"The premium is always less than the problem."

SMA: Do you encounter price objections?

Ashe: Of course, there is certainly that perception, as there is with most products. People would like to find out whether or not the product pricing is attractive and whether there is something that is less expensive. I would just remind [them] that back 15 or 20 years ago, a lot of life insurance products, the same ones that they are looking at right now, cost 40 percent to 60 percent more. So actually, there have been reductions in life insurance pricing, number one.

Number two, the premium is always less than the problem. So if I have a $250,000 or $500,000 problem, because my 401(k) just decreased in value or I've got all of these expenses that my spouse would be exposed to in the event of my death, the premium that I pay each year in comparison to the $250,000 or $500,000 death benefit is much smaller. So the problem is the problem; the premium isn't the problem.
Some people will say, I can't afford it.

They may not be able to afford it and there is nothing we can really do if they don't have sufficient funds to pay the premium. We do have a variety of products. They still issue term insurance to seniors and they can have a low premium for maybe 10 or 15 years. There is universal life that has a flexible premium. There is whole life that has a guaranteed premium. But the premiums are significantly less than they were before and in comparison to the benefits that are paid, the premium is not the problem. The problem is the problem.

SMA: People want to buy, but there aren't enough agents to reach them, particularly in the middle market. What can you and the industry do to reach them?

Ashe: There are two things happening. One is, we see an increase in direct market sales, where direct marketing companies are filling some of the void for purchases in the middle market. I don't have a problem with direct market sales. When consumers have indicated that they want to purchase either over the Internet or by phone, that's fine. I still think there are probably 70 percent or 80 percent of the public that would like to have face-to-face assistance because it can be a complicated business.

And very frankly, the companies are going to have to invest in hiring and training people and compensating people to address the middle market. When their recruiting philosophy is let's hire experienced agents, that's to save money because they don't have to train them. The second part of it is, they want experienced agents because the companies want to go after the wealthy marketplace.

They want to go after the top 15 percent of consumers. And while you can certainly understand some of the economics behind it, if you have a whole bunch of companies crowding into that top 15 percent, none will receive any huge share of that marketplace. Consequently, companies would benefit by spending a little bit more time in the middle and the upper middle marketplaces because it's where 85 percent of our population is.

Do you know who sells more life insurance policies than anybody else in the country? It's State Farm, which is a multi-line company. Some of their policies are smaller than say, a New York Life or Northwestern Mutual, but if you looked at policy count, they sell about 10 percent of all of the policies that are sold in the U.S. To me, that's kind of interesting, because they are actually out seeing the people, because they have to buy homeowners insurance, car insurance and so forth. So when we do get out among potential buyers, they do buy.