What is changing. What remains the same.

Five points for people with 30 seconds to spare

1. The agent becomes a broker. I work on behalf of my clients, not on behalf of a company. This is clearly established in legal terms.
2. Commissions are largely replaced by fees. A fee wherever it makes sense. Commissions where they remain necessary.
3. The focus shifts from signing deals to providing service. No longer ‘next appointment, new contract’, but ‘what does this client need right now?’.
4. This is underpinned by three things. One-to-one support, a strict upper limit on full mandates, and technology that takes the routine work off my hands.
5. What remains are 15 years’ experience in the capital markets, clear opinions, even when they’re hard to hear, and a one-stop shop for all financial matters.

The long version, perfect for one or two cups of coffee.

Structural changes

Three clear changes.

An insurance agent becomes an insurance broker. This is more than just a new term. As an agent, you are tied to the company or sales organisation whose products you sell. In my old world, I was subject to the restrictions imposed by the company. As a broker, I now work on behalf of my clients. To whom I am accountable is legally unambiguous: to the client, not the company.

The commission-based model is increasingly giving way to a fee-based model. Where a fee does not cost the client more than the commission, I forego the commission. In the areas of investment and retirement provision, this results in savings running into four or five figures over the lifetime of a client relationship. I explained the reasoning behind this in the last post. Fees where it makes sense. Commissions where they are necessary.

The focus shifts from signing deals to service. That may sound like a marketing phrase, but it has concrete operational implications. In day-to-day work, this no longer means ‘Next appointment, new contract’, but ‘Next appointment, what does the client need right now?’. The difference lies in who sets the pace. In the old world, it was the next new client acquisition or the next premium increase for an existing client. It was hardly possible to plan time for a client without a potential for new business. In the new world, this is the norm.

How the promise now holds up structurally

Promising a service is easy. Delivering a service requires structure. Three pillars underpin what I promise my clients.

One-to-one support as standard. No video courses as a substitute for face-to-face meetings. ‘Personal’ means personal.

Full mandate limit as a safeguard on capacity. More on this in a separate post. Anyone who exceeds a certain number of clients can no longer be there for each and every one of them. I deliberately maintain this limit.

Modern technological infrastructure as an enabler of individuality.

Firstly. AI-supported routine processes for contract delivery, quotation preparation and the handling of policyholder enquiries. What used to take days now takes hours; some tasks take minutes or even fractions of a minute.

Secondly. Clients in the service programme are guaranteed a response within 24 hours. My aim is to resolve the matter within 48 hours, where it is within my power to do so. This is centrally organised via modern communication channels, which make this speed possible in the first place.

Thirdly. Automatic documentation and summarisation of consultations. Clients receive a full transcript within a few minutes. Previously, this involved up to 1.5 hours of follow-up work per consultation.

Fourthly. Key links to the insurance companies. Letters that insurance companies send to clients are usually available to me in real time, before the letter even reaches the letterbox. In practical terms, it sounds something like this. “A letter regarding a premium increase will arrive in the next few days. We’ve had a look at it. Here is the alternative option or recommendation.” Proactive support rather than reactive response. Although these interfaces technically existed in the old system, they were not activated because the focus was not on proactive support.

All this is complemented by a fully digital appointment-booking tool and an intuitive client app.

These options eliminate routine tasks that used to tie up staff. Employees can now be deployed on tasks that are truly productive and enjoyable. Clients benefit from faster processes, whilst advice and support become more in-depth and personal. It is outdated to still have to call an insurance company to check your insurance cover.

The benefits of modern communication can be illustrated by the example of the morning after Liberation Day, 3 April 2025. On that occasion, it took me 4.5 hours, working on my own, to reach my clients with a professional analysis before the stock market opened in Germany. The uncertainty in the markets was foreseeable, so it was already a topic of discussion for clients over breakfast. It was more down to luck and chance that I was able to reach over 200 clients in good time before the stock market opened with a message to reassure them. Today, the same task would be completed in a fraction of the time. More on this in a later post.

It is clear that it is not possible to serve 1,000 to 1,500 clients in a timely manner and in line with their wishes over 220 working days. The maths here is simple and unambiguous. The level of client contact that clients demonstrably wish for several times a year cannot be achieved with this workload distribution. It is not a question of willingness; it is a question of capability and the system.

What remains

Three constants underpinning my approach.

15 years’ capital markets experience. I delve deeply into the subjects on which I advise. I do not base my arguments on gut feeling; I base them on knowledge. This leads to an observation that I regularly make clear to clients:

“People who manage their own affairs never know what they don’t know.”

Those who invest on their own believe they have everything under control. In reality, however, they usually lack the very thing that makes all the difference. Active guidance yields better results than passive self-management. This can be proven.

A clear opinion, even if it hurts. I’ve already ruffled a few feathers with clients because I call a spade a spade. Two examples, both from the property sector.

A client structured his property financing differently to how I had recommended. I made it clear to him that the arrangement would not work. He went ahead with it anyway. He has now closed the project at a loss. By that point, I was no longer acting on his behalf.

Other clients only came to me at a late stage with their house purchase because my service was not available soon enough in the ‘old world’. They wanted to liquidate their investments to cover the financing. I put the brakes on immediately, arranged urgent consultation appointments and proposed a more conservative model. A five-figure sum was retained as a safety net, rather than being channelled into the project. Six months later, one of the family’s two sources of income was lost due to illness; biometric protection was no longer an option because of pre-existing conditions. The cash reserve at least allowed the family to sleep soundly, financially speaking, during difficult times.

This clear, forthright opinion is not always communicated in the best possible way. This is another weakness that needs addressing. When in doubt, however, it is better to be honest than to appear unthinking or even to state the opposite.

Everything from a single source. That is why I deliberately work as a broker and not as a registered fee-based financial investment adviser or fee-only insurance consultant. Anyone wishing to cover both worlds, investment and insurance, entirely on a fee-based basis would no longer be permitted to accept commission. This is not practicable for smaller property insurance policies involving minimal sums and would end up costing clients more than the current approach. I do not want that situation. My aim is to cover all financial matters from a single source. This is achievable through brokerage with a hybrid remuneration model.

What I have time for at the moment

Less pressure to acquire new clients, more depth in client support. That is the most important change, because it is what makes all the others viable in the first place.

I connect with those who know me, those I happen to meet, and those who get in touch of their own accord, provided it’s a good fit and the collaboration makes sense for both of us.

Bringing aspirations and reality together, as was my guiding principle in the last post, is possible if the capacity is there. I now have that capacity.

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