Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU)
A Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) is a professional designation for those interested in life insurance and estate planning.
The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation is widely regarded as the gold standard in the field of life insurance professionals and insurance planning. Certified Financial Planner (CFP) holders frequently add CLU to their credentials to demonstrate additional subject-matter expertise. To obtain the designation, individuals must complete a series of courses and examinations.
Understanding Chartered Life Underwriters (CLUs)
The CLU designation, which dates back to the late 1920s, is one of the oldest and most respected credentials in financial services. It demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of a wide range of personal risk management and life insurance planning issues. When providing advice in the areas of life insurance, business planning, and estate planning, the program also emphasizes ethics, professionalism, and in-depth knowledge. Having additional insurance-specific knowledge in these areas can give CLU holders a competitive advantage over other generalist financial planners.
According to The American College of Financial Services, which confers the CLU designation, financial professionals with the CLU designation can increase their earning power because they have specialized skills to assist clients. The program covers a wide range of personal and business financial planning topics, including:
- Setting and achieving financial goals by analyzing the client's financial situation and identifying life and health insurance needs, as well as personal property and liability risks.
- Life insurance and annuity products can help you achieve greater financial security.
- How to run a profitable business through strategic organizational and preventive planning.
- Ways to increase estate value, preserve existing assets, and ensure financial security in retirement.
A financial planner who has completed the Chartered Life Underwriter course would be well-versed in the following:
- Choosing the Right Amount of Life Insurance
- Understanding how insurance works
- Easily evaluating insurers
- Developing selection criteria for an insurance company
Qualifications for CLUs
The American College of Financial Services was founded in 1927 as an accredited non-profit educational institution. It has regional accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the highest level of educational accreditation. The college has a full-time faculty of industry experts and is one of the nation's leading educators of financial professionals.
Individuals must complete five core courses plus three elective courses and pass eight 100-question, two-hour examinations to earn the CLU. Fundamentals of Insurance Planning, Individual Life Insurance, Life Insurance Law, Fundamentals of Estate Planning, and Planning for Business Owners and Professionals are all required course titles. Financial planning, health insurance, income taxation, group benefits, investments, and retirement planning are among the other course topics.
A Chartered Life Underwriter must follow the Code of Ethics of The American College of Financial Services, which includes the following professional pledge:
- "I shall render that service which, in the same circumstances, I would apply to myself, in light of all conditions surrounding those I serve, which I shall make every conscientious effort to ascertain and understand."
Furthermore, maintaining the designation necessitates 30 hours of continuing education every two years, and the designation may be revoked for unethical behavior by The American College's Board of Trustees' certification committee.