CLU Designation
To every agent and manager who has wondered what stands behind the letters after an adviser’s name: there are different routes to achieving the CLU designation, Chartered Life Underwriter. My journey took me through four years at the University of the West Indies. It can be said that the CLU takes about five years of focused, disciplined work to achieve.
We see designations on business cards every day. We seldom ask what it took to earn them. So when an agent asks me whether further study is worth the trouble, I tell the story of my own class, and of how it got smaller.
Why do so many start a professional designation and so few finish?
The University of the West Indies developed a three-year programme in conjunction with TTAIFA, the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. It was designed to provide higher education for practitioners in the insurance industry. The initial response was fantastic, with over 100 participants attending.
Enthusiasm, however, waned somewhat when some registrants realised that this was hard work and required serious commitment. Among the many topic areas were subjects like Law, Economics, Marketing, Accounting and Financial Management. It was no wonder, therefore, that from that high initial registration only 30 per cent completed the programme and graduated.
Over 100 participants started the programme. Only 30 per cent completed it and graduated.
I do not say that to criticise those who left. The programme was designed for practitioners in our industry, and serious study asks a great deal of anyone. I had sat professional examinations before, in my accounting years before I came into insurance in 1981. This was hard work all the same.
The principle: enthusiasm starts it, commitment finishes it
Earning a designation is to the professional what building a clientele is to the new agent. Enthusiasm gets us registered. Commitment gets us through. It is the same lesson this business teaches about what happens when you don’t give up.
A designation is not awarded for enthusiasm at registration. It is awarded for hard work and serious commitment, carried through to completion.
What the CLU designation took, year by year
My journey took me through four years at the University of the West Indies. This is the sequence as I lived it.
- After three years: we graduated with certificates in Financial Management and Marketing from the University.
- At the end of the fourth year: on successful completion of the programme, we were awarded the Diploma in Life Underwriting, or DLU as it is commonly referred to.
- With practical experience: the candidates who achieved this and completed the requisite practical experience were then awarded the Chartered Life Underwriter, or CLU, designation.
Three years of study, a fourth year for the diploma, and then the requisite practical experience. So it can be said that the CLU takes about five years of focused, disciplined work to achieve.
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Why should any of this matter to the agent sitting in front of a client today? Because the CLU was not awarded for study alone. It asked for the diploma and for the requisite practical experience, the classroom and the field together. That is why I respect it.
To the managers among us: a good beginning makes for a better ending, and that holds for study as much as for recruiting.
I am Carlyle Fletcher, a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Life Member. I have spent over 40 years in the field, in Trinidad and Tobago and across the Caribbean. If you are weighing a designation, do three things this month. Find out which routes are open to you, because there is more than one. Ask someone who completed theirs what it took. Then make the commitment before you register, not after the work becomes hard.
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Reserve My PlaceFrequently asked questions
What does CLU stand for?
CLU stands for Chartered Life Underwriter. There are different routes to achieving the designation. In Carlyle Fletcher’s case, candidates first earned the Diploma in Life Underwriting (DLU) through a University of the West Indies programme. Those who also completed the requisite practical experience were awarded the CLU.
How long does it take to earn the CLU designation?
On the route Carlyle Fletcher took, about five years of focused, disciplined work. His journey ran through four years at the University of the West Indies: certificates in Financial Management and Marketing after three years, then the Diploma in Life Underwriting at the end of the fourth, followed by the requisite practical experience.
What subjects did the programme cover?
Among the many topic areas were Law, Economics, Marketing, Accounting and Financial Management. The programme was developed by the University of the West Indies in conjunction with TTAIFA for practitioners in the insurance industry. Over 100 participants attended at the start, and only 30 per cent completed the programme and graduated.
