Three industry insiders give their views on this contentious issue.
Ira Zapin, Senior vice president, The Whitmore Group:
“A broker could spend a lifetime studying – and some do. A dual licensee must take 30 hours of continuing education (CE). Crossover courses, which can reduce that to 15 hours, have little to do with understanding coverage, and incentivize us not to study.
CE should focus on coverage.
Understanding coverage is key to providing for our customers’ needs.
The maze of administrative regulations we are required to study does nothing to educate us. I would say ‘no’ to increasing our hours of study. The hours required to maintain our license(s) should focus on coverage, not regulations.”
Amanda Hohenbery, Agent, Rick Bailey & Company Insurance:
“We all have the same goal: improve the client experience and do better jobs as advisers. But increasing CE credit requirements probably won’t do that.
With CE courses now, we’re not getting information we need to help clients day-to-day. We need a kind of balance. Topic-specific courses covering technology systems or various areas of compliance would be more beneficial. For instance, I think there should be a required Afforordable Care Act course for advisers selling employee benefits.
Our marketplace is evolving; client expectations are increasing. To stay relevant, we really need to take the initiative on CE.”
Dennis Powers, Vice president, Lamb, Little & Co.:
“The number of CE hours now is appropriate – not too much, not too little. I seek out courses that will make me better at what I do, as opposed to waiting until the last minute then taking whatever’ s out there.
Agents must be proactive. You can find great courses if you really want to. You might have to travel, but with a two-year window there’s plenty of time.
The marketplace is constantly evolving, so you have to keep up. A lot of veteran agents are coasting on their knowledge from 10 or 20 years ago, and they’re out of date.”
