What do advisers who have already made the change to Hybrid have to say?

“I’ve been an adviser for 25 years having built two business models in two different states. With my latest business, I originally started with upfront commissions, but then changed to hybrid around 6 years ago. It was the best thing I ever did. 

I believe that moving to hybrid is much more beneficial. Instead of getting the second year renewal of 11%, I was getting 20% on average, so I believe it’s been very advantageous as over time it’s evolved into a larger asset making the business more valuable should I decide to sell. 

I also made MDRT top of the table by writing hybrid. Renewals now far outweigh what I would have ever earned taking upfront commissions. The value I’ve seen has been unbelievable.

I would strongly recommend to anyone to structure their business the same way for a far more profitable outcome.”

Deborah Heindl
Director
Heindl & Associates

“Lowe Financial Group (LFG) has opted for hybrid commissions since 1997 after recognising the need to build a sustainable income to increase the value of the business should we ever decide to sell.

Initially, the transition from an upfront structure to hybrid was challenging. Not only does your cash flow change, but so does the way you service your clients. Keeping clients with one insurer for a longer period of time is something we at LFG totally believe in. It strengthens your business and changes it from a sales based income generating business to a true business model. It takes approximately 4 years to breakeven on hybrid commissions, but from that point on, you’re miles ahead.

To put it simply, you’ll double your renewal commission. It's not just an extra 10%, but a 100% increase which means you automatically increase the value of your book by 100%, no matter what the multiple.

I would strongly recommend electing a hybrid commission structure to any adviser who wants to be in the industry for a long time, develop a business rather than a sales income, improve the level of service provided to clients, increase their income and grow the total value of their business.

I would be happy to discuss this option with any adviser thinking of changing. Even if you start by doing every third application as hybrid, you’ll soon realise the initial drop in income doesn’t compete with the increase achieved after a few years. You’ll kick yourself for not doing it earlier.

Our decision to change to hybrid when only a handful of practices were doing it has been the best business decision we have ever made. It’s allowed us to transform LFG from a sales business, then into a successful business and now onto a significant business.”

Gerard Lowe
Director
Lowe Financial Group

“I have opted for hybrid commission structures for all the insurance I’ve written since I purchased my business 5 years ago.

I made the decision to do this as I wanted to increase the ongoing revenue for the business, thereby increasing future cash flow and the overall value of my business. 

It’s proven to be a great success. My ongoing revenue has, and continues, to grow. Given the choice, I would not go back to upfronts.”

Josh Coligan
Director
Coligan Financial Services