Empire Life is pleased to announce the launch of a new 8 year premium payment option for our participating whole life insurance products. EstateMax 8 Pay and Optimax 8 Pay offer consumers lifetime participating life insurance protection with a new “Quick Pay” premium payment option - premiums are payable in as few as 8 years!

To learn more, see information circular 2017-05.

We will begin to mail the Empire Life December 31, 2016 Investment Statements to customers on February 3, 2017.  PDF copies of these statements will begin to be available on the Business Centre beginning February 6, 2017. We apologize for any inconvenience the delay in these mailings may have caused.

Customers who own a Guaranteed Investment Fund (GIF) contract will notice an improvement to their statement. Based on customer and advisor feedback we have renamed the monthly Insurance Fee transaction to the Guarantee Benefit Fee. This change better explains the guaranteed benefits your customers are paying for with their GIF contracts.

Also, in an effort to improve the customer experience, all customers will receive an insert with their statements asking them to complete a short survey to share their experience with Empire Life regarding our products and statements.

For additional information about your customer’s statements please see information circular 2017-04.

Each January we determine the Interest Rate Range used to set the premiums for Hybrid Solution 100 coverage.

Read information circular 2017-03 for more information.

We are pleased to let you know that, effective immediately, our Underwriting team has improved the smoker definition for CI Protect Plus - it will be using the same definition as our life products.

Read information circular 2017-02 for more details.

We’re pleased to announce Empire Life and Empire Life Investments Inc. won 2016 Fundata A+ Awards for Empire Life Asset Allocation Fund, Empire Life Elite Balanced Fund, Empire Life Equity Growth Fund #3, and Empire Life Premier Equity Fund. The award-winning funds exemplify a conservative, value-oriented, disciplined investment style, with a strong emphasis on providing downside protection to help build wealth.

Find out more about the award winning funds.

Our handy money facts sheet has everything you’ll need to talk to your clients about RRSPs, TSFAs and taxes. Just download it to share or hand out.

• Download Canada version
• Download Quebec version

Make sure your letter gets to the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). Follow these steps and ensure your letter is received at Empire Life by Monday, February 20, 2017.

Visit the MDRT website to download the qualifying letter and complete the appropriate sections.

• Mail the completed letter to Empire Life, 259 King St East, Kingston ON  K7L 3A8 Attention: Leanne Dowling
• Email a scan of the completed letter to salescentre@empire.ca

Once received, we will complete the letter and send it back to you.

“Navigating a world that is becoming less global” with Ian Hardacre, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Geoff Johnston, Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, and Amber Sinha, Senior Portfolio Manager, Global Equities. Find out where Empire Life Investments sees opportunity and how the funds are positioned to help protect your client's wealth in these uncertain times.

Hear the conference call.
Read the conference call summary notes.

Visit the Empire Life Investments website for the 2016 year-end mutual fund distributions. They are based on income and capital gains earned by the Funds in the taxation year to December 20, 2016.

Erik Kalin has been appointed Vice-President and Chief Operations Officer, Retail. Previously Vice-President, IT Strategy and Innovation, Erik has been a key driver of our digital strategy, providing his expertise and leadership to initiatives such as the launch of our Fast & Full online application process, our direct to consumer presence and other digital initiatives

Did you know that for an Owner Entity under FATCA that a typical Passive NFFE is a holding company or a one where 50% or more of its gross income are from investments? If Passive, a companies' Directors could be reportable if the individuals are US Residents for Tax. Alternatively, if the Owner Entity is actively earning money physically making products or providing goods or services, then it is considered an Active NFFE and therefore is not reportable under FATCA. Check out the official definitions from the CRA website.