A common misconception about the group benefit insurance industry is that it’s standardized, that each insurer approaches their rates and risk analysis the same way, based on the same metrics, but that is not the case. Though the Employee Benefits insurance industry has a few fundamental conventions, there are no universal pricing approaches between group benefit insurers. If you add to this constantly changing legislation, technological innovation, and increasing HR related liability protection needs, employee benefits can become complicated very quickly. It’s easy to see why the services of an experienced employee benefits specialist makes sense.
Another common misconception about employee benefits is that it’s something that can be easily lumped in with life insurance or general insurance offerings, but employee benefits is many times the most complex of the three major insurances provided to individual insureds because there are so many separately underwritten coverages under one master policy. For this reason, using a life insurance agent, general (home & auto) agent or even a financial planner generalist will not provide you with the same level of pricing advantages, current era plan design and technical support as an advisory/ brokerage which specializes in employee benefits. Our specialty is employee benefits.
At HFI Benefits, we’re proud of the fact that our skills, experience and resources enable us to provide large consulting firm technical support and service at a reasonable ‘local boutique’ cost. While we believe in fair compensation for valued employee benefit plan advisory services, we’ve always been irked by some of the exorbitant benefit support costs that large consulting firms charge for what should be standard benefit plan support and service. At the same time, we know the value we bring to the table over the multitude of life insurance generalists, financial planners, and the like that ‘dabble’ in the employee benefit advisory sector.
Phil worked in banking and a retail-based business/finance office for 7 years and then with various insurance companies for another 17 years before concluding that his accrued knowledge and skills would be better served in assisting small to mid-size (up to 500 employees) businesses as an independent employee benefits Advisory/ Brokerage. He left the corporate insurer side of the employee benefit industry in 2005 and joined an established specialist advisory in Edmonton as a Principal. Two years later, in 2007, Phil established HFI Benefits Inc., thereby realizing his entrepreneurial dream of establishing his own specialist employee benefits Advisory/ Brokerage in order to help businesses design & implement the best employee benefit plan and service available, for a fair price: i.e., ‘the best value for the money benefit plan’.
Using his contacts and connections gained over his now over 42 (as of 2023) year career, Phil has put together a team of highly skilled professionals that share his long-term values and ‘win-win’ philosophy. Today, we have 4 full-time and 2x part-time team members. Our experienced, knowledgeable and responsive team members are the pillars of our success and growth as a specialist employee benefits advisory. We’re able to provide the best possible employee benefit plans for our clients because we have one of the most skilled and diversely experienced teams in the local industry. We provide a superior service model and progressive plan designs.
HFI Benefits provides services and advice that can only be provided by people that have spent a combined 70+ years in the employee benefits & health services industries. We know employee benefits. And we are confident that there is no other local employee benefits advisory that can match us in our target market. Our clients know this. Let us help you too.
Frequently Asked Questions:
HFI Benefits Inc. was originally part of a larger financial services company which originated in the early ’80’s: The HFI Financial Group of Companies. HFI Benefits Inc. was formally established as a specialized entity in 2007. It now stands for Health First Insurance Ben
Not only do we have a team with many years of direct employee benefit & health services industry experience (over 70 years combined), this includes a staff member that is a BSc RN with a specialization in Mental Health & another staff member with his B.Sc. CS degree, as we recognize the value and evolution within our industry towards both Wellness and technology driven requirements.