Financial advisors are facing a market that has an increasing need for help on health care and other insurance needs, according to a new report.
The report by Tiburon Strategic Advisors looks into the insurance product and risk management market, and what may lie ahead for advisors and clients who will deal with the market.
   Noting that risk management is one of the four main components of wealth management, the report says advisors are in a market consisting of 76 million aging baby boomers-all of whom account for one-third of the U.S. population.
   "This number is expected to increase, as over half of the population will be over age 45 by the year 2010," the report states.
   It is also a market, according to the report, where the top 10 insurance companies control over half of total insurance assets. There are currently more than 837,000 insurance agents, brokers and service employees, according to the report.
   Advisors, meanwhile, are serving a consumer market that is struggling with health insurance and other risk management issues.
   Among the facts cited by the report:
    About 45 million people do not have health insurance.
    Only 60% of businesses offer health insurance to their employees, but 90% of health care policies are purchased through employers.
    About 20% of Americans under the age of 65 are not eligible for employer health insurance programs, and 13% of those who apply
for health care policies are turned down.
    Forty-eight percent of mortgage foreclosures result from disabilities.
    One out of six consumers will require long-term care within their lifetime.
    Only 6% of consumers own long-term care insurance, 70% of which are women.
    About 48% of Americans more than 65 years old will spend time in a nursing home in their lifetime, while 23% of all 65-year-olds will spend a year or more in a nursing home.
   Annuity sales, the report notes, have reached $152 billion and there are currently $1.17 trillion in annuity assets. The majority of new annuity investments-about 80%-are variable annuities.
   The report also notes that insurance distribution channels are expanding. There are six emerging distribution markets consisting of retail banks, full-service brokers, discount brokers and online financial advisors, independent advisors, other financial advisors and upscale competitors, according to the report.
   About 69% of brokers are currently licensed to sell insurance, and 22% of independent reps have previous experience in insurance sales.