Wealth-technology provider Nitrogen has introduced an AI-driven Insurance Center designed to help financial advisors quantify a client's insurance coverage needs within the context of their broader financial plan. The tool, unveiled at LPL Financial's Focus conference in San Diego from Aug. 9-12, generates a coverage score that compares existing policies against calculated requirements, spanning life insurance, long-term care, retirement income protection, and annuities.
The center draws on household data, current life insurance policies, retirement income projections, and long-term care details to produce a score on a standardized scale. Nitrogen says a score between 80 and 120 generally indicates adequate coverage, while a reading below 100 may prompt advisors to discuss potential gaps with clients. Conversely, scores above 100 could signal that a client is paying for coverage they may not need, allowing advisors to recommend adjustments that align with the client's best interest.
“Insurance products are complicated and can be very salesy,” said Nitrogen CEO Dan Zitting. “We wanted to create something that made it much easier for a client and an advisor to have a conversation about insurance. It's never super easy to talk about things like what happens if I die. The Coverage Number is a very simple way to understand, as compared to your financial plan, are you underinsured, overinsured—what kinds of insurance probably make sense for you.”
The launch comes amid persistent consumer misconceptions about insurance costs. A study released last year by LIMRA found that adults aged 30 and younger overestimated the median cost of life insurance policies by roughly 10 to 12 times the actual price. Such misperceptions can deter younger clients from seeking coverage, a challenge the new tool aims to address by grounding conversations in data.
Nitrogen, formerly known as Riskalyze, was founded in 2011 and rebranded in 2023, with Zitting succeeding founder Aaron Klein as CEO. The Insurance Center is powered by Nucleus, an AI agent that first launched in February to provide tax support for advisors. The company also announced Nucleus Account Opening, which automates investment proposals for new accounts, with Schwab serving as the first account-opening partner.
Among the “tens of thousands” of advisors already using Nitrogen's products, about 80% deal with insurance, Zitting told InvestmentsNews. LPL Financial is among the large brokerages to approve the Insurance Center for its advisor network. Nitrogen will offer the tool as a standalone service or as an add-on to existing Nitrogen subscriptions.
Justin Boatman, chief marketing officer and head of product strategy at Nitrogen, emphasized that the score is not a sales tool. “The risk number is agnostic—it's not good or bad to be an 80 or a 20. It's not recommending sales; we want alignment with the client's best interest,” he said. “We're not afraid to say, even if someone's goal is to sell insurance to somebody, sorry, the assessment says they're well covered or over-covered. This is not going to bend toward selling someone insurance that they don't need.”
The Insurance Center arrives as advisors increasingly seek technology to streamline complex planning tasks. For a look at how other firms are leveraging data to serve retiring public workers, see MissionSquare's new platform. Meanwhile, the broader push to unify wealth management data infrastructure is highlighted by Astraeus's recent launch. And for context on coverage gaps, a survey on funeral costs underscores the disconnect between perceived and actual insurance needs.
