Recently a very wealthy California woman in her late 30s learned she needed a type of surgery that was so rare her insurance policy with Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. would not cover it.
Hartford sent its underwriters to speak directly with the woman's physician, and then crafted insurance specifically to cover the situation, according to Patricia Hausherr, director of special markets for the company's individual life division.
Ms. Hausherr cited the example to illustrate the kind of customized services the Simsbury, Conn., insurer's new Private Wealth Management initiative can provide.
Prompted by the fast growth of the ranks of the very wealthy, Hartford created a team of six life insurance planning, underwriting, and service consultants this month, she said. These consultants will help financial advisers serve individuals with at least $25 million of liquid assets.
"We think it's an ideal time to do this," Ms. Hausherr said. "The number of Americans with at least $25 million in liquid assets is growing, and we felt the need to better serve this market."
Hartford has long tailored life insurance products to meet the needs of the very wealthy in areas such as estate planning, wealth transfer, business succession, executive benefits, and charitable giving.
And the company has done well with bank sales, ranking at or near the top in recent reports by Limra International Inc. for sales of life insurance through that channel.
Much of Hartford's success comes from its sophisticated life insurance planning strategies for the wealthy, Ms. Hausherr said.
The new consulting team should help Hartford win "incremental business," she said.
"Our charge is to help our partners create holistic plans, including insurance, and help them work their way into the high end."
Hartford will not charge advisers extra for using the consultants, she said.
Kenneth Kehrer, a bank insurance brokerage consultant based in Princeton, N.J., has said that banks are likely to welcome the sort of expertise Hartford is offering, because few of them have enough agents with expertise in serving the very wealthy.
Other insurers are striving to offer similar expertise to assist banks in courting the wealthy. For instance, this fall Jackson National Life Insurance Co. launched a retirement and wealth strategies group, whose 10 members are experts in financial planning, legal issues, accounting, and annuity sales.
Hartford said the number of Americans with $5 million or more is growing faster than the overall population.
This "ultra-high-net-worth" market rose 26% last year, to a record 930,000 households, according to a report released in April by the financial services consulting firm Spectrem Group.
The consultants on the new team are based in Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, and Norfolk, Va. Plans call for four more to be added to the team next year. That team can draw on the firm's estate and business planning department in planning strategies for wealthy clients.
The consultants will work with banks, trust companies, brokers, planners, and other financial professionals to meet their clients' life insurance needs. Members will be available to meet with advisers to discuss individual cases.
"As they get into the fine points of financial planning, … [advisers] need to call on highly specialized individuals," Ms. Hausherr said. "We're focused on building relationships with them."
In addition to courting the super-rich, Hartford has been focusing on the mass affluent Baby Boomers.
Early this year it formed a team of 15 financial planning experts to train wholesalers and advisers on retirement income issues.
