The lines between voluntary brokers and employee benefit brokers continue to blur when it comes to selling voluntary benefits, according to respondents to this year's BenefitsPRO/Eastbridge voluntary benefits survey. Over 400 producers responded to the survey in February and March 2017, representing a combination of employee benefits brokers, traditional voluntary brokers, enrollment companies and agents.

Employee benefit brokers today account for 60 percent of total voluntary sales. As such, they are gaining experience with voluntary and, as a result, looking more like voluntary brokers on many fronts. In the most recent survey, a large majority (about 90 percent) of the benefit brokers indicated they currently sell voluntary products, with more of these selling actively than in the past. Fewer of the brokers mentioned they only sell voluntary “occasionally” or as a cross-sell to select existing accounts. The following graph shows the contrast from just a few years ago.

Voluntary products also account for a larger percentage of the benefit brokers’ current revenue stream. Fewer benefit brokers in the current survey say voluntary makes up 10 percent or less of their revenues, while most say it now accounts for between 11 percent and 25 percent of their revenues.