT.

VIAS CON DIOS FREEDOM 55.

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Marc Reply:
October 16th, 2010 at 6:06 am

Meeting you at your home… Wow that is outstanding service!!! I can assure you as a rep those days are behind me as they ate away at my profitability. My clients now come to my office. They need to drive to see me, I now longer go to their homes for their convenience. I wonder when you have questions how long you will wait for the new person at CIBC to come by your home to help you out and make sure they solve your concerns.

If you are looking for the need to drive to see your advisor, I am in Eastern ontario and will see you only if your account is larger than $250,000 or your family income is over $150,000.

I suspect the drive or flight will be well worth your while, as I firmly believe I will multiple your net worth by a factor of at least 5 times what you are doing now. Minimum. I will likely make you a millionaire!!!

Let me ask one 2 questions to illustrate.
1) How much are you doing to your investments on a monthly/annual basis?
2) Why that amount?

Is the answer to #2 is because that is what I can afford, does that not sound ridiculous???

When you bought car insurance, did the salesperson ask you how much you could offer, and then tell you that’s your premium? Or did he sell you the right insurance for your need? Ask you what type of car you drive, etc…

Imagine actually putting the right amount of money aside to fund the retirement you want as opposed to putting a number aside on a monthly basis with no idea whether this will allow you the retirement you want. It is just ludicrous!!

I am happy to draft a retirement plan for you, that the bank will not for $1500 plus an annual fee of $500 to review it yearly to make sure you are on track. You can keep your investments with the bank as I am sure they will help build an appropriate portfolio based on your risk tolerance, where they see the economy going and will review your account annually (at least) until your account is over $250K than they will do it twice /yr and sign a letter guaranteeing you they will contact you at those dates.

Wait a minute, they have 20,000 customers at their branch and 4 advisors, that’s 5000 customers each. If they see them 2 times per year and work 9-4 (banking hours) and 45 weeks per year, they will have 450 meeting per week and still have time to draft financial plans, review your baking charges, advise you on Hold Co, Trusts, insurance products, your invetsments etc…

Wow those people at the bank sure work hard for their clients for a measly $45000 per year!! I only have 10 appts per week, have a staff member that drafts financial plans and have three other assistants.

Think before you speak!!!

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 1:04 am

Sorry, for my fee, I will also guarantee you that within our first meeting, I will share with you an idea or 20 that will save you the fee at least 3 times over, if not I will not charge you.

Ask the bank if they guarantee you they will develop a plan to double your net worth, give you ideas that will save you at least $5000 (immediately) and allow you to succeed financially if you follow their recommendation and that that person will be your personal advisor (and those of your family members) for your lifetime (or there about).

Let me know the answer to that… can’t wait to see the post.

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Marc Reply:
May 17th, 2011 at 10:52 pm

Hey Rick still waiting…?

Good evening Darren,

I just happened upon this site doing a search of my own as well. I am also a F55 Advisor and it’s sad that you feel that way about our company. Not knowing the whole situation, I can’t really comment on your experience. However you may have heard the saying “The grass is greener on the other side of the fence” situations. While the grass may be greener, often it’s AstroTurf, and all you get is rug burn.

All I am saying is that make sure you compare apples to apples before you make an informed decision, not all Advisors are built the same way.

I would lend out my services to you but judging from the date of your posting and your decision you would most likely decline. Just know that there are some good people that work hard at F55F and my offer to you remains open.

All the best!

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I want to thank this website for helping me with my decision to NOT choosing to go with FREEDOM 55, my husband just recently died and needed guidance re: finances. This DARRENBAREFOOT website is excellent b/c it helps consumers make important decisions about life finances so I truly thank you and ofcourse Canada for FREEDOM of speach -no pun intended.

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Linda Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Careful the advice you take from certain websites. I too lost my husband and joined Freedom 55 as an investor and couldn’t be happier. I hope my advisor is able to make a bit of money for all of his help. Does your dentist work for free? Grab a brain.

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 1:15 am

Hy there are also website out there about suicide, rape, kiddy porn, etc… I certainly hope you just don’t believe everything you read….

Ask your friends who their advisor is, and how happy they are with them, and then interview a couple and ask them the hard questions… this is far too important of a decision to just go on the internet and decide who will manage your life. Take some time and make sure you are comfortable with the person managing your affairs,

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I was due to get married in oct and my wife to be worked with the board of directors for the eastern regional help line in sydney Nova scotia she worked with the a man named charlie aboud wich also sold polices with freedom 55 so she started working more with him and said he was a good man so my wife to be talked me into getting a life policy with him so thats all she would talk about was him.so i was leary of him and her .so i started to record their phone calls .and sure enough i was rite…she was with him..the recordings tell it all.so guys..he sold me a policy and took my love of my life.one day before i knew about it .she even talked me in to driving her two hours to when he checked hiself into rehab.she said he had to get a check signed.lol.pretty sly guy.

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These people have given this fine organization that is volunteer driven and was formed on a solid foundation of very passionate people some years ago.But now it has lost it’s purpose.

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I was wondering if anyone ever took money out of hte Freedom 55 and was then told that it is a loan and has to be paid back along with major interest?

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Linda Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:07 pm

If you borrow against your whole life policy, it is a loan and you have to pay it back with low interest. You should have received a full binder with all of the information about your financial portfolio. If you read it you would have read that. ?????

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Curtis Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 1:56 pm

The interest rate is 8%. I would hardly call that a low interest rate!!! especially in today’s world.
Clearly the salesman at freedom 55 financial should have explained the product they were pushing – if they did explain it they wouldn’t have sold it though, so naturally it wasn’t explained.
Bunch of snakes, sharks and crooks at freedom 55

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yah right Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 10:55 pm

Curtis again shouting off his mouth… Curtis why don’t you explain to everyone why the loan rate is 8%, and what would happen to the participating fund if they dropped the loan rate (to benefit the 10-20% of people that take loan to the detriment of the 80-90% of people that don’t.)

Come on Curtis, you genius… explain??

I don’t understand why people deal directly with one company for insurance?

Why would you deal with Freedom 55 (who is owned by London Life) and can only sell London Life Products, and not deal with an independent brokers who can find the best, most cost effective, and complete solution to your needs?

When most people buy a TV, do they go to the Sony Store with high manufacturer prices and only one brand, or do they go to Futureshop/Best Buy/Visions with low prices/sales and all the brands out there?

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Buck C Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

I have a Manulife policy that I bought through my London life advisor. He also showed me Sunlife plan and a London plan but the Manu policy fit my needs the best. I think they can offer policies from many companies just no other company can offer thiers.

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Marc Reply:
May 17th, 2011 at 10:56 pm

accurate information (actually), although the relationship with Sun Life has been terminated recently. I think Sun Life CEO work up one morning and said… shit we have been giving LL agents the ability to sell our product but they still have not given us the ability. Wow, only took them 10 yrs, not bad. I bet the CEO (new one I suspect) use to work for GWL or LL?

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Mike Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:04 pm

They get paid more when they sell London Life, so you will be steered in that direction.

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Linda Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:08 pm

misinformation.

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David Drummond Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 3:38 pm

I sell manulife and sun life policies.

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David Drummond Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 3:40 pm

I’m a Freedom 55 advisor by the way

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David Dumb-bond Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:07 pm

I bet you sell anything that anyone will buy, lol.

You are a lousy overpaid salesman with no real interest in the performance of the “plans” you make up for your clients.

Pump those 20-pays out@!!! haha.

Your clients are about to lose everything they put into those pieces of shit, prepare yourself for lawsuits David.

Do you know what your permanent insurance products are invested in?

Didn’t think so, cause if you did and if you had any clue on world economics you wouldn’t be selling them.

Brent Johnson Reply:
October 9th, 2010 at 6:11 pm

As bad as Freedom 105 is, you can’t compare going to Sony vs going to Futureshop. Futureshop doesn’t give advice, they are entirely based on commission, so their “best advice” is the most expensive product. Actually, rather like Freedom 55…

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 1:44 am

So Brent… if that is your belief why would you ever go to Future shop, or F55F.

My guess is you really don’t know what you are talking about Please prove what you are saying, because I can quickly 100% discredit you.

Stop Lying!

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David Dumb-bond Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:09 pm

So true. The commission structure confirms this fact.

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Marc Reply:
October 16th, 2010 at 11:26 am

simply not true. Why would you deal with an advisor that did not have the option to sell the #1 life insurance company in Canada (based on policyowners). As a rep, I can sell any other products in the industry and London Life. No independent can.

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 1:27 am

Not Treu…Again without any information. All good advisors F55F or not will get the best product for their client possible. I deal with over 10 insurance company, but only Tier 1 companies, but why would I purposely avoid the #1 insurance company (by policyholders) in the country?

Again, do your homework, if F55F have the best product for your situation would you buy it? How do you know if they do, if you don’t at least allow them the opportunity to show you? I assume they became the #1 insurance company in the country for a reason.

If F55F does not have the best product for your dollar, why would you buy it there?

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yah right Reply:
January 16th, 2012 at 11:14 pm

David Dumb-bond…. I know David Drummond and he is not an unsuccessful advisor… he is actually very successful… unlike you were.

I also suspect you are either Curtis or Andrew or another unsuccessful past F55F guy now that has come on here to blame F55F for your inability to sell anything and really don’t understand the products you are talking negative about….

Please explain to everyone… (ask Andrew and Curtis for help) how the par fund works, why inflation would actually be a good thing for the par fund, come on David Dumb-bond… explain…
Also explain why the par fund has outperform most indexes in the world over the last 10 years (with less volatility than 5 yr. GIC rates) and are always (and I mean always) outperform GIC rates?

If you actually answer this question (asset composition of the par fund) you will know all those answer. My guess is David Drummond (who I knows is informed) can answer this question very well, my guess is you cannot…and won’t because you’ll look like a fool.

Come on buddy, show us how smart you are???

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It does appear Freedom 55 Financial’s integrity is at stake, unfortunately.

I am an advisor at F55F, and while I myself am aware of the major challenges its bureaucratic nature presents, the training, support and people I work with at the Toronto Offices truly make it a worth while place to work, to learn, and help people attain some makings of a financial plan.

It’s interesting the power of media — one blog post –, and the results it has generated.

Darren, you seem very passionate about this topic – I say with that sort of energy, use it. If you don’t like it, change it. I hope something positive comes out of this.

(And also, one of the basics we learn is NEVER tell a client to cancel a policy until the new one has been received, its unfortunate your advisor was not accountable to this)

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[...] is some time since Darren Barefoot, that well-known Vancouver writer, suggested You’d Be Wise to Avoid Freedom 55 Financial.  He was somewhat irate about his dealings with Freedom 55 Financial, which is a division of [...]

I don’t know if you can use this info or not but I posted details of my Freedom Fund account on my blog. In 9 years they have lost 71% of the retirement funds I entrusted to them.

http://rockinon.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/freedom-fund-down-71-in-9-years/

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Leigh Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 10:50 pm

…and yet his royal idiotness does not take a moment to consider that the financial crisis in the last year has anything to do with it…amazing, just amazing!

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dear darren i have juss applied a job with freedom 55 as a financial securities planner – i’m new to hearing about this company and i would like to know more about it can u forward me ur experience to my email account? thnx

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Jack Handy Reply:
August 31st, 2009 at 9:54 am

Be careful. This is really a sales industry. It’s all about commissions, and not about advising. Whatever you do, do not sell any of the products to your family. That’s what they want you to do. Then when you leave, and you will before the clients vest, the local F55F managers swoop in like vultures and divide up you family members’ portfolios amongst themselves so that they can get the trailing commissions.

You have to sell their proprietary funds and insurance. They really push for it. But as you can see from the above post, 71% loss over 9 years, they are really sub par products.

Their training program is not bad. At least you get paid to study and get your funds license and insurance license. They have you sign something that says you have to pay them back if you leave, but I have yet to hear them enforcing that. So take the training, get licensed, and then go work at a bank, of an established CFP that will give you a better platform, and more room for advancement. F55F has somewhere in the range of 90% turnover. So the odds are really against you. But keep in mind, there’s no barrier to entry, you don’t even need a college degree in this business, so it’s similar to being a realtor in that respect.

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Jennifer Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 9:31 am

Jack – I need to talk to you, as I am a former “employee” of F55, if you could call it that. I’d just like you to elaborate a little bit if you wouldn’t mind. Do you have an email address?

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 2:00 am

Hey Jack, are you sure? Or are you just talking without any proof?

Of course, an advisor would like to manage assets, that is their job. Should they get paid for managing it, I can guarantee that if they are not paid, they won’t manage it. When you go to work, do you work for free?

As a F55F advisor I certainly do not need to sell our proprietary funds, I can sell anything I want. I do have a different contract than most, due to the volume of business I do, and thus have tons of trailer commissions, does that make me bad??

Sorry, I’m missing something…Are you saying get all their training (so they have good training) and than go work at a bank (where they will make huge profits and you’ll earn next to nothing) and the bank will allow you to sell another bank’s product??? Do you live in a different world than I do??

So here is Jack’s advice (I assume he works at a bank)

1) Go and get the best training you can… apparently that’s F55F
2) Expect people (and yourself I assume by default) to work for free
3) Tell everyone the company is bad because you compensated to sell their product, and go work at a bank, where you have absolutely no choice but to sell their products exclusively
4) Work somewhere where you can move up the corporate ladder, but of course before you do that (and always will) you will have a boss instead of being your own boss and be responsible for your own income

Yes ladies and gentlemen this is exactly the advice I would expect from someone working at the bank, lucky for me… this is exactly the reason I am successful, because of terrible advice and people not really seeing the forrest for the trees.

The bank is so lucky to have people with such vision, I hope you move to senior management at that bank, my job keeps getting easier and easier.

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This comment is totally unfair bringing the entire industry down. the entire industry is commission based but it doesn’t mean that all advisors just want money. It you don’t have loads of cash do you think bankers will take time explaining every detail about your financial needs? I don’t think so, they will show you the door after 15 minutes. This comment by the Mr. Darren is all about being machismo, a customer is the king mentality. Everybody makes mistakes, all professionals are prone to that, but it doesn’t follow that the organization is at fault.

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Damien Perodi Reply:
December 5th, 2009 at 6:09 am

but, F55 doesn’t try to breed good financial advisors, just mediocrity….they train dozens of people a year hoping some stick, but if they don’t, well, they got their family business….their compensation model is awful…you can make twice the money as an independent advisor…maybe that way these guys won’t feel the need to sell the “big” cases to everyone and push leveraged investing on everyone

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 2:16 am

Again, simple not true. I have only ever sold 1 leverage deal,and my manager is certainly not making me sell anything, in fact I don’t know how she could help me, since she has never sold the volume I do.
She is a business coach, helps me with hires, questions with HO, etc..

Yes, of course the company wants mediocrity, it does not want to make profits. It wants advisors that are not successful, so they can go on this post and blame everyone else.

Damien, my payout on money business is about 85%, and on life about 170%, tell me which company pays double that, I would love to work for a company that would pay me $1.70 for every dollar of earnings they get. Wait a minute… that company would go out of business in a day. Please stop the lies.

The company may pay slightly less than other companies, but I assume you know the reason… because they provide other things that other companies don’t. They have hired a consulting firm that is advising me on my practice, from staffing, to driving profits, to analyzing my clients base, profitability, etc… This is a two year project that if I was independent would likely cost me nearly $50,000 over than time period.

Again, do your homework, understand the trade off and what the value proposition is with each firm and choose the one that best suits your needs, just like you would suggest (I hope) to your client do.

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I disagree. Freedom 55 is an excellent company with great benefits. My family had several plans with them and they had delivered quite nicely. Recently I was forced to borrow money from my retirement fund for an emergency. My financial broker responded promptly and I was given the money needed within days. I am planning to give them even more once my emergency is over and the money is recovered. Freedom 55 is worth every penny I had invested and I will continue to see my investment grow toward a satisfying and secure future.

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Pete Jordan Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:26 pm

Suck, lick, suck, lick, suck……(Let us know when you have finished Paul)

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Here are the FACTS in point form:

- Freedom 55 advisors are self employed
- They can sell over 95% of mutual funds available (not just proprietary)
- They can sell London Life, Great-West Life, Sunlife and Manulife products via intercorporate agreements
- When necessary to meet client needs they can sell other insurance carriers products
- Most offices require a post-graduate degree to become an advisor
- They encourage and pay for continuing education such as the Certified Financial Planner’s designation (CFP) among others
- One of the few remaining firms that higher new advisors into the business
- They have the highest retention rate in the industry (over 25% versus 10% with most firms after five years)
- They provide extensive training to start (seven weeks with minimal compensation) as well as on going support forever
- They pay current advisors for referring new advisors because that is where they have the highest success (advisors know what it takes to be successful and who better to refer into the business)
- It is an aging industry, which is why they need to hirer more advisors all the time (average advisor age is over 55 – in the industry, not just Freedom 55 although it is similar)
- Commissions are industry standard or lower (both investments and insurance)
- Freedom 55 advisors with a CFP designation can offer fee for service advice as opposed to commission
- All Freedom 55 advisors must sign the code of ethics annually
- Freedom 55 advisors get unparalleled support in every product line from specialists (Investment Consultants with Certified Financial Planning (CFP) designations, Private Wealth Councillors with Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations, Tax and Estate Planning with Chartered Accountants (CA) designations, Living Benefits Specialist with Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) designations, just to name a few).
- Have access to industry leading financial planning technology such as NaviPlan
- Freedom 55 advisors pay subsidized rent in prime office locations and pay little for technology, support and software (independents could only dream of paying so little in comparison)
- Do not post commissions of other advisors but rather credits which reflect all activity including commissionable and non-commissionable activity.
- Has a sales process that centers around the clients needs and comprehensive fact finding to ensure the best products can be recommended

This is one of the toughest industries to work in and Freedom 55 Financial provides their advisors with unparalleled support to help them succeed. Unfortunately many people are not up for the challenge of finding their own clients. There are many advisors who are great but cannot prospect. You will find them with the Banks. For those who can prospect effectively, you will find them with independent firms such as Freedom 55 Financial. In my opinion, you are far better served with one of these individuals.

Before selecting ANY Financial Advisor, ask for client references and ask lots of questions. Freedom 55 advisors are required to have clients sign a disclosure document up front which tells the client how they get paid, who they can represent and informs them of any potential conflicts of interest. The company also performs annual audits to ensure this takes place.

Do your homework and don’t believe anonymous posts from people who don’t even understand their own problems.

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Love this stuff. Primerica is the only company that can deliver. I can prove it with any Prospectus.

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Alia Reply:
April 19th, 2010 at 5:37 pm

All who dissatisfied with Freedom 55 Financial should go and Deal with PRIMERICA!!!!! I DARE YOU! The Best company ever for those who hates Freedom 55! BUT before you DO go to PRIMERICA , google it!

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Greg Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 10:24 am

Really? Don’t say things that will only make you look ignorant. I could rip a Primerica policy to shreds!!!!! They have more hidden riders and future costs ( without even knowing ) then any other company in North America ( for that matter ). Freedom 55 has intercorporate deals with Manulife, Sunlife, Canada Life. So to hate Freedom 55 would mean you hate Life Insurance. Also their management staff will allow you to sell other products if it makes sense for the client ( known as a one off ). So all your problems are with some Joe Shmoe advisor and not the actual company Power Corp.

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Pete Jordan Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Greg,
1) – F55 advisors CANNOT sell Canada life products (& vice versa), you are told this on day 1 of training.
2) -When you sell a non London life product you get NO COMMISSION only FYC credits and any sales bonus (do it too many times and the management gets upset)
If you don’t even know these BASIC facts, I doubt you know much more.
“To hate Freedom 55 would mean that you hate Life insurance” – So by you logic if you hate Kia Cars it would mean that you hate foreign cars – somehow that doesn’t sound right…
Please, Don’t say things that will only make you look ignorant.

Pete Jordan Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 7:23 pm

Oh boy, if there are 2 companies that are even worse than F55 and from which one should keep away from, its PRIMERICA and WORLD FINANCIAL GROUP, Scums of the earth.

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 2:27 am

There is Pete again, saying stuff without any proof, just lies.

I am a F55F advisor and have contracts through F55F and my MGA of about 20 companies, one being Canada Life. I certainly would not sell something without being paid. Come on, do you really think anyone would sell Manulife, Sun Life, etc… and not get paid.

My family has had policies with London Life for many years and when it came down to it–when my parents passed–I have had nothing but problems with them and I find them very unprofessional and very incompetent. I do not recommend any dealings with Freedom 55 Financial–A Division of London Life.

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Darren, like any situation to avoid bias or down right ignorance you must look at both sides of the story. This is something that you have failed to do. Everyone has failed to realize what F55 and London Life is. It is one of the most recognizable and trusted brands in the industry with over 130 years of experience. They are not forclosing, they are not scamming, nor are they asking for an $86 billion dollar bail out. They are helping the people who are not so ignorant as to condemn a company with over 30 billion in assets without even a phone call. If you have a problem with an advisor because he contacted you too much, you are way out of you league. Contact is the most important asset an advisor has. It allows him/her to gain trust. They are not routing through your garbage for your SS number they are trying to sell you products that are intangible and that is hard to do over the phone. You will find problems where ever you go. It all depends if you took the time to find out why the problem occured instead of doing the complete opposite.
This coming from a third generation insurance rep who has seen it all, every last exscuse in the book.

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Paul Sabat
February 21st, 2010
9:01 am
Here are the FACTS in point form:
- Freedom 55 advisors are self employed –
In theory only, what you really are is an unpaid employee (as you have to work full time and have targets to meet set by the company, true self employed people set their own hours, choose their own products, choose/purchase their own equipment and targets), yet you have to pay for your space, computer, etc which is then used to pay the fat salaries of the management. Also, self employed people do not have to provide weekly activity schedules to their directors with stupid thing like # of calls made, etc, or have quarterly reviews with their regional director, where they are forced to explain themselves and then given further targets to meet. This happens to employees only. You are a “CAPTIVE AGENT” (Unpaid employee) plain and simple.
- They can sell over 95% of mutual funds available (not just proprietary) –
NOT TRUE! If you sell non Quadrus funds i.e. 3rd party funds a) you earn nothing, no commission, no bonus, nothing, b) the management gets very angry and will call you in for a nice long chat.
- They can sell London Life, Great-West Life, Sunlife and Manulife products via intercorporate agreements –
TRUE, BUT, you get paid bonus only and commission reconition only, no actual monies earned. By the way, why did Paul include London Life in the above list? How can you have an intercorporate agreement with yourself??? Paul if you REALLY are/were at F55 you would have not included London Life, as London Life OWNS F55.
- When necessary to meet client needs they can sell other insurance carriers products –
Only as one off contracts and only after begging and pleading with management that “it is really in the client’s best interest”. I had to do this back in April and boy it would have been easier to deal with a government dept. Do it too many times and it will be time for another long talk.
- Most offices require a post-graduate degree to become an advisor –
NOT TRUE, many advisors at our office (which is one of the biggest in the GTA & country!) were new immigrants, ex-factory workers, failed business owners (yes, our office makes a serious effort to recruit people whose own businesses have failed. These include, ex-shoe shop owners, ex-auto parts owners and ex-restaurant owners) and college/university graduates who could not find any other job to do. Nobody I’ve met has anything beyond a basic degree. Even your spouse can join and in many cases does, no questions asked as long as he or she can pass the exams.
- They encourage and pay for continuing education such as the Certified Financial Planner’s designation (CFP) among others –
Only if you meet targets and pass 1st time. Otherwise they don’t want to know. Off course they are going to encourage continuing education as you need to meet the min. hours to keep your licences. An advisor with no licence is no good to anybody esp. F55.
- One of the few remaining firms that higher new advisors into the business –
Higher??? Oh, you mean hire…AGAIN NOT TRUE, so do Investors Group, RBC, Sun Life, Edward Jones, etc. And I didn’t even have to mention World Financial Group and Primercia!
- They have the highest retention rate in the industry (over 25% versus 10% with most firms after five years) –
NOT TRUE, average after 5 years is 10% at best, this is common knowledge around the office and in the industry As obviously the best ones leave to start their own firms or become brokers and the poor ones just leave. Since I’ve been with F55 (just over 1 year) 27 people or after me of those 5 remain! (4 joined with me, none remains). Of the 43 people who joined over the last 2 years, only 11 remain. (In case you’re wondering, I’ll be out of F55 by the end of this month, got a much more decent deal with a F55 competitor, one who actually treats you, like your clients should be treated, so I am not giving my last name so to ensure that F55 doesn’t cause me any problems on my way out.
- They provide extensive training to start (seven weeks with minimal compensation) as well as on going support forever –
So does everybody else including the fore mentioned companies, so whats new? An example of training at F55, would be to ask the attendees what prospecting and marketing methods they use and then select a couple and ask the attendees to go ahead and implement immediately and then at the next workshop the attendees will be grilled on how they did – thats F55 training 101.
- They pay current advisors for referring new advisors because that is where they have the highest success (advisors know what it takes to be successful and who better to refer into the business) –
TRUE, but be prepared to pay it back if the advisor that you referred does not pan out. Then again many professional organisations, e.g. recruiters, pay referral fees, so whats so special here?
- It is an aging industry, which is why they need to hirer more advisors all the time (average advisor age is over 55 – in the industry, not just Freedom 55 although it is similar) –
????? what has this got to do with anything? Accountants, Doctors, Lawyers, etc, in fact all industries are aging, and thus need to hire more employees, ever heard of the “skills shortage in Canada”? ALSO above you said the F55 were “One of the few remaining firms that higher new advisors into the business” now the entire industry is hiring? Paul what is it?
- Commissions are industry standard or lower (both investments and insurance) –
VERY TRUE, generally lower e.g. most investment sellers pay 5% F55 pays 2.5%, many term providers pay 50%, F55 45%, etc (Paul I know that this was not what your were trying to point out! But hey its the truth!)
- Freedom 55 advisors with a CFP designation can offer fee for service advice as opposed to commission –
Paul, any advisor can do this, regardless whether they work for F55 or not! (Paul has it really come down to silly points like this now?). Go to any financial planning association website (or even http://www.moneysense.ca) which lists “For fee” planners, are you telling me that every single one of them works for F55? News for you buddy, less than 1% (if any at all) will be F55 advisors. Go ahead check it out and report back if you feel up to the challenge.
- All Freedom 55 advisors must sign the code of ethics annually –
Oh boy, everybody has to do this whether you are a doctor, a dentist, an advisor, a recruiter, a real estate agent, etc – this is NOT EXCLUSIVE to F55, it is part of the regulations to meet licensing requirements (Paul I’m beginning to doubt your sanity now).
- Freedom 55 advisors get unparalleled support in every product line from specialists (Investment Consultants with Certified Financial Planning (CFP) designations, Private Wealth Councillors with Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations, Tax and Estate Planning with Chartered Accountants (CA) designations, Living Benefits Specialist with Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) designations, just to name a few). –
Paul this is going beyond funny now, are you saying that advisors who work for e.g. RBC, Sun Life, etc do not also have access to this? Even Primerica “agents” have access to these specialists. F55 DOES NOT have copyrights on these designations!
- Have access to industry leading financial planning technology such as NaviPlan –
Paul I suggest to go and receive the May 2009 edition of SmartMoney magazine, where Naviplan finished last amongst the 5 planning software reviewed. Ask yourself this question, if Naviplan is so go then why are so many advisors at F55 buying and using other software such as FPSolutions and why is F55 giving a discount to buy this system?
- Freedom 55 advisors pay subsidized rent in prime office locations and pay little for technology, support and software (independents could only dream of paying so little in comparison) –
NOT TRUE, the costs charged by F55 are sky high, $48 bi-weekly the teaming table, whether you use it or not is a rip-off and do you think paying $60 bi-weekly for 3 years for a computer which costs less than $1,000 is a bargain? Where were you during Math classes? Other companies e.g. RBC give you a computer and work area for free, and yes they also get full 24 hour support and all the other so called bells & whistles.
- Do not post commissions of other advisors but rather credits which reflect all activity including commissionable and non-commissionable activity. –
NOT TRUE, just log into the advisor site and click on the link on the left, near the bottom of the page and a couple of clicks later viola you can access any office in the country and see the year to date FYC of each advisor in that particular office. This is how I know that I would be #1 in 2 offices in the GTA yet only #5 at another. Paul have you ever access the advisor site, remember it is part of the so called superior support that you get, so why not make use of it? You are told about this access in training, please pay attention!
- Has a sales process that centers around the clients needs and comprehensive fact finding to ensure the best products can be recommended –
For heavens sake everybody does it. Paul if you didn’t do a fact find first, then how would you know what the client’s needs were and thus what you should recommend? this is common sense and you honestly think only F55 advisors do this? So all other advisors just ask the client to “spin the wheel” and see what advise it stops at? GET REAL PAUL! Is your doctor’s/acccountant’s/lawyer’s/car salesperson/etc advise centered around you and do they do a fact find (e.g. about your health, if doctor, about what you are going to use the vehicle for, is salesperson),before recommending a course of action? Of course they do, so what makes think this only happens at F55?
This is one of the toughest industries to work in and Freedom 55 Financial provides their advisors with unparalleled support to help them succeed. Unfortunately many people are not up for the challenge of finding their own clients. There are many advisors who are great but cannot prospect. You will find them with the Banks. For those who can prospect effectively, you will find them with independent firms such as Freedom 55 Financial. In my opinion, you are far better served with one of these individuals. –
Paul, F55 is not an ‘independent” firm it is a “Captive” agency. Only brokers are truly independent, so keep this in mind.
Before selecting ANY Financial Advisor, ask for client references and ask lots of questions. Freedom 55 advisors are required to have clients sign a disclosure document up front which tells the client how they get paid, who they can represent and informs them of any potential conflicts of interest. The company also performs annual audits to ensure this takes place. –
Paul, all insurance/investment companies/agencies/brokers do this and it is THE LAW in Quebec, so are you saying that this law only applies to F55 or F55 is the only finance company that operates in Quebec. Same for annual audits, can’t find anywhere where it says these are a requirement for F55 only, if you can direct me it will be much appreciated.
Do your homework and don’t believe anonymous posts from people who don’t even understand their own problems –
AND ALSO DON’T BELIEVE IDIOTS LIKE PAUL, WHO ARE EITHER OUTRIGHT LYING OR ARE TOO STUPID TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. PEERHAPS YOU ARE A DIRECTOR AT F55, AS THEY ARE NOTHING MORE THAN PUPPETS TO THEIR MASTERS. PAUL IF THIS IS ANY INDICATION OF HOW ETHICAL YOU ARE THEN I PRAY FOR YOUR CLIENTS. IF WE WERE IN SOME 3RD WORLD COUNTRY I WOULD HAVE SIMPLY ASSUMED THAT YOU HAD BEEN “PAID” TO WRITE THIS CRAP.
PAUL WHY DIDN’T YOU THINK BEFORE YOU POSTED OR AT THE VERY LEAST GET THE ADVICE OF A MORE INFORMED PERSON WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT GOES ON AT F55. SHAME ON YOU.

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Damien Perodi Reply:
September 8th, 2010 at 1:08 pm

Wow James, you are dead on. Great entry.

Of course Paul Sabat would write all of that and use the word “higher” in the wrong context. He is a F55 lifer.

By the way James, do you know much about the Markham branch?

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James Reply:
September 29th, 2010 at 6:34 pm

Unfortunately not Damien. Only about the offices in Toronto and west GTA. Sorry.

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donna Reply:
July 18th, 2011 at 9:37 am

hey i am about to start with f55, can you please tell me more about them…

Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 2:57 am

Another unsuccessful advisor.
1) Not in theory in, reality
2) I set my own targets, no one has ever set my targets for me… does someone help you pee too?
3) Space: You are a franchisee… do you think Tim Horton’s corporate pays for the franchisee rent… are you kidding me. Wait if you are at the Financial Centre, do you think F55F offices are free, or maybe they have to pay rent for them and are downloading that cost to you??
4) Hey dumbass, your director is asking you for those things to tell and help you, if you don’t want the help, leave. The #1 most important thing in this industry (or any sales job) is prospecting, my guess is that you are not making enough sales, so your manager is asking the basics to figure out why you are not being successful, do you really think he wants to babysit you?
5) Other funds, very true… I can sell any mutual fund, front end , back end, its called contract B, now go out and sell enough and you’ll have it too.
Nobody calls me and tells me I have to sell anything, and if they did… I would sell what is best for my client anyway.
6) paying for education… So they want you to be motivated to pass the first time and actually learn this properly… does anyone want a financial advisor that has failed exams over and over again?
7) I believe Paul is stating facts whereby James you are stating (and you even admit it) your opinion.
8) No investment firm pays 5%, that is the amount dealers get, they pay you a percentage of that, yes, I agree London Life does pay 50% (or 2.5%) plus bonus… oops you forgot that, my bonus is over 65%, so that equate to over 80%, yes, I agree this is too complicated and they should change this, I have asked Alf on this.
9) If RBC is giving you something for free, there is a cost… do your homework. Are you vested there, can you sell your block? Has to be a catch… always is.

The cost to run your business should be about 35% of your revenue, if it not you are not investing enough in your business. If $50 bi-weekly and $100 per month for your computer is more than 35% of your business, get out quickly, you will never be successfully, go work for a bank.
10) Advisor portal never tells you commissions, it tell you credits, Paul is right… you’re wrong. I believe it would be against the confidentiality laws to post commissions in anywhere public.
11) Last time I checked, Canada was still a democracy, if you need to do business outside LL do it, I do all the time. The #1 advisor in the country (is in TO) and he does lots of outside business.

James it seems to me you are the idiot, you seem so unhappy with F55F and yet it seems you still work there… You don’t you do yourself a favour and quite, I am sure you’d be happier.

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Commenting and adding to the most recent posts (ie-james):

“You are a “CAPTIVE AGENT” (Unpaid employee) plain and simple.

- Sort of. As an agent for Freedom 55 you work for their organization so yes, you work directly for the firm- you use their equipment, peddle their products, and report to their bosses.
After the training (which is about 3 months) you are on your own- (ie- 100% commission). Training pays about 500/week and draws down to nothing by week 12. There is a desk fee and a liability insurance that everyone needs to pay.

“Most offices require a post-graduate degree to become an advisor ”

Depends. In the place I worked a degree was recommended but not a requirement. About half the guys I worked with had one.

“They encourage and pay for continuing education such as the Certified Financial Planner’s designation (CFP) among others”

Sure. What company dosen’t want better educated and certified employees.

“They have the highest retention rate in the industry (over 25% versus 10% with most firms after five years) –”

This figure, as James said is likely false. 25% after 2 yrs, 10% after 5 is more accurate. Or after 2 yrs 4/10 guys make it and 5 yrs only of those guys is still there.

“They provide extensive training to start (seven weeks with minimal compensation) as well as on going support forever”

Probably the best part of Freedom 55. They pay you to study for your IFIC and “support” you with product sessions, seminars, speakers. The rest of the time you memorize these super long scripts and call your circle of prospects to test them out. Fun times.

“Do not post commissions of other advisors but rather credits which reflect all activity including commissionable and non-commissionable activity.”

Where I worked they had a big ole whiteboard with your name and the number of policies you sold and what kind and the commission amount so everyone knew.plus the gossip- so and so is making this much…

Most people are not cut out to be advisors/agents. You have to be a real go-getter and a lot of contacts. Or else you ain’t gonna make it. Insurance is like real estate, a few make it big, most are starving.

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Freedom 55 is a scam! Put your money in GIC’s and hope that these scammers will fade away

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 3:06 am

That’s rich…and watch as you lose ground to inflation… Another bank employee???

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A friend’s advisor took off somewhere and it apparently happens a lot. Freedom 55 is only after the new recruit’s bank account and then their family and friend’s finances. For 90% of new advisors, it’s too difficult to continue after that. It’s true, they will suck you dry, then you’re free to go whichever way you want. Be careful with these guys.

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Marc Reply:
November 6th, 2010 at 3:21 am

That right Rhiannon, LL invest that money to hire someone to get the little bit of money from them & their friends. Maybe, just maybe you buddy’s advisor could not sell and sales was not for him. It’s ok, just because he can’t sell, does not mean he can not still be your friend.

It does not mean F55F is crooked, it means you friend can’t sell… that’s it. If he can’t sell would you like him o continue not making any money, or should he leave?

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I started with London Life as a F55 advisor in October and to date I have exceeded all quarterly targets (will receive those “nice” framed certificates) and am on schedule to complete my new advisor targets well before the mandated F55 deadline, based on my own efforts (via existing clients), no thanks to F55. I am up there on those “Top advisor” boards which Marc is blind to even though every office has them. I have to say that James pretty much hits the nail on the head with his post.

My main beef is that I run a successful mortgage brokerage and tax business and in July I received an email from a ‘director’ from a F55 office who insisted on meeting with me as he thought that financial planning would be a nice addition to my business. He assured me that me being a F55 advisor would not effect my current businesses because I would be an “Independent Business Owner” with the freedom to split my time between being a F55 advisor and my current businesses as I wished.
Now that I am contracted, F55 insists that all mortgages must go through London Life mortgages and not my own brokerage and also that I should cut back my time from January to May on my tax business (which I’ve been doing for that past 22 years) and instead spend it on my F55 business. When I asked what I should do with my tax clients, his response “Direct them to another tax advisor”. Wow what a genius, why don’t I think of that!

If F55 does not back down on these conditions then I will leave (and take those clients with me, whether they like it or not). So the ball is in their court.

A senior advisor insists that Marc is a Regional Director who is ready to say anything to protect his masters and ensure his office remains in London life’s good books.
Although Marc has also been a successful advisor he has done so on the “me” principle, i.e. ensuring that he made money first, with his client’s interests coming second.
Shame on you Marc.

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Marc Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 3:48 am

S Gupta… shame on you…

Sorry, Mr Gupta that your experience with F55F has been so bad. When I started, they clearly told me that you could only be engaged in 1 occupation… to my knowledge that has not changed, but I have seen other people doing other things. Here is the problem as I see it.
1) I think if you are doing more than 1 thing, it is impossible to do anything at 100%. I have yet to see a very successful business owner that can do more than 1 thing extremely well, those that do, have the right people and are able to leverage themselves, clearly you are not able to do this.
2) Pick either the tax preparation business or F55F, you decide what has more opportunity.

Make the decision and put your energy behind one thing, that will make you more successful if not at least happier.

I am sorry you are jealous of my success. I certainly have enjoyed some and the reason (I think you missed it), is because I give clients excellent advice. I actually care what their goals are, and listen to their dreams intently, then develop a plan to help them achieve what they want. The reason I make so much money, is because (again I think you missed this, but after hearing your complaints, I am not surprise, as you don’t really listen) I help people achieve what they want and put their interest first always. Once you put their interest first, you’ll get your just rewards, money, trips, etc…

Marc is not a regional director, again you don’t listen, they make far too little money and have to babysit guys like you. I am 100% an advisor; listen don’t be jealous, find your calling and be successful… what ever that means to you. I certainly have relationships with mortgage brokers, and never has anyone from F55F told me that I need to put all my mortgage business through our mortgage broker. Again if you actually listened, I clearly stated that even if they did, I would not listen… I run my business the way I see fit, not the way someone else feels I should.

I am very much familiar with the bulletins ( I think that is what you are talking about) and yes, don’t be jealous, my company is always near the top in my region, but once again you did not listen or read properly… I did not say they did not exist, I said they do not say how much commissions someone earns, they say how many credits you have earned. I am sure if you client said they want to earn $40,000 a year in retirement, you would understand what that means and not ASSume they are saying another number. Once you actually listen to what someone is saying (or writing), Mr Gupta you will be way more successful.

I do taxes as well, for a very limited number of clients, mostly older folks that I see many places, like H&R block (not just H&R block, listen)take advantage of them. Charging them $100 to do they return is highway robbery. I do it for them for free, most give me gifts to thank me. I am sure you are aware, there is a form you have your client say that F55F is not responsible for their tax returns, you are. So I am again unclear why the complaint, you certainly can do taxes if you choose to. AGAIN YOU MAKE THAT DECISION.

My suggestion to you Mr Gupta, is find what makes you excited, and do that right, because unlike you (again you do not listen… likely the reason neither of your practices are making any “real” money) I am in charge of myself, the only master I recognize is myself (ok, maybe the wife at home).

As well, to your comment about me looking after myself first, should I apologize for that? Reading your post, looks like to me… wait for it, you’re looking out for yourself. Let me repeat (see I listen) what you said… If F55F does not back down on these conditions then I will leave… so who is this serving exactly??? I think you should leave if you are not happy and more excited about your other business, because if you are doing a little in this business, a little in that business, who exactly is that serving… you or your clients? You cannot be a specialist at everything, the sooner you realize this, the sooner your clients will benefit… or eventually they will leave. Make a decision, build a business plan, market and work the plan properly every day and one day, you’ll understand what it means to be successful in your chosen field and then you’ll apologize to me for not listening to what I said. For the third time… I am not in management, I am in my own practice, just because I believe that each person is responsible for their own success, and failures (that is what it means to be a free person), does not make me management, it makes me lucky to live in a place and be in a chosen profession that has allowed me to do what I want, when I want, for who I want and make a few bucks along the way. For me, this industry, F55F or other has been very good to me (by my standards), that’s it and I have done it by always putting the client’s interest first, and I do that better than most and that it why I have gotten well rewarded for my efforts. I have worked hard to become the advisor I would expect if I was the client, and firmly believed that if I did (and I know what to look for far more than the average Canadian) the practice would flourish and guess what… it has.

Don’t be jealous, find your calling and you may be successful as well. First recommendation, listen to what people say, don’t go in with preconceived ideas.

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Marc Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 8:30 am

Hey S Gupta forgot a couple of things.

You are:

1) Mortgage broker
2) Tax preparer
3) Financial Advisor

what will you add in April, heart surgeon?

Again, I believe you can only do 1 thing well, even as a financial advisor there is way too many products lines and products to ever be close to an expert at all of them, you’ll hopefully realize that one day.

You also said you hit all the targets with F55F, which targets are those… yours? or someone else’s? If they are yours, they I think you set your targets way too low, or this business will likely be very good to you. If they are someone else’s targets… shame on you. You need to take ownership of your business and its direction.

Sorry, if you prefer I can be nice, and say keep up the good work… and in 3 yrs, you’ll also be blaming F55F for your failures, or someone else… I know it’s always someone else’s fault. I understand, you’re right.

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Marc Reply:
December 29th, 2010 at 8:39 am

If this senior advisor is trully telling you this…that I am a RM, than he is not successful, because if he was, he would know who I am. We are always the same people at RPRP, Leaders confernce, excellence, etc. and he would know who I am.

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I am not bent out of shape… I am tired of people not taking accountability for their actions and then blame everyone but themselves. This could be on a multitude of stuff, just so happens I am an expert in this industry, but the same could be said for any industry.

London Life is not 100% based on commissions (or does not need to be) one can charge fees for planning, but most Cnds are not willing to go down the road of fees… even though I can demonstrate over and over again that my fee is well worth it, people prefer to have that hiding in their investments. I give them the choice. Let’s be honest… banks make markup on their investments too, banks do NOTHING for free, but because that is done in the name of profits (made on our and their employees backs) makes this ok?? And for those fees, what service to they provide exactly?
Let me know the next time the bank calls to review your investments (truly). Most branches in Canada serve 10,000 people or more. How do they provide them proper advice with that number of clients… the answer … you and I both know… they don’t… but they still make profits, lots of them, and instead of reinvesting that profit in their clients, they aim for larger and larger profit margins. Increase service fees, while reducing services. I’m sure you pay $15 or more a month for service fees, what service exactly is the bank providing for that fee? Allowing me to give them my money, give me no interest and then charge me.

Commissions are not automatically bad….or make people do the wrong thing, its like that old saying guns are not bad… by themselves they cannot kill. Bad (unethical) people abuse commissions, but bad people steal too. Not everyone that works on commissions is bad, my belief is that eventually the industry and consumers flush out the guys who only work for their gain. In times when markets are down (like 2008) more of them get flushed out.

If personal finance is such easy and not rocket science… help everyone here… explain why you should trigger an estate freeze, what is the most beneficial investments to hold in your holding company, why a holding company, and what should be in it, and why, how to avoid kiddy tax in a family trust, why you would set up testamentary trusts, how much do you need to retire (a number) with full explanation and I could go on and on…

Yes I agree.. if you “work” for the gvt and have no education, make your $40K and go drink all your income on the weekends, no planning needs to be done… but don’t plan to travel too far or too often when you retire, work your 35 yrs, get your pension (hopefully you’ll still be alive)

The fancy software is no benefit I agree, and if you have not had a good advisor that does not show you any benefit to work with him, I agree with you… why would you work with him? But on the other hand if an advisor adds value to your situation, why would you not engage him?

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lacornish Reply:
January 5th, 2011 at 8:52 pm

And engage this guys whether he works for the bank, F55F or whomever, the point is there are good advisors (and bad ones) everywhere, don’t simply lump all F55F guys bad because of a couple of bad apples… if we did that there would be no good people (everyone has bad days), no good companies, etc….anywhere in the world.

And don’t go on any website and blame everyone else for your situation in the world… look in the mirror and do what you need to, no one else is going to do it for you.

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I am a CFP and work through a small firm for mutual funds and have an MGA for life products. I have recently been doing a lot of fee for service financial planning. This way I cam recommend any investments or insurance the client needs, I get zero commission unless they ask for my help in getting specific products. In some cases I will use low fee F class funds and charge 0.25-0.75 management fee on the portfolio. No DSCs, no conflict of interest. I interviewed with F55F before I entered the business and it left a foul taste in my mouth. I hate cold calls and everything I’ve seen since has told me I made the right decision going with a small independent, no quotas, no supervisors, my own book, my own pace.

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Here is a perfect example of a Freedom 55/Quadrus advisor looking after his clients:

By IE Staff

MFDA permanently bans ex Quadrus fund salesman
Unbecoming conduct results in $22,500 fine

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Mutual Fund Dealers Association has permanently banned a former Ontario fund salesman and insurance agent for his conduct with clients, and for failing to co-operate with an MFDA investigation.

At a hearing held Monday in Toronto, an MFDA panel accepted the settlement agreement between Calogero (Charlie) Arcuri and MFDA staff.

Arcuri was registered in Ontario as a mutual fund salesperson with Quadrus Investment Services Ltd. from March 5, 2002 to March 15, 2007. He was also registered as an agent with London Life Insurance Company, from January 18, 2002 to March 15, 2007.

In the settlement agreement, Arcuri admitted that:

- he failed to deal with clients BET and AM fairly, honestly and in good faith, and engaged in conduct which was unbecoming and detrimental to the public interest with respect to JM and MT; and

- he failed to attend to give information as requested by the MFDA.

As a consequence of the settlement. Arcuri is permanently prohibited from conducting securities related business in any capacity, must pay a fine in the amount of $22,500, and must pay costs in the amount of $2,500.

Arcuri was terminated as an approved person by Quadrus and as an agent by London Life on March 15, 2007, and is no longer registered in any capacity in the securities industry.

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Marc Reply:
March 21st, 2011 at 9:10 pm

Not the same Marc… you are kidding me right… 1 guy that is fined by MFDA, fired by LL and you think this is a full picture of F55F.

therefore, former Colonel Russell must be the same as every military person… they are all sickos like him.

Do people actually think before they enter things on blogs… I guess I know the answer to that question.

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Thanks for the email Tim… Just returned home Sunday late from Calgary (Excellence). It was an ok conference, the Royals were staying at our hotel, and the day we went golfing was very windy. This should be enough for you to verify that I was in fact in Calgary. What office are you out of, and who is your director?

I am not so comfortable giving my contact information as you can see I am a straight shooter and for some reality is hard to accept. All that being said, I also am very free to share my 15 yrs plus of experience. I am by no means claiming that I have the perfect practice (and do mean that), but do have a business plan.

The questions I would ask you Timothy…and this may be difficult as you are new to the industry ( I assume) and perhaps fairly young?
What is your goal(s) in the industry?

I will give you some idea of when I started… We made phone calls (as rookies) every Thursday night to book our meetings for the following week. Not only were the rookies there, but also the #1 salesperson in our office and he was 60 yrs old.

In my mind, a successful business owner by that age should be far removed from the day to day stuff like booking meetings (certainly on Thursday evenings) and by that age I hoped (and still do) to work about 6-8 months a yr, with all my appointments booked, the office running very smoothly, etc…

So I would recommend giving that some thought.

I am sure you have been told, if not what is management doing again? there is two hats you wear… 1) Entrepreneur and
2) Financial Advisor

Start with the ideal business situation… what you want to strive for. That would be the entrepreneurial side of the equation. I have already shared mine above

The advisor side would be why would a client deal with me over anyone else? What is my client value proposition? To help figure that out, the question I asked myself was… What would I expect if I was a significant client?

I am about 2 yrs away from being in a serious position to bring on any junior advisors. My practice is not 100% organized and it would not be fair to my staff or the junior advisor to bring them in until that is done. Also, my junior or associates will need to share similar views on client service, business management, values, etc… which I truly have not given my thought to on how to measure that. When I bring on someone, they will have the ability to work their way to ownership or not depending on.. of course production.

I should also state that I do not have an endless amount of clients. I personally believe for me to be successful both in business and in life, I need a balance. I want to provide in depth service (and I really mean it) to my clients, but want a life outside of my practice. To do that, I believe my clients deserve 2 meetings/yr and much more contact than that. I do not believe that I could manage more that about 200-250 families. If you do the math that is only 400-500 meetings per year. I am somewhat selective of the clients I engage and have an idea of the recurring revenue I want to earn based on those 200-250 families.

That being said, I am not opposed to acquisitions. I believe any successful business needs to be open to grow earnings through either organic growth or growth through acquisitions (just like when GWL bought LL). I do believe you need a strategy for each section. A marketing plan for organic growth and a checklist (which I have) for acquisitions. If you do acquire, a business plan on how you will go and see this clients should be a requirement from head office.

Now at 1yr in the business, I was happy if the person in front of me fogged a mirror… now the starting point is a little higher.

I will look you up and contact you in some form… give me the summer and you will have heard from me in some form, or I will have contacted your director. In the meanwhile Timothy good luck… I personally believe that you have made a great decision joining F55F but more importantly I believe you are in the second best industry (after professional athlete) and wish you much success… whatever that means to you.

I can promise you that if we hook up in some form… I will challenge you!! I believe that is the only way you’ll grow.

I will no longer be posting on this site, as my reputation is too important to bother here. I hope some of the thoughts (not just for Timothy) have ben helpful to both advisors and clients…

Both the client and the advisor hold some responsibility in the relationship… although I believe it is 80% (advisor), 20% (client) or something like that.

As a client, do your initial homework on the advisor and ask for his business plan. For the advisor actually have a business plan.

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The banks do the exact same thing as Pyramid55 Financial – just their workers are on salary so they have no incentive to push you into a certain product.
I don’t work at a bank, I just worked for Pyramid55 Financial for 3 years and I know the industry very well.

In addition to no salary, Advisors actually PAY the company monthly fees (starting at $500..and ranging much much higher for things like secretary support etc. things that are free at other companies) just to sit in the office (pay for cubicle or just sit at the teaming table, or pay big for an office) The guys with the offices sell the most permanent insurance and are very good at getting clients locked into these plans. With the way the world is printing money right now, the cash values in those permanent insurance policies are going to be worthless shortly and I expect many lawsuits going to freedom and london life.

I would stay far far away from these desperate, glorified salespeople.

Cheers :)

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Yah Right Reply:
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:31 am

The banks do the same thing as F55F… Yah right. When was the last time any (and I mean anyone) had their banker drfat them a retirement planner, called them for a review, actually had an opinion on the markets, knew what the 250 rule on UL was, helped reduce estate settlement costs, or actually sold someone else’s product other than their own.

What Ryan means is you should stay away from people (at F55F or other) that have nothing to add to your situation. Ryan obviosuly did not take his job seriously and was not able (after 3 yrs) to add any value to his client’s offering. Wow and he was not successful.

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These are HIGH PRESSURE SALESPEOPLE you most certainly would like to avoid.

I had a meeting with one of them who didn’t even know what he was talking about, and was clearly trying to steer me into “20-paid” insurance which I assume is the permanent insurance, they were trying to really push me into that. Didn’t seem to matter what I said, they just kept pushing this product.

I said I didn’t want to meet again and they were like a pitbull locked onto its prey, kept calling me again and again trying to get me back in.

Stay away and go to the financial planner at your bank! they are not on full commission.

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yah right Reply:
October 16th, 2011 at 11:12 am

Curtis, you said you meant with ONE Freedom 55 Advisor… why are you so ignorant to say they are all the same? From one to all is a big stretch and really shows ignorance.

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Curtis Reply:
October 21st, 2011 at 4:12 pm

You are an insurance salesman aren’t you?

Answer me this: What pays you the highest commission – A participating insurance policy, or a term insurance policy (less expensive)?

Answer me this: When you transfer over someones funds or start a new account for them, do you get paid more in commissions if you lock that client in for 7 years (“DSC’d”) or if you leave their money alone so that they have easy access to it?

Simple questions, I bet you don’t answer them. It would make you uncomfortable if the general public knew how you operate wouldn’t it…

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This is what the financial salespeople at Freedom 55 Financial are trying to sell to you (because it pays them the most in commissions compared to other financial products): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzgtWfQngII&feature=related

Here is another opinion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7VOZnJy7lE&feature=related

haha, this post will get the salesmen who come on here to protect themselves and Freedom 55 Financial’s reputation’s blood boiling. Enjoy boys! A healthy dose of the truth.

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Leanne Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 4:21 am

How much exactly does the salesman at Freedom 55 Financial get for this whole life thing vs other financial products? Contemplating visiting an advisor but weary of straight-commission types.

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Curtis Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 10:55 am

They get roughly the yearly amount of the premium in commissions. So that is why the permanent insurance (20-pay insurance) is pushed so hard – plus the bonus is slightly higher on 20-pay insurance so it must be the most profitable product from the company’s point of view.
So, if you signed up for $200/month 20-pay insurance policy = the advisor will make $2400 for that sale.
If they sell you funds, they make very very little on that sale. They only make money on Fund sales if the amount of money is very large or if they “DSC” or “Low Load” it – this means your money is locked in for 7 or 3 years respectively. you will be penalized if you try to take money out during that timeframe, for whatever reason emergency or not.
Also, as advisors sell more insurance, their insurance bonus goes up. The fund bonus rate and the insurance bonus rate float seperately so that is why most advisors will lean heavily towards either funds or insurance depending on which bonus that particular advisor is trying to keep elevated at that time. So the same advisor may advise different things to you if you come to him and 2 different times of the year – depending on where his bonuses are, they don’t want their bonus to drop below certain points.
Scam55financial keeps a Canada-wide competitive “leaderboard” for insurance and fund sales to the public. It is a competitive environment to sell as many “20-pays” as possible to anyone who will bring a cheque to a meeting !!

Go to the bank Leanne :-)

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yah right Reply:
November 7th, 2011 at 8:22 pm

Curtis, you have no idea what you are talking about?

20 pay life policy is actually the least profitable product for the company on its permanent side…. this is because you only pay premiums for 20 yrs. A policy you pay for your whole life is OBVIOUSLY more profitable for the company. That’s simple grade 1 math. Your ignorance is obvious.

Yes, I am a commission salesperson… and do not feel a need to apologize.

I assume when you get a raise at work and earn more you feel like you should be paid more.

If you buy a product like the 20 pay life and it saves you and/or your estate $1,000,000, does it matter that I get paid? If I sold you a term policy and got less, but you died after the term expired and cost your estate/beneficiary $1,000,000 how would you feel about me getting less commissions then?

I should also inform you that I would actually get paid more (over the long term) with a term policy, because once the 20 pay is paid up, I don’t get paid anything anymore. But if you keep taking the renewal for the term because you need insurance, then I keep getting paid as long as the policy stays in force, and that could potentially be much longer than 20 years.

If the 20 pay life is the right product for your situation, why would you not buy it, regardless of how much I get paid. If the 20 pay life policy is not the right product for your situation, why would you buy it?????

For the DSC fee… the question is not really whether I get paid more…. which I know you really don’t care… is whether I actually added value to your situation. If I or another advisor do not add value to your situation or you think you can do this all yourself, why would you pay any advisor (bank or other) any commissions? That would be again stupid on your part.

If I increase your net worth by 300% does it really matter on the DSC fee? Certainly advisors at F55F can charge a fee for service. So if I gave you the choice of paying $3000 fee for service or charging you a DSC for my services, which would you prefer?… because to me it makes no difference!! But don’t expect to get my advice for free, that advice is available at your local bank branch… Its called no advice… You ever heard the old saying… you get what you pay for!

Good luck to you! I am quite confident the person at the bank will be able to help you draft a retirement plan and give you updates on your progress towards your goals, load your portfolios with only the top fund managers for every asset class, save your estate and yourself potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, help determine whether you should incorporate, put a risk management plan together for you and your family, help you with your company pension plan, help you with your cash flow management, credit risk, be available for reviews bi-annually and contact you (in a form or another) 15 times per year. I am also sure, he will waive all your bank fees, help you get the best mortgage product in the industry and best rates, etc…. I could go on and on for hours.

For the record, if you buy at $200/mth 20 pay policy from me, I will make more than $2500 and I certainly don’t feel a need to apologize. But if I sell you this product you’ll need it’s the right fit for your situation.

Yes, the bonus does go up depending on what you sell more of… what business does this not happen?
I think the advisor’s actually specialize not because of bonus rates, but because becoming a specialist (just like a heart surgeon over a generalist) adds more value to their clients. Specialist make more $$ than generalist because they add more value. As well, no one in the world came become a true specialists in all areas of financial planning (of course except for those people at the banks making $45,000 per year). It is impossible. Sure for MOM and POP both working at the government and never really building any wealth, perhaps the bank is best for them, but to say a specialist in the financial services industry is not worth his money is just idiotic.

Curtis, it’s obvious to me your worked for F55F and were not successful and now it’s everyone fault but your own, why don’t you man up and take the blame for being unsuccessful.

The “leaderboard” is common in all sales environments and to a lessen extend in all companies. You think guys/gals working for Scotia McLeod, Subway, Realtors, car dealerships don’t know how much their counterparts are selling…. you are kidding me right? You think Subway HQs does not know the sales of all their location in the world? Come on, you are not that naive are you??

All companies have an earnings projections, etc. Tell me which stock would you buy if the company had no projections for earnings in the future, or report on earnings today? I also believe you would likely compare a couple of companies to determine which is a better investment.

I believe the company wants their clients to be well served. if that means selling their clientele a 20 pay policy because it’s the best product for the situation sounds like the right thing to do. I can tell you every company in the industry wishes they had a 20 pay policy, because it is the best permanent product in our industry (in my estimation and I am way more informed than you are). The Par fund for LL is the largest Par fund in Canada and has a very solid history. They have not change premiums since I started some 15 yrs. ago. I am sure you are aware term has seen many re-pricings and does almost yearly, all ULs have been through price increases and more are coming.

If you had bought a significant 20 pay some 20 yrs. ago, it would have been your best investment (likely) over the last 10 yrs, with extremely low volatility.

has anyone here ever done the math on how much a bank makes off their average customer and then determined whether they feel they are getting value.

Let’s do it.

Lets make the following assumptions (my guess is this are on the low side).

Average mortgage; $200,000 @ 4%
Average account size $100,000 @ 1,5% Mers
Average loan size $25,000 @ 7%
Average service fees: $25/mth
Average branch has $10,000 customers

So the annual revenue the banks gets (assuming no other fees, etc… which of course there is).

Mortgage: $8000
Mers: $1500
Loan: $1750
Fees: $300

Total: $11,550.00 per year per client
take that number and multiple *10,000

Now that you know that number… d you feel like the bank has offered you the services worthy of $11,550 because this is easily the revenue they drive from their customers.. So the next time, they hit you with another service fee… remember this number, the net time they do not draft a plan because they don’t have enough staff to offer proper services to their customers… remember how much they make off you…

I can guarantee that if any financial advisor in Canada was getting that kind of revenue from his client base, the advice would be well worth the revenue… you be getting tax advice, investment advice, mortgage advice, loan advice, insurance advice, etc…. all from experts… the bank does not want to spend that money getting you experts because it would squeeze their profits too much.
So who is the bank looking out for???

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Curtis Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 1:07 pm

Your post is a perfect example of the old saying “you can’t win an argument with an idiot.”

haha.

But seriously, most people make around $40,000 per year. The government comes and takes about $15,000 so that leaves the average person with $25,000. Then YOU are saying that their bank comes along and takes $11,500.00 from them each year.

This leaves the average person with $13,500.00 per year with which to buy food for themselves and pay for their car, children etc.

Clearly your logic could use some tweaking, no?

At the end you justify that “if any financial advisor in Canada was getting $11,500.00 per year from each client that the advice would be well worth the revenue”. So you think it would be reasonable for you to charge each of your clients $11,500.00 per year for your advice? Since I worked at Freedom 55 Financial for 4 years I know that your “advice” is really just tied selling and the steering of your clients into putting as much money as possible into the product which pays you the most in commissions (permanent/whole life/20-pay life insurance).

You sir are a shark in a suit.

Merry Christmas

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Curtis Reply:
December 21st, 2011 at 1:13 pm

Ps. “Yah Right”, If you are such a knight in shining armor to the public in terms of “financial services” then why don’t you post your real name and which office you work out of/phone number ?

That way the general public can call you – possibly increasing your DSC’d (locked-in) fund sales, and of course your 20-pay sales ;-)

C’mon man, man up.

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Curtis,, sorry the reply was so long… so buddy up for it… here’s your chance to either make a fool of me… or grow your net worth…. REALLY you have nothing to lose… either way.

But I would ask at the end if you honestly fell (and be honest and open minded) . Don’t forget everyone will see your results here in public for them to judge whether I have added value. If you fell like I have added value to your situation, you owe the board an apology and saying perhaps I was wrong… that’s all I ask for. Got it in you??

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yah right Reply:
December 22nd, 2011 at 2:48 am

here your chance Curtis… 2012 can be the year that will make you a millionaire… Ready?

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Curtis Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:13 pm

Your logic lacks the most basic display of common sense. Also, do you think I want an advisor whose name is “yah right”. Nope, you sound like a child. A Freedom 55 Financial “advisor” is just a salesman that has his targets and his products that pay him more than the others.

Go sell your 20-pays and shitty DSC’d Quadrus funds to the uneducated public jagoff.

How do you sleep at night?

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Curtis Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:21 pm

ps. Tell the public how what your commission structure is for the following:

1) TFSA’s

2) RRSP’s, non locked-in

3) RRSP’s, locked-in Quadrus Fund Units

4) Whole Life

5) “20-pay” whole life

I already know the answer, but how about you tell the public…and then continue on to try to explain your purely “unbiased” financial planning. ha ha

As a Freedom 55 Financial Salesman you start off with a 3 week training program and you require no degree or diploma of any kind. During this training they teach you how to hold meetings and what to say to clients in order to get them to buy – certain products. This is how you get paid as a F55F person. There are plenty of advisors who have no clue what a mutual fund even is – but they will sell you one!

Think about this structure for a while – is this a credible honorable company? lol.

yah right Reply:
January 5th, 2012 at 7:23 pm

Ok… talking about common sense… I have offered to help you become a millionaire and all you do is open your stupid mouth… hey stupid do you want to be a millionaire or not?

I don’t sell Quadrus funds moron… I don’t have to.

yah right Reply:
January 5th, 2012 at 7:56 pm

Hey Curtis… targets and products…

Tell everyone on this post Curtis… which company do you know that does not have products or targets?

CAn’t wait to hear this one…. come on Curtis shows us all how smart you are???

Here is something for you to see the added value Curtis (someone informed can offer their clients – unlike you).

Check out this fund were recommend (ad have for 3 years truthfully) to our clients. RBC Canadian Equity Income.

There I have added more value to all the people on the post than you have in one recommendation….

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Still avoiding answering any questions hey Curtis… tell everyone why you won’t answer any questions?
The reason is because you don’t know the answers… there is the idiot in you.

The only one that sounds like a bumbling idiot is you…. and you could have been one of those millionaires… I have made many, my clients know who they are.

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