Category: Annuities

Retirement product investment qualified and non-qualified with an insurance wrapper.

Management Research Services Unites With American Enterprise Group

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MRS – AEG Partnership Press Release

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American Enterprise Group, Inc. (AEG) announced today it will be partnering with Management Research Services, Inc. (MRS), a global leader in insurance automation and technology solutions, announced today the release of a new electronic application system for life and health insurance policies.  The new technology will allow insurance professional to complete and submit application for straight through processing and instant policyholder decisioning. The platform will allow for real-time processing 100% in-good-order applications. This partnership will empower the divisions of AEG to service and offer real time policy issuance to our distribution and policyholders.

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The partnership with MRS is a part of an ongoing, companywide focus on innovation within AEG, and is a result of an earlier interaction with American Enterprise Ventures, LLC, which is a venture capital company backed by AEG that focuses on investments in early-stage startups in the insurance, finance, and healthcare industries.

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“Representatives of American Enterprise Ventures discovered MRS at an innovation summit and were impressed with the new technologies the company offered,” explained Julie Larson, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer. “We were looking for a new rules and application processing platform to better meet our growing needs, so the American Enterprise Ventures team brought the potential solution to company leaders for further vetting. It was a great find for us.”  Brad Darnell, MRS Chief Technology Officer, says “At MRS we look for partners, not clients, and we could not have asked for a better one than AEG. Right from the beginning, we have developed a strong relationship with great collaboration between our organizations. This teamwork has led us to a multi-phased product rollout strategy in a short amount of time. Our approach not only supports AEG’s digital transformation goals but is also driving exciting innovation to our platform. We are grateful every day for the partnership that has been developed with this excellent company.”  GG Oncel, MRS Head of Customer Strategy & Growth, says “MRS is proud to have been chosen as the exclusive partner of AEG for its digital transformation efforts across product lines and distribution channels.  The teamwork between the two companies has been excellent resulting in an implementation process that has moved forward with great speed and efficiency.  The MRS No-Code platform has proven again that it can support highly complex application processes at any level of volume needed.  MRS places significant value in its partnership with AEG and is excited to showcase it to show how we can support the larger tier carriers in the US market and beyond.”

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About American Enterprise Group, Inc.

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American Enterprise Group, Inc., has multiple insurance company subsidiaries under the American Republic®, Great Western Insurance Company (GWIC®), and Medico® brands. These companies offer life and health insurance product solutions to help people secure their financial futures through various distribution channels and are licensed in 49 states, plus the District of Columbia. American Enterprise is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and employs approximately 450 people in its Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; and Ogden, Utah, offices.

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About American Enterprise Ventures, LLC

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American Enterprise Ventures, LLC is a venture capital company backed by American Enterprise Group, Inc. American Enterprise Ventures’ investment strategy focuses on early-stage startups in the insurance, finance, and healthcare industries. With initial investments of up to $1 million, American Enterprise Ventures’ funds are typically made in seed to Series A round startups. For more information visit www.americanenterprise.com/aeventures.

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About MRS

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At MRS, we help clients transform change into a competitive advantage.  MRS provides a high-end technology product to life, health, and annuity insurance industries.  In today’s world where “the only thing constant is change,” that original vision has been expanded to include more services and technology capabilities designed to help clients adapt quickly and in a cost-effective way.  MRS has invested heavily in our technology platform to create a foundation for the next revolution in life insurance.  MRS’s No-Code platform gives you all the tools needed to build a highly secure, complex application that efficiently collects voice and electronic data without writing a single line of code.  The result is a vastly reduced time to market with no initial or ongoing maintenance costs making the total cost of ownership substantially lower than status quo solutions.  Our platform’s ability to support powerful reflexive logic makes the MRS rules engine extremely efficient in collecting all information needed to make a point-of-sale decision.  The capabilities and flexibility of our platform allow customers to use the MRS technology platform as their single solution or as a tool to support and enhance current technology solutions they already have in place.  For more info on MRS product e-Apps, please email GG Oncel at gg.oncel@mrsreps.com or visit the website at www.managementresearchservices.com.

The Rise of Platforms

…And what it means for the life and annuity sector

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by Matt Essick

Mr. Essick is Chief Marketing Officer for Ensight™, a sales and data acceleration provider specializing in the insurance carrier and national-distributor space. He spent a decade as a marketing strategist for the Zurich Insurance Group, U.K. and participated first-hand in the rise of digital platform distribution models. Visit Ensight here.

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The era of the platform economy is here.

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Actually, it has been here for a decade or longer.

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Think Apple, Google, Airbnb, Microsoft, Uber, Amazon, Square, LinkedIn, Lyft, Facebook, and Tesla.

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The majority of the most valuable companies globally are now based on a platform business model, which is defined as: “the creation of digital communities and marketplaces that allow different groups to interact and transact”.

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And in the financial services space?

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Let’s name just a few – Robinhood, Envestnet, eMoney, Acorns, Oscar, Xero, RightCapital, Personal Capital, Avant, Blend, Chime, Brex, BrainTree, Enfusion, Verifi, Circle, Opploans, Transferwise, Venmo, Gravity Payments, Coinbase, etc etc. The list goes on and on.

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Fintech platforms are remaking the financial services industry. Redefining the “experience” of every corner of financial services. And thus, redefining expectations, across the value chain, from manufacturing to distribution to consumers. The broad principles of the Fintech platform era:

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– Ecosystems and connectivity are key

– Customers now engage product manufacturers through “platform distribution”

– User experience (UX) is fundamental to acquisition and retention

– At scale, Fintech platforms change industry dynamics

– Winners (and survivors) adapt their business model quickly

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And so, what does this mean for the Life and Annuity sector?

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Some Predictions for the Life and Annuity Platform Era

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Predictions are always a dangerous game. But if one takes the broad dynamics of platform-based economies as largely constant through every sector, we can also look into the near future for the Life and Annuity sector.

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Here are three predictions over the next decade:

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– Life, Annuity and LTC business origination (new business) will proportionately and dramatically shift towards multi-carrier distribution platforms

– Life and Annuity distribution will consolidate onto 3-5 leading “mega-platforms”, owning over 50% share (*similar to financial planning software landscape)

– Distribution focus will shift from traditional, back-office “agency management platforms” to field technology “sales enablement platforms”

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Perhaps the grandest prediction is that digital platforms, independent of proprietary development and ownership by insurance carriers and distributors, will become true power brokers in the industry.

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The implication? Perhaps, Geoffrey G. Parker, a Dartmouth College professor and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research fellow, said it best:

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“The bulk of the power in industries is likely to shift to ecosystems… So, the message is every firm needs to understand platforms and figure out their place in the industry structure that is coming”.[2]

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Unstoppable Drivers Towards Platform Distribution

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There are several unstoppable forces and accelerants now at play.

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Each of these trends, in and of itself, is enough to shift the structure of the sector. However, when one considers all five in the aggregate, the emerging future is a foregone conclusion.

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Consolidation in Distribution: 
Consolidation is at hand in the Life and Annuity distribution landscape and will only accelerate from here. Whether we are talking about LifeMark and Bramco joining together to create LIBRA, or the acquisitions made by the PE-backed national players (e.g., Simplicity, AmeriLife), the future of distribution will look very different. One thing is for sure, technology platforms play a critical role in the integration of firms.

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Staggering Investment in Fintech:
 Global fintech investment reached $44 billion in 2020[3], an increase of 14% from 2019. The scale of investment in Fintech platforms is staggering – and insurance carriers and distributors will simply not be able to compete with a legacy internal development (“build” vs “buy”)” mindset. If nothing else, $44 billion definitively underscores the fact that we are in the age of fintech and insurtech platforms.

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The March to Best Interest (BI): The Life and Annuity sector is on a continued trajectory towards a Best Interest (BI) centric regulatory environment. While this may differ by channel, a rapidly growing number of distributors are choosing to err on the side of a fiduciary model. This means suitability standards, illustrating different product options, and capturing auditability along the way. There is only one way to accomplish this efficiently and cost effectively – a technology platform (*not paper).

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New distribution Business Models: The traditional distribution business model within the Life and Annuity sector is changing. There is a growing focus across several fronts: automating back-office processes; shifting time and focus to field-oriented sales enablement; and, extending a digital platform to financial professionals for advisor-centric “self-service”. This is the strength of technology firms.

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The weight of market expectations: Every single financial services experience today is digital, visually intuitive, interactive and easy to understand. Every single one – except the life and annuity sales experience. Moreover, every single core stakeholder group in the value chain now expects this modern digital experience, from employees to financial professionals. Let’s remember, millennials now represent the largest workforce in the economy today.

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These drivers are irreversible. To borrow a phrase from the noted American journalist Sebastian Junger – this is the “perfect storm”.

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3 Recommendations To Win

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So how can Life and Annuity insurance carriers and distributors adapt and win? I have three recommendations to start.

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Develop a platform-led distribution strategy

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Every carrier and distributor should now be thinking about how this emerging context will impact product development, distribution profitability and the market-facing business model.

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There are several long-term strategic questions to be debated. Here are just a few:

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– Business origination: What will be the impact on new business origination? Will closed, proprietary service channels remain at scale in the future?

– The wholesaling operating model: What is the future model of wholesaling? How will wholesalers engage with the channel?

– Channel strategy: Where will my target customers be, and how will I reach them? Will I need to access those customers on a 3rd party platform, or can I provision a platform to (capture) them?

– Profitability: How will I drive profit and scale in this new era? Which channels will see an erosion of profitability? What new target operating model may be required to maintain ROE?

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These are fundamental questions that need to inform distribution strategy over the next decade. Without addressing these critical questions (and others), insurance carriers and distributors will be flying blind into the “perfect storm”.

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Expect to see a few casualties.

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“Get on” the dominant platforms early

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It is simply not possible to compete with $44 billion in fintech platform investment.

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The old “build vs. buy” debate is a different question today. If you are an insurance carrier or national distributor, choose wisely what you elect to “build” rather than “buy”.

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An emerging dynamic of the platform economy is the ecosystem. It is critical to buy the flexibility to thrive in an ecosystem. The leading fintech and insurtech platforms bring connectivity and pre-built integrations to the table.

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There are two other central reasons to adopt the dominant emerging platforms early, and ahead of your competition:

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First, you can ride the opportunity of a “network effect”. A network effect refers to a situation in which the value of a product, service, or platform grows based on the number of buyers, sellers, or users who leverage it. Leading distribution platforms will be rapidly growing the number of customers you can reach – through one efficient digital channel. (Of note, it becomes increasingly painful and inefficient to do business outside of a platform network as well.)

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Second, it is impossible to understand how these platforms work ‘in practice’, on a day-to-day basis, the subtle nuances – unless you are actually also utilizing the platform itself. For a carrier, this means potentially being one step-removed from understanding how its products are actually sold, why they are selected, and how to win business.

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Smart counsel today is to adopt and use best of breed” third party platforms early on.

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Play to win and embrace the change

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The Life and Annuity sector today falls into two camps: Early adopters (change embracers) and late adopters (change laggards).

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Waiting to adopt emerging technology used to be wise counsel. But in the era of Moore’s Law, this is no longer a recipe for winning.

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Digital innovation “lead time” or “cycle time” is becoming an increasingly deciding factor in the emerging winners and losers. And the stakes are higher than ever.

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One might say that embracing digital platforms has “compounding returns”. Competitive advantage can double, or quadruple based on an organization’s digital fitness.

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Understanding the dynamic of new distribution technology platforms – and how to win on these platforms – takes time. Players who adopt first, stand to benefit from those compounding returns and will be well positioned for market-leading growth and profitability in the decade ahead.

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1 The Platform Economy, The Innovator, Jennifer Schenker (https://innovator.news/the-platform-economy-3c09439b56)
2 The Platform Economy, The Innovator, Jennifer Schenker (https://innovator.news/the-platform-economy-3c09439b56)
3 The state of FinTech: a recap of 2020 and a glimpse into 2021, FinExtra, 2/8/21 (https://www.finextra.com/blogposting/19849/the-state-of-fintech-a-recap-of-2020-and-a-glimpse-into-2021)

STRUCTURED ANNUITY STEAL THE SHOW IN 2020!

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STRUCTURED ANNUITY STEAL THE SHOW IN 2020!

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Wink, Inc. Releases 4th Quarter, 2020 Deferred Annuity Sales Results

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Des Moines, Iowa. May 4th, 2021– Wink’s Sales & Market Report is the insurance industry’s #1 resource for annuity sales data since 1997. Sixty-one indexed annuity providers, 45 fixed annuity providers, 69 multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) providers, 14 structured annuity providers, and 46 variable annuity providers participated in the 94th edition of Wink’s Sales & Market Report for 4th Quarter, 2020.

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Total fourth quarter sales for all deferred annuities were $56.3 billion; an increase of nearly 4.0% when compared to the previous quarter and an increase of nearly 6.0% when compared to the same period last year. Total 2020 deferred annuity sales were $209.1 billion.

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Noteworthy highlights for all deferred annuity sales in the fourth quarter include Jackson National Life ranking as the #1 carrier overall for deferred annuity sales, with a market share of 8.8%. New York Life moved into second place, while Allianz Life, Equitable Financial, and Brighthouse Financial rounded out the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Jackson National’s Perspective II Flexible Premium Variable & Fixed Deferred Annuity, a variable annuity, was the #1 selling deferred annuity, for all channels combined in overall sales for the eighth consecutive quarter.

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Total fourth quarter non-variable deferred annuity sales were $28.7 billion; down nearly 7.0% when compared to the previous quarter and up 7.0% when compared to the same period last year. Total 2020 non-variable deferred annuity sales were $112.5 billion. Non-variable deferred annuities include the indexed annuity, traditional fixed annuity, and MYGA product lines.

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Noteworthy highlights for non-variable deferred annuity sales in the fourth quarter include New York Life ranking as the #1 carrier overall for non-variable deferred annuity sales, with a market share of 7.9%. Athene USA moved into second place, while American Equity Companies, AIG, and Sammons Financial Companies completed the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Western-Southern Life’s SmartSelect 3-Year, a multi-year guaranteed annuity, was the #1 selling non-variable deferred annuity, for all channels combined in overall sales.

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Total fourth quarter variable deferred annuity sales were $27.5 billion; an increase of 18.2% when compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 4.5% when compared to the same period last year. Total 2020 variable deferred annuity sales were $96.5 billion. Variable deferred annuities include the structured annuity and variable annuity product lines.

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Noteworthy highlights for variable deferred annuity sales in the fourth quarter include Jackson National Life ranking as the #1 carrier overall for variable deferred annuity sales, with a market share of 17.6%. Equitable Financial moved into the second-place position, as Lincoln National Life, Allianz Life, and Brighthouse Financial concluded the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Jackson National’s Perspective II Flexible Premium Variable & Fixed Deferred Annuity, a variable annuity, was the #1 selling variable deferred annuity, for all channels combined in overall sales for the eighth consecutive quarter.

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Indexed annuity sales for the fourth quarter were $15.0 billion; up 9.3% when compared to the previous quarter, and down 12.1% when compared with the same period last year. Total 2020 indexed annuity sales were $58.1 billion. Indexed annuities have a floor of no less than zero percent and limited excess interest that is determined by the performance of an external index, such as Standard and Poor’s 500®.

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Noteworthy highlights for indexed annuities in the fourth quarter include Athene USA retaining the #1 ranking in indexed annuities, with a market share of 12.4%. AIG gained the second-ranked position while Sammons Financial Companies, Allianz Life, and Fidelity & Guaranty Life rounded out the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Allianz Life’s Allianz Benefit Control Annuity was the #1 selling indexed annuity, for all channels combined.

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Traditional fixed annuity sales in the fourth quarter were $474.1 million; sales were down 2.9% when compared to the previous quarter, and down 31.4% when compared with the same period last year. Total 2020 fixed annuity sales were $2.0 billion. Traditional fixed annuities have a fixed rate that is guaranteed for one year only.

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Noteworthy highlights for traditional fixed annuities in the fourth quarter include Modern Woodmen of America ranking as the #1 carrier in fixed annuities, with a market share of 20.5%. Global Atlantic Financial Group ranked second while Jackson National Life, EquiTrust, and OneAmerica rounded out the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Forethought Life’s ForeCare Fixed Annuity was the #1 selling fixed annuity, for all channels combined for the second consecutive quarter.

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Multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) sales in the fourth quarter were $13.2 billion; down 20.5% when compared to the previous quarter, and up 44.7% when compared to the same period last year. Total 2020 MYGA sales were $52.3 billion. MYGAs have a fixed rate that is guaranteed for more than one year.

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Noteworthy highlights for MYGAs in the fourth quarter include New York Life ranking as the #1 carrier, with a market share of 17.2%. American Equity Companies moved to the second-ranked position, as Brighthouse Financial, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, and AIG rounded out the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Western-Southern Life’s SmartSelect 3-Year was the #1 selling multi-year guaranteed annuity for all channels combined.

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Structured annuity sales in the fourth quarter were $8.4 billion; up 34.5% as compared to the previous quarter, and up 70.8% as compared to the previous year. Total 2020 structured sales were $24.0 billion. Structured annuities have a limited negative floor and limited excess interest that is determined by the performance of an external index or subaccounts.

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Noteworthy highlights for structured annuities in the fourth quarter include Allianz Life ranking as the #1 carrier in structured annuity sales, with a market share of 21.6%. Equitable Financial ranked second, while Lincoln National Life, Brighthouse Financial, and Prudential completed the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Prudential’s Prudential FlexGuard Indexed Variable Annuity was the #1 selling structured annuity for all channels combined.

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“In the past, I’ve made the observation that structured annuities are experiencing sales similar to that of indexed annuities, during the same period of the products’ maturity. That will change this year,” observed Sheryl J. Moore, CEO of both Moore Market Intelligence and Wink, Inc. “I project that structured annuity sales will soon gain enough momentum to surpass where their indexed brethren were just over a decade after development,” she explained. “The consistent double-digit gains in structured annuity sales over the previous quarter, year, and year-to-date support this!”

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 Variable annuity sales in the fourth quarter were $19.1 billion, an increase of 12.2% as compared to the previous quarter and a decline of 10.7% as compared to the same period last year. Total 2020 variable sales were $72.4 billion. Variable annuities have no floor, and potential for gains/losses that are determined by the performance of the subaccounts that may be invested in an external index, stocks, bonds, commodities, or other investments.

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Noteworthy highlights for variable annuities in the fourth quarter include Jackson National Life continuing their ranking as the #1 carrier in variable annuities, with a market share of 25.4%. Nationwide ranked second, while Equitable Financial, New York Life, and Lincoln National Life finished out the top five carriers in the market, respectively. Jackson National’s Perspective II Flexible Premium Variable & Fixed Deferred Annuity was the #1 selling variable annuity for the eighth consecutive quarter, for all channels combined.

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Wink reports on indexed annuity, fixed annuity, multi-year guaranteed annuity, structured annuity, variable annuity, and multiple life insurance lines’ product sales. Sales reporting on additional product lines will follow in the future.

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For more information, go to www.WinkIntel.com

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Wink, Inc. is the company behind the most comprehensive life insurance and annuity due-diligence tools, AnnuitySpecs and LifeSpecs at www.WinkIntel.com. Wink, Inc. is the distributor of the quarterly Wink’s Sales & Market Report. Serving as the insurance industry’s #1 resource of indexed insurance product sales since 1997, this report provides sales by product, company, crediting method, index, distribution, surrender charge period, and more. Wink’s Sales & Market Report expanded to cover all deferred annuity products in 2015, all deferred variable annuity products in 2019 and all non-variable cash value life insurance products in 2017.

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The staff of Wink, Inc. has a combined experience of more than 175 years working with insurance products, more than a decade of which is specific to competitive intelligence. Based in Des Moines, Iowa, the firm offers competitive intelligence and market research in the life insurance and annuity industries; serving financial services professionals, distributors, manufacturers, regulators, and consultants on both a domestic and global basis.

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Sheryl J. Moore is president and CEO is the guiding force behind Wink, Inc. Ms. Moore previously worked as a market research analyst for top carriers in the life insurance and annuity industries. Her views on the direction of the market are frequently heard in seminars and quoted by industry trade journals.

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May 4, 2021

Des Moines, IA

(855) ASK-WINK

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Ensight™ Surges Past One Million Digital Life Sales Presentations

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The company’s cloud-based sales experience platform is now servicing over 250,000 financial professionals across the U.S.

 

SAN DIEGO, CA, March 17, 2021 — Ensight™, the market leading life, long-term care (LTC) and annuity digital sales acceleration platform for insurance carriers, distributors and financial professionals, today announced that over one million digital sales presentations have been generated on its insurtech platform. Ensight’s growth rate also continues to compound, driven by an increase in remote selling, the hybrid wholesaling transformation shift and emergence of the “digital agent” model. Today the platform works with over 250,000 financial professionals.

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“Every financial services sales experience today is digital, interactive, visual and easy to understand – whether that is the leading financial planning software used by advisors, or the investment management and 401K portals now experienced by the consumer. Life, annuities and long-term care are the only remaining financial product areas out of step with today’s digital experience expectations,” said Bill Unrue, CEO, Ensight.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a digital catalyst over the past year, as life and annuity insurance carriers and distributors have had to adapt to a virtual (remote) sales operation. This business response is also now accelerating a permanent transformation to a “hybrid wholesaling” and “digital agent” sales and service model. Wholesaling transformation, in particular, offers the sector an opportunity to achieve travel and entertainment (T&E) budgetary savings, while driving improved wholesaler productivity, more flexible advisor servicing, and better product marketing through digital education.

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The Ensight sales acceleration platform was launched in 2017 to help modernize and transform the sales experience for life and annuity insurance carriers, distributors, financial professionals and consumers. Ensight simplifies the complexity of the permanent life insurance (GUL, Whole, UL / IUL, and VUL), LTC and annuity sales engagement into an intuitive, consumer-friendly digital experience. The platform leverages data visualization and rich content to create a modern interactive sales discussion, which has underpinned the rapid shift to virtual (remote) selling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 250,000 financial professionals, including insurance agents and advisors, now use Ensight to better explain how a permanent life insurance or annuity product works and interactively demonstrate product features, such as cash value accumulation, rates of return and policy charges.

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“The life and annuity sales model is at a once-in-a-generation inflection point. From the internal sales desk and wholesaler-advisor channel to the client’s point of sale experience, the entire value chain of the traditional sales model is being structurally reorganized and digitally redefined,” said Nathan Jacobson, Executive Vice President (EVP), Life Insurance, Simplicity Financial Group. “Ensight is the clear market leader today, enabling modern, interactive sales presentations that simplify the wholesaler-advisor-client discussion of complex permanent life, LTC and annuity products.”

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To learn more about Ensight and its digital sales acceleration platform, visit www.ensightcloud.com.

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About Ensight™
Ensight™ is the leading cloud-based insurance sales acceleration platform for more than 500 Life and Annuity distributors, thousands of financial professionals, as well as many of the largest North American insurance carriers. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Ensight helps drive sales growth and productivity, while addressing the entire sales lifecycle experience – from prospect to policyholder, new business to inforce.

 

Insurance Technologies Acquires IXN Press Release

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Providing the Most Robust End-to-End Sales Capabilities and Experiences for the Life Insurance Marketplace

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April 20, 2021
Colorado Springs, CO

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COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, April 20, 2021 – Insurance Technologies, LLC, a leading provider of sales automation solutions for the life and annuities insurance industries, announces the acquisition of IXN, the leading provider of digital data exchange solutions for the life insurance industry. The combined company will fully integrate both companies’ proven systems to offer the most comprehensive and efficient single platform capabilities and experience for sales automation in the life and annuities insurance industries.

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The insurance industry is in the midst of a major digital transformation, demanding more and more from market participants to create specialized software to modernize the overall sales and operations process. To operate in today’s competitive distribution world, advisors, agents, distributor firms, and carriers need a modern, simple, cohesive, one-stop digital shop to manage all aspects of the sales process.

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Insurance Technologies identified IXN as a dynamic disrupter in the life insurance ecosystem, as proven by their widely adopted cross-platform digital solutions and recent launch of the LifeDX solution, an open API data exchange solution. IXN pioneered the concept of “putting an Agents’ business in their pocket” by launching and becoming the industry leader for mobile applications within the life insurance space. IXN also developed a multi-carrier sales automation solution that is becoming the platform of choice for life insurance distributors and carriers.

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“As the insurance industry continues to innovate, we must find ways to deliver increasingly specialized yet integrated solutions for advisors, agents, distribution partners, and carriers,” said David Fenimore, Chief Executive Officer of Insurance Technologies. “The addition of IXN’s industry-leading suite of products for life insurance rapidly advances our FireLight® product roadmap for life insurance, providing the full life ecosystem in a single, easy-to-use application. This integrated solution further enhances our life insurance functionality and supports our client base in an area where we already see tremendous growth. We continue to build on our promise to offer a single platform as a service solution that supports the entire life and annuity insurance sales lifecycle and are committed to being the best possible long-term technology partner for our clients.”

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“We are excited to combine IXN’s innovative technological tools with Insurance Technologies’ proven solutions,” said Kevin Pohmer, Chief Executive Officer of IXN. “Both of our customer bases and the entire life insurance industry will benefit from our increased ability to deliver innovative, value-added solutions that improve client success and operational efficiency across the entire value chain.”

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By combining their proven technology solutions, Insurance Technologies FireLight® and IXN are creating the most robust end-to-end platforms for the life insurance marketplace. The addition of IXN’s digital sales automation and data exchange solutions is expected to make Insurance Technologies software solutions even more attractive to clients and reinforce the company’s strong track record for product and customer service. Together, Insurance Technologies and IXN will be a clear leader in innovation in the insurance technology market.

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Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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About IXN
IXN is a leading provider of cross-platform software solutions to the insurance industry helping make the process of distributing and processing life insurance simple and easy. IXN pioneered the concept of “putting an Agents’ business in their pocket” by launching and becoming the industry leader of mobile applications within the life insurance space. Through our SaaS-based sales automation solutions, we assist carriers, agents, BGAs, advisors, and financial institutions better serve their consumers. IXN is headquartered in Lehi, Utah.

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About Insurance Technologies 
Insurance Technologies provides innovative sales and regulatory automation solutions to the insurance industry. Offering a suite of integrated sales solutions, from pre-sale functions to quoting and illustrations through e-application and e-delivery to post-sale services, Insurance Technologies provides carriers and distributors the sales capabilities and tools to create automated and cohesive sales experiences for their advisors and clients across the life and annuities insurance industries. The unique architecture and flexibility of its solutions deliver front and back-office configurability and usability to support multiple business strategies, encourage cross-channel growth and evolve with regulatory changes.

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National Western Life Insurance Company (NWL®) launches Equisoft/manage, a flexible cloud-based policy administration system

Designed for quick and easy transformations, Equisoft/manage is a turnkey cloud-hosted (SaaS) solution using well-established, production-ready digital business processes to enable quick and easy transformations. (CNW Group/Equisoft)

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Fueling an aggressive digital transformation plan, NWL® launches a significant system modernization initiative together with the introduction of a new Fixed Indexed Annuity product.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA, April 6, 2021 – Equisoft announced today the successful implementation of phase one of its cloud-based policy administration platform that will support NWL’s Life and Annuity operations across the full policy lifecycle. The new platform, along with the new NWL® ChoiceOptimizer Fixed Indexed Annuity product, went live in February.

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Subsequent phases of this large modernization initiative will further support NWL’s objective to design, refine and enhance product and policy services in a nimble, costeffective implementation environment developed to meet the diverse, changing needs of our distribution force and policyholders.

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Designed for quick and easy transformations, Equisoft/manage is a turnkey cloud-hosted (SaaS) solution using well-established, production-ready digital business processes to enable quick and easy transformations. It includes enhanced New Business and selfservice portals designed for advisers and customers, along with an industry-leading core administration capability – the Oracle Insurance Policy Administration (OIPA).

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“In today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, we need to be proactive and extremely responsive to the needs of our policyholders and agents,” said Greg Owen, SVP & CIO at National Western Life. “Implementing a flexible and scalable policy administration platform with a user-friendly servicing portal was a key component in our strategy. This is the first phase of a multi-phase initiative that will transform NWL’s business into an efficient digital model. We look forward to seeing the successful completion of the entire transformation initiative.”

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Headquartered in Austin, Texas, National Western Life Insurance Company offers a broad portfolio of high-quality life insurance and annuity products, providing professional and friendly service to its policyholders and agents.

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“This first go-live marks a major milestone in NWL’s modernization journey,” said Mark DePhillips, Senior Vice President, USA at Equisoft. “Equisoft/manage provides NWL with a best-in-class administration platform that will enable them to quickly implement new products and efficiently service their agents and policyholders. We are proud to be NWL’s strategic partner in this important modernization endeavor.”

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About National Western Life

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National Western Life Group, Inc. is the parent organization of National Western Life Insurance Company, which is the parent organization of Ozark National Life Insurance Company, both stock life insurance companies in aggregate offering a broad portfolio of individual universal life, whole life and term insurance plans, as well as annuity products. As of June 30, 2020, the Company maintained consolidated total assets of $12.4 billion, consolidated stockholders’ equity of $2.2 billion, and combined life insurance inforce of $22.5 billion.

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About Equisoft

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Founded in 1994, Equisoft is a global provider of advanced insurance and investment digital solutions. Recognized as a valued partner by over 75 of the world’s leading financial institutions in 15 countries, Equisoft offers innovative front-end applications, extensive back-office services and unique data migration expertise. The firm’s flagship products include a SaaS policy administration solution, CRM, financial needs analysis, financial planning, asset allocation, fund and portfolio analysis, quotes and illustrations, electronic application, agency management systems, as well as customer, agent and broker portals. Equisoft is also Oracle’s largest and most experienced partner for the OIPA platform. With its business-driven approach, deep industry knowledge, innovative technology, and some 500 experts based in the USA, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Africa, India and Australia, Equisoft helps its clients tackle any challenge in this era of digital disruption.

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Media resource: Jean-François Parent, PR & Communications Manager, Equisoft Jean-Francois.Parent@Equisoft.com, +1 888 989 3141, ext. 70141

Management Research Services Announces e-App For Annuity Policies

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Management Research Services Announces e-App For Annuity Policies

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MRS Introduces e-App for Annuity Policies

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Quicker, easier application process nets client success

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MILWAUKEE, Mar. 3, 2021 — MRS, a global leader in insurance automation and technology solutions, announced today the release of a new electronic application (E-App) system for annuity policies. The new technology will allow financial and insurance professionals to complete and submit annuity applications online, effectively improving turnaround time for processing and final delivery.

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“We’re proud to bring new MRS technology to hardworking financial and insurance professionals,” said Tim Dineen, Chief Executive Officer at MRS. “We’re dedicated to creating streamlined applications that make doing business easier while helping our clients deliver policies to their customers even quicker.”

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The annuity market is substantial and provides a significant amount of revenue for carriers. An annuity policy helps the buyer manage their income in retirement, and other than pensions, annuities are the only products that provide guaranteed lifetime income. The market size of the life insurance and annuities industry is $732.5B, measured by revenue, for 2021. The industry is trending toward a more affluent and older market as it emphasizes the use of life insurance and annuities as retirement, estate planning, and tax-preferred products.

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Given uncertainties with the pandemic and overall market conditions for insurance carriers and the end-customer, MRS has scaled its efforts to support insurance carrier’s digital transformation efforts. The new annuity E-App is an easily-configurable, no-code, cost-effective solution to sell and manage annuity policies.

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Developed for an existing client with a complex distribution matrix, where multiple signatures are collected from end-customer, IMO, law firm, POA, owner, and payor, MRS was able to deliver a solution that has helped increase sales, streamline processes, and improve overall customer experiences. Now, with an easy sign-on and integration of electronic signatures, the client can fulfill an annuity policy in a few days versus months of starts-and-stops and back-and-forth communications with the customer.

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With MRS, the primary benefits for insurers choosing to implement the Annuity E-App system include:

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● 100% in-good-order applications

● Error rate removed

● Applications processed in 15 min vs. days

● Auto-populating State Beneficiary legal clauses

● e-Signature collection up to 8 individuals

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“Our process is the same no matter the product type. Developing an annuity application was a natural extension of the robust ecosystem of E-Apps we already have in the market today,” says Steve Delonge, Customer Success Director at MRS. “With our proficiency for taking applicants from the questionnaire to the contract, MRS is well-positioned to increase offerings to more distribution channels and add more annuity E-App products that can quickly issue the annuity policy and ultimately help quicken payment of the commissions.”

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For more info on our the MRS Annuity E-App call (800)-726-3643 or email sales@mrsreps.com

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At MRS, we help clients transform change into a competitive advantage. MRS provides a high-end technology product to the life, health, and annuity insurance industries. In today’s world where “the only thing constant is change,” that original vision has been expanded to include more services and technology capabilities designed to help clients adapt quickly and in a cost-effective way. MRS has invested heavily in our technology platform to create a foundation for the next revolution in life insurance. MRS’s No-Code platform gives you all the tools needed to build a highly secure, complex application that efficiently collects voice and electronic data without writing a single line of code. The result is a vastly reduced time to market with no initial or ongoing maintenance costs making the total cost of ownership substantially lower than status quo solutions. Our platform’s ability to support powerful reflexive logic makes the MRS rules engine extremely efficient in collecting all information needed to make a point-of-sale decision. The capabilities and flexibility of our platform allow customers to use the MRS technology platform as their single solution or as a tool to support and enhance current technology solutions they already have in place. Please visit us at www.managementresearchservices.com or contact us by email at sales@mrsreps.com to learn more.

Explosive Shift to Hybrid Wholesaling & Agent Sales is Taking-Off

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The Life & Annuity “Pre-Covid” Sales Model Will Not Return

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This week’s LIMRA Distribution Conference only confirmed that the rapidly emerging Life and Annuity sales operation is going “hybrid”.

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If you missed the conference, you can read three wonderful articles debating the “Hybrid” trend in Insurance News Net, with reference to some fantastic research by LIMRA:

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– “Virtual Selling Might Be Here To Stay”

– “Hybrid Is The Future For Advisors, Says LIMRA Research”

– “Will Agents Ever Return To The Office”

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Of course, given our (Ensight) discussions with L&A senior executive sales leadership and digital transformation leaders over the past 18 months, this comes as no surprise.

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Indeed, I wrote about the coming transformation of the traditional life and annuity wholesaling model last year. Whether you call it “eWholesaling” or “Hybrid Wholesaling”, it makes no difference, digital sales enablement for wholesalers is the new English Longbow, changing the nature of ‘engagement’ in the sector.

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And, notably, the digital hybridization of the advisor-client discussion has already been underway for several years. It’s worth noting that the majority of financial advisors today already use some form of virtual meeting (Zoom; WebEx; Go To Meeting) in the client engagement repertoire.

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Whether you are a L&A carrier or distributor, if you are not putting a hybrid wholesaling and agent digital model into practice today – you simply won’t be able to catch-up tomorrow.

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But let’s also take a look at 7 additional dynamics at play in the panorama of market forces which are driving “The Shift”:

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1. Millennial “Digital Tools” Expectations – As a Gen Xer, it still shocks me that millennials now span up to 40 years old. As the first purely digital generation, millennial wholesalers, advisors and agents will expect digital tools to support a hybrid sales engagement model, if they are going to work for your company or sell your products.

2. The New Consumer Digital Expectation Bar – The client service model is in rapid transition. Informed by Vanguard, Robo-Advisors, new trading apps (Robinhood), and every VC-backed FinTech firm driving a simplified hybrid digital experience, the mandate now is to engage with clients both digitally and in a personal manner.

3. The “T&E” Transition – The old “Travel and Entertainment” cost centre is ripe for a rebranding exercise. I like to call it – “Technology & Education”. Given emerging Best Interest (BI) regulation and GenX / millennial advisor preferences, spending millions on travel and entertainment – while underfunding digital – is a recipe for disaster.

4. Growing Eyeballs on Sales Effectiveness – Every other sector in the modern economy focuses on sales effectiveness (funnel yield, productivity, efficiency and customer satisfaction) through a data-rich, digital approach. Carriers need to move fast to enable, empower and measure both wholesaling teams and agent channels. Winners and losers will be defined on this battleground.

5. The Rise of “Platform Distribution” – Today, digital “platforms” are the structure of the economy. And every platform is hybrid in nature. When was the last time you weren’t prompted to “chat” in your banking app. The emerging Life and Annuity distribution platforms are already driving the scale adoption of hybrid virtual selling. Many carrier wholesaling teams are at risk of falling far behind the norm.

6. The New “Hybrid” Workplace – The work-life balance trend has been underway for a decade now. And COVID-19 will permanently alter the vision and model of the “corporate office”. The new corporate office is “virtual”; and, the new internal sales desk wholesaler and captive agent is “Zoom-empowered”.

7. The New Power of Talent – As the Life and Annuity sector moves forward into the technology “Arms Race”, talent will define the winners and losers. And talent can demand how and where it works in today’s economy. Today’s emerging titans, upending Fortune 500 firms and sectors, at their heart, are built on talent alone. If you want to win in the life and annuity distribution game, recruit, retain and empower a hybrid top-talent sales force with empowering digital tools.

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We are now entering uncharted waters for the Life and Annuity sector. The “arms race” has begun. And the nature of this arms race is that the speed of digital change and competition will only increase with every passing year. It is Moore’s Law, now applied to the Life & Annuity sector.

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Whether you are a Life & Annuity carrier or distributor, if you are not putting a hybrid sales and service digital model into practice today – you simply won’t be able to catch-up tomorrow.

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Sail with the wind, not against it.

SUREIFY GROWS C-SUITE WITH APPOINTMENT OF NEW PRESIDENT

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San-José-based tech company names Dan Gordon to lead operations

By Lori Zinaich | February 2, 2021

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Sureify, the leader in providing digital enablement to life insurers, has recently expanded its executive level management team, naming Dan Gordon as president of the company. Gordon’s new role recognizes his already-significant contribution to the organization as Chief Strategy Officer, proving him to be a strategic thinker, planner and visionary. In addition to his role as Chief Strategy Officer, Gordon has served as a board member and advisor to Sureify for the past two years.

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Sureify’s place as a leading InsurTech in the Life and Annuity industry has already been cemented with the creation of their Lifetime Platform, that continues to help leading Life and Annuity carriers work towards digital enablement. The addition of this new position and the elevation of Gordon to president, further emphasizes Sureify’s continued rise.

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Prior to his work with Sureify, Gordon led the product management organization at Guidewire for 11 years, during which time that company grew from two customers with $2M in revenue to 150 customers with $350M in revenue. He also served on Guidewire’s management team, participating in key strategic and operational decisions for the company and was involved in sales deals, customer relationships, M&As, and partnerships. Gordon has served at head of product at multiple other technology companies.

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Sureify CEO and founder Dustin Yoder acknowledged Gordon’s experience in product and operations and his proven ability to manage the challenges of expansion as key factors in Sureify’s success. “Dan is brilliant in his ability to scale, manage and grow operations, whereas I am much more involved in strategic vision and evangelization,” he explained. “Because of our different ways of looking at the world, we are very much ‘yin’ and ‘yang.’ Our plans for growth at Sureify follow the same path – to guide more life insurers, and to help those we’re already working with to see even more success. We know that Dan will align us with exciting new opportunities to help insurers thrive in this remote world.”

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Gordon echoed Yoder’s thoughts on the partnership, and on Sureify’s continuing role as an innovator for insurers. “For many reasons, the life insurance industry is a difficult one to move.  So people like Dustin, who sees the potential, but has a realistic vision of growth, are incredibly valuable,” he explained. “I feel like our visions for Sureify are aligned. The product-market fit is there. And industry watchers can expect our continued strong focus on customer success. Referenceable, successful customers are our most valuable business asset, and they are also what drive us to want to come to work every day. We’re going to focus on bringing our customers from their early phase one projects into deeply embedded success that moves the needle for them.”

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Dan Gordon comes to Sureify with an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Political Science from Yale.  He also gives generously of his time, serving on the board of Made in a Free World, a non-profit working to eradicate modern slavery. He lives in San Carlos, California with his wife and two children.

Novarica Report 2020: Management Research Services is an Established Player

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Management Research Services is recognized by Novarica as an established player in their field

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An industry thought leader granted Management Research Services (MRS) accolades and recognition by profiling them among a select group of vendors in an annual niche publication. Novarica is a leading research and consulting firm that analyzes technology and strategy across the insurance industry. They publish numerous research reports that examine trends, best practices, and vendor options for insurers, clients, and anyone willing to buy and leverage their data. In a November report, Novarica recognized MRS as an “established player” in the field of companies providing partial and full-service underwriting solutions to insurers of life, health and annuity.

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Novarica’s 2020 report on Life / Annuity / New Business Underwriting Systems offers an overview of MRS and 15 competitors. The companies included are not rank-ordered or endorsed but presented as the short-list for new businesses evaluating potential vendors in the marketplace. MRS is recognized as being an established player among their peers, which Novarica defines as “having shown staying power in the marketplace as well as substantial customer experience.”

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Their report includes a several-page company profile for each of the 16 firms listed. The profiles summarize each organization, their client base, and the technologies they incorporate. Each description speaks to their product’s key functionality, deployment options, and approach to implementation. Though the company profiles and associated analysis are not available to the general public, they are shared with Novarica’s consultation clients. Non-clients can also purchase and download the full report from their website.

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Inclusion in Novarica’s annual published research represents a win for MRS on multiple levels. It provides affirmation that our team continues to provide industry-leading technology and customer service in a competitive and rapidly changing field. This is confirmation that our no-code platform is among the most sophisticated and dependable options available.

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Furthermore, inclusion represents another growth opportunity for us; our brand and logo are placed alongside those of the dominant providers in the marketplace. Along with their library of research, Novarica is known for providing consultation. They specialize in taking a needs-analysis approach towards helping their customers with vendor selection. Being on their short-list and getting their stamp-of-approval for our no-code platform can only help us continue to connect with clients that will benefit from our product. For those familiar with general consumer products, it’s like MRS just got the Good Housekeeping Seal of approval!

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We’ve already been growing. Since March of 2020, the staff at MRS has grown by 50%! We are heavily invested in our people and platform; we look to continue working alongside other industry leaders during this time of revolutionary transformation. The old adage, “the only constant thing is change,” remains just as true today as it was when we started in 1988. We are poised to embrace and adapt with continued change and growth in the times to come.

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The MRS no-code platform provides companies with everything they need to build a complex, secure, and powerful application – capable of supporting even the most complicated underwriting decisions. Our hands-on, personalized approach to customer services means our platform can be customized from the ground up and fully integrated in surprisingly short spans of time. We offer a flexible, single solution with low start-up costs, rapid integration times, and little-to-no ongoing maintenance costs. The end result is substantially less expensive for insurers and third-party providers than status quo options.

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Find out more about how our technologies and innovation are leading the industry.

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For more information about the MRS no-code insurance services platform, please visit www.managementresearchservices.com or email us at sales@msrreps.com.