PACE's projected Group Benefits bonus from each insurance carrier
What each of the 8 bonus-paying carriers is on track to pay PACE at the end of its current bonus period if nothing changes from today: the clients PACE had with the carrier when the period began, plus new clients already placed with it this period, minus clients already recorded as leaving it. The suggested moves further down show how moving clients between carriers at their renewals would raise the total.
What the terms on this page mean (premium, persistency, in-force, ASO, cliff, next tier, the setting codes and the carriers' own terms)
- Bonus period
- The stretch of time over which a carrier measures PACE's book and pays its bonus. Most carriers use the 2026 calendar year; Co-operators runs June to May and Canada Life May to April. Each carrier's card shows its period.
- Projected bonus
- What a carrier would pay PACE at the end of its bonus period if nothing changes from today's book in Pipedrive.
- Premium, annual premium
- What a client pays its carrier in a year for its group benefits plan. Carrier bonuses are percentages of premium.
- Case, group, policy
- One client's plan with a carrier. A child account counts with its parent organization.
- New business, new sales
- Clients PACE places with a carrier during its bonus period.
- In-force
- Business still active with the carrier on a given date, as in in-force premium or in-force cases.
- Persistency, retention
- The share of the premium PACE had with a carrier at the start of the period that is still with it at the end. Every client who leaves lowers it.
- Minimum, qualification
- A condition a carrier sets before it pays a bonus, such as at least 5 groups in force or persistency of at least 90%. Met: PACE meets it today. At risk: met today, but the largest client at that carrier leaving would break it. Not met: the bonus tied to it is not paid, or is paid at a lower rate, until it is reached.
- Tier
- A rate that applies once PACE passes an amount, such as 3% of sales from $500,000 and 4% from $1,000,000.
- Cliff
- A minimum or a tier PACE reaches today but would drop below with a little less premium, for example if a client left; crossing it cuts the bonus.
- Next tier
- A higher rate, or a minimum PACE misses today, that a little more premium would reach, from a new client or a leaving client kept.
- Cap
- The most premium per client a carrier counts toward a bonus (for example $500,000). Premium above it earns nothing more.
- Clawback
- A sales bonus a carrier takes back when the client it was paid on leaves within a set time, such as 12 months.
- Insured, ASO
- On an insured plan the carrier pays the claims. On an ASO (administrative services only) plan the employer pays the claims and the carrier only administers them. Most carriers pay no bonus on ASO premium; some pay it at a lower rate or count it only toward some minimums. Refund, cost plus and minimum premium plans are other forms of employer funding, and HSA and PSA are health and personal spending accounts; most carriers leave them out too.
- Small and large group lines
- Several carriers pay different rates for small and larger groups: Manulife's small and large block, Sun Life's SunAdvantage and Sun Solutions, Canada Life's Selectpac and regular group, and Beneva's SME 50 (groups under 50 employees) and regular groups. When no carrier statement says which line a client is on, the tool decides by the number of employees: small under 50, and small when Pipedrive has no employee count (both are settings).
- Carriers' own terms
- BIFP: Co-operators' beginning in-force premium, at June 1. Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond: Co-operators' persistency bonus levels. Sales credits: Canada Life's measure of new sales (premium weighted by line). YTD: year to date.
- Setting codes (BC-3, EMP-1, BEN-6 and so on)
- Where a carrier's terms can be read more than one way, the tool makes a choice and records it as a setting. Each code on this page links to the Settings page, which shows the choice made, the other options and whether PACE has confirmed it.
- Planning window
- The next 6 months. Moves happen at renewal, so only a client renewing inside the window can be part of a suggested move.
- Dec 31 move dates
- For a client renewing on January 1, a move can be dated December 31 instead, one day early, so carriers that measure the calendar year count it as this year's new business.
- GRS
- Group Retirement Services. Not counted in this tool; see Scope.
Where PACE's projected bonus comes from: each carrier's bonus, split by what earns it
Carriers pay three kinds of bonus. Sales and new business: paid on new clients PACE places with the carrier this period. Persistency and in-force: paid on the premium PACE keeps with the carrier, usually only if PACE keeps at least a minimum share of it (its persistency). Net growth: paid when PACE's book with the carrier grows overall (new business minus clients lost). Each bar shows how much of a carrier's bonus is each kind.
Top 10 suggested moves: the ten client moves between carriers that, made together, raise PACE's total projected bonus the most
Each move takes one client's Group Benefits plan from its current carrier to another at the client's next renewal, inside the planning window (6 months). Each move is scored with the moves before it already made, so all ten can be done together, in order, and the running total on each card is PACE's projected bonus after that move. The moves are ranked by bonus only: a move is worth making only if it is also right for the client (price and coverage). A move PACE can't make can be marked with "Can't do this move": the mark is saved, and both lists are worked out again without it.
Top 10 small moves: the same search, limited to clients paying under $200,000 a year in premium
A separate list, worked out on its own from today's book: it does not assume any of the moves above, so the two lists can't be added together. Only clients paying less than $200,000 of annual premium are considered. The ten build on each other (each is scored with the small moves before it already made), so all ten can be done together, in order; the running total on each card is for this list only.
Risks and next tiers: the bonus lines PACE is closest to crossing, down (a cliff) or up (a next tier)
A cliff is a minimum or a rate PACE reaches today but would drop below if a little more premium were lost, for example if a client left the carrier; crossing it cuts the bonus. A next tier is a higher rate, or a minimum PACE misses today, that a little more premium would reach, from a new client or a leaving client kept; reaching it raises the bonus. Every cliff and next tier from the carrier cards below is one dot on this map.
Each carrier's bonus in detail: what it pays, the minimums PACE must meet, and its nearest cliff and next tier
One card per carrier, with its bonus period. At the top, the projected bonus and the parts it is made of. Below them, each minimum (qualification) the carrier requires before it pays: the bar shows where PACE is today against the requirement (the tick), marked met, at risk (met, but the largest client at that carrier leaving would break it) or not met (the bonus tied to it is not paid, or is paid at a lower rate, until it is reached). Then the nearest cliff (the smallest loss that would cut the bonus), the next tier (the smallest gain that would raise it), and how much of the calculation rests on incomplete Pipedrive data. Click a carrier's name for every client and rule behind its number.
PACE's book at a glance: when clients renew, how large they are, and what one new client is worth at each carrier
Moves happen at renewal, so the renewal calendar shows which clients can move inside the planning window. The premium bands show where the $200,000 small-move limit and the carriers' per-client caps fall. The curves show what one new client of any premium would add to each carrier's bonus.
Carriers and vendors that pay PACE no bonus: where the rest of PACE's Group Benefits premium is placed
These insurers and vendors are on PACE's no-bonus list: none has a bonus program with PACE in this tool, so the clients placed with them earn PACE nothing. Moving one of these clients to one of the 8 bonus-paying carriers loses nothing where it leaves, which is why such moves rank well in the lists above. Some names on the list are add-on vendors (such as Telus Health, myHSA and AYA Care) that provide a service beside a client's core plan rather than insure the plan itself. The last rows of the table are deals whose insurer the tool could not identify.