What in the world is WORKING CAPITAL?

By Signal Advisors Staff Sponsored By Signal Advisors

Annuity agents finally have access to the secret weapon behind high-growth companies

What do the fastest-growing and most successful companies like Tesla, Apple, and Amazon have in common? They all find afford-able ways to fund their working capital in order to grow rapidly.

Working capital is a business’ liquidity. When a company is investing in growth, it’s common for the cash going out to be faster than the cash coming in. This gap is called working capital, and the fastest-growing companies in the world — big and small — benefit from accessing cheap capital to fund that gap. Widespread adoption of this practice has transformed many industries, but annuity agents have traditionally never had access to this type of capital.

The fastest-growing companies use it — and so should you

One of the most famous stories of how innovations in working capital can transform a business is the story of Dell Technologies. Traditionally, the personal computer business required tying up a lot of cash in inventory – buying parts, building computers, and then selling them through wholesale and retail channels.

Dell was different. Dell would take orders directly from customers, collect payment, and then quickly assemble and ship the computer. In addition, Dell would negotiate payment terms with their component manufacturers, and often would have cash in hand from customers before they ever had to pay for the parts!

Dell used capital from their vendors and customers to fund working capital, becoming one of the fastest growing companies in history, IPO’ing just four years after launching.

So — what can independent financial professionals learn from the story of Dell Technologies?

While financial professionals don’t have working capital tied up in inventory, they do have working capital tied up in marketing. Typically, cash is tied up in marketing for an average of 120 days — from the time the cash is spent on direct mail or digital ads, to the time the cash is collected from commissions. While that cash is unavailable, there is less flexibility to continue investing in growth.

When agents can finance their working capital needs, they can turn their marketing dollars faster, run more events every year, drive more revenue, grow faster, and even expand into new markets. However, for almost all agents, afford-able financing for working capital has been completely out of reach...until now.

Signal Advisors unlocks working capital for financial professionals

“As a venture capitalist for more than a decade, I have seen first-hand how important working capital is for all kinds of fast-growing businesses,” says Jake Cohen, president and co-founder of Signal Advisors. “Financial professionals are no different. They need to finance their working capital if they are planning to grow. Signal is the first IMO to really focus on unlocking working capital for all agents, big and small.”

Signal Advisors, one of the fastest-growing, tech-enabled IMOs, believes agents should look to their IMOs and marketing partners for access to working capital.

A hallmark feature of the Signal Advisors platform is TruePay, which pays agents their commissions within 24 hours of receiving an annuity application in good order (Signal Advisors estimates that the industry average for commission payments is currently more than 30 days.).

Now that my marketing dollars aren’t tied up for months, I can run more events and write more business. It’s that simple.
— Robert Smith, President, RCS Wealth Management*

“By advancing commissions within 24 hours, we’ve unlocked 30 to 40 days of working capital, at no cost to the agent,” says Patrick Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Signal Advisors.

Signal has also negotiated exclusive payment terms with leading direct mail and digital marketing vendors. Rather than paying up front, agents will benefit from extended payment terms of 45-90 days.

“We stand behind our agents, we vouch for them, and in turn our marketing partners are willing to extend exclusive payment terms to them,” says Kelly.

“By leveraging our TruePay feature and our extended payment terms, there is a scenario where agents can receive commissions before they ever have to come out-of-pocket for marketing expenses,” explains Kelly. “Agents who leverage Signal Advisors for their working capital needs can scale at a rate that wasn’t previously possible.”