Financial professionals who are taking part in NAIFA Impact Week: Long Term Care that is currently under way had an opportunity to hear from a distinguished panel of experts about market updates and trends that are affecting the long-term care/long-term-care insurance industry.

Members of the panel were:

Ryan Bivens, National Sales Manager, Long Term Care, Pacific Life

Tracy Edgar, Vice President of Sales, Care Solutions, OneAmerica

Brandon Heskett, National Sales Vice President, SecureCare, Securian Financial

Tony Massenelli, CLTC, MBA, CBC, Director of Long Term Care Sales, Nationwide

The discussion was moderated by Steve Cain, Sales and Business Development Leader at LTCI Partners.

Cain started the session by sharing a list of items to be discussed by the panelists. Among these items:

*Capitalizing on the Long-Term Care Awareness Month campaign currently under way

* Market updates and trends

*Technology and the customer’s experience

* Underwriting issues

*Marketing hybrid products

*Best practices and sales strategies for doing business in a virtual world

The panelists mentioned some of the resources advisors can use to make the most of the Long-Term Care Awareness campaign. These resources include:

• NAIFA’s LECP site
• Life Happens
• CLTC
• Working with an LTC specialist or brokerage
• Using Google News Search

For their part, the panelists are engaging in various activities during this campaign, including:

*Hosting webinars

*Promoting LTCI/LTC on social media

*Helping advisors become more engaged with their clients and encouraging them to have more LTC/LTCI conversations with their clients

*Conducting virtual presentations

* Focusing on strategies to drive growth

Cain next offered a market update and described some of the trends that are shaping the LTC/LTCI industry:

• Heightened customer awareness of the need for planning and for LTC/LTCI protection
• Underwriting changes
• Increase in hybrid life and LTC products
• Record low interest rates, prompting carriers to reprice new plans
• Combination life and LTCI/CI/ADB products—these constitute 80 percent of sales
• Plan design
• Interest in group LTCI is growing
• Rate stability on new traditional LTCI coverage
• Marketplace stability

And what are some of the sales strategies or best practices advisors can use to enhance their business in this climate? According to the panelists, they can increase their focus on client education, talk more about LTC/LTCI to their prospects and clients, and make sure they are having the right conversations with them. In addition, they can look for funding sources for their clients and learn to be more holistic.

The panelists also gave their marketing predictions for 2021. These include:

*There will be more focus by many organizations on the use of videos to market their products.

*There will be increased focus on helping advisors engage with clients virtually and enhance their connectivity. As most of them said, “videos will continue to be the order of the day.”

As the session drew to an end, the panelists offered a few predictions for 2021. They noted that there will be more growth in LTC/LTCI products, especially because of the growing number of flexible products and because of the uncertainty created by COVID-19. “Now is the time for LTC/LTCI,” they said.