Canada’s insurance industry is staring down a talent crunch, with many experienced advisors heading into retirement. Yet few traditional brokerages or managing general agencies (MGAs) are actively recruiting new people into the field. That gap has largely been filled by multi-level marketing (MLM) style firms – but those models often pay unfairly and drive high turnover.
This is according to Jamie Prickett, CEO and co-founder of an MGA Experior Financial Group Inc.
According to Prickett, few companies in Canada are actively recruiting new entrants into the insurance industry – and the ones that do are usually what he calls “network marketing” organizations.
These firms, he explained, often pay poorly, provide limited training, and see high turnover, with most new agents leaving within months.
Part of the issue, he noted, is that most firms in the industry focus only on lateral recruitment – enticing agents to move from one company to another – rather than creating real pathways for newcomers. As a result, MLM-style outfits have become the main entry point for people who want to break into the business.
But these models are notorious for their churn: more than 90 percent of recruits leave within six months, often after realizing the economics are stacked against them. The constant cycle of signing up and losing agents undermines professionalism and stability in the field, leaving many entrants disillusioned before they have a chance to build careers.
Prickett explained that Experior built what it calls a “Tri-Brid” model, designed to combine the best parts of three traditional distribution systems: the team-building and recruiting focus of network marketing, the training of career agencies, and the independence and higher compensation of brokerage models. The idea, he said, is to give agents a home where they can build an agency, focus on personal production, or enter the industry as newcomers without being locked into one limiting structure.
Prickett argued that this flexibility is critical at a time when many advisors feel boxed in by outdated models. Traditional career agencies can limit income and product choice, while independent brokerages often lack training and support. MLMs, meanwhile, attract recruits but frequently underpay them. Experior’s approach, he said, is designed to close those gaps.
But despite those ambitions, the company has faced headwinds. The biggest challenge, Prickett said, is stigma. Because Experior recruits aggressively, it is often lumped in with multi-level marketing outfits that have poor reputations for pay and professionalism. That perception was amplified in 2023, when regulators reviewed three firms with MLM-like traits – including Experior – and news coverage cast all of them in the same light.
While two competitors faced penalties or restrictions, Experior had no issues identified, yet the association created reputational fallout and even cost the firm several carrier contracts, Prickett said.
“The good thing is that after a couple of years now have gone by, people have started to realize that this is a real, viable opportunity,” he added.
Looking ahead, Prickett sees Experior’s growth coming from two directions. In the short term, he said, the firm is attracting agents from competitors who feel let down. Over the longer term, the bigger opportunity lies in bringing fresh talent into the industry – something that MLMs have historically done, albeit with poor results.
“They still say, and they've been saying this for years, that the average age of an insurance agent is in the upper 50s,” Prickett said. “Some of them are looking for exit plans… and we have a strategic way that people can pass on their book of business but still maintain some ownership of it, where they continue to get some payout. It’s a kind of a pension plan, so to speak.”
That focus on both continuity and fair compensation, he said, makes the model more sustainable than the churn often seen elsewhere. “I think it’s going to be continuing to bang on the door of our competitors who aren’t treating their agents properly – and by treating them, I mean paying them fair – and by bringing on new agents.”
Asked what makes the ideal candidate, Prickett emphasized people skills and integrity over credentials. “I think if you have a PhD, it's ideal. You gotta be poor, hungry and driven,” he said with a laugh. What really matters, he added, is trust. “Would I trust this person sitting down with my mother to sell her life insurance? Would I trust them to help my kids with their savings plan? That’s the standard.”
Prickett said Experior has seen agents succeed from all walks of life, from nannies to teachers to professionals with advanced degrees. The common thread, he argued, is drive and character: “There’s no test designed to measure the heart of a man or a woman… and I think the keys to winning in our business are more about what’s inside of a person.”
