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Leading figures from global broadcasting and the digital economy join Reuters Next speaker line-up

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REUTERS MEDIA CENTER

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DECEMBER 4, 2020 9:53 PM UPDATED

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Leading figures from global broadcasting and the digital economy join Reuters Next speaker line-up

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By Reuters Communications

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Tim Davie, Director General of the BBC, and Jotse Groen, CEO of Takeaway.com, are just two stand-out speakers newly confirmed at Reuters Next, one of the biggest and most ambitious leadership summits in the world.

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With just over one month until the virtual conference – which takes place January 11-14, 2021 – Reuters Next will deliver agenda-setting discussion around the theme of Rethink, Rebuild, Recover; A New Vision For A Better Tomorrow, a host of freshly-announced names have been added to the impressive line-up.

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The conference will bring together 25,000 executives over four days to examine topics such as global trade, climate change and sustainability, the fallout from the U.S. election and the impact of Brexit, new work models, press freedom and economic recovery, providing professionals with essential insights and information to make smart decisions.

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Other newly confirmed speakers include:

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– Haris Arshad, Managing Director, Sime Darby Oils

 

– Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Founder & Publisher, Cassava Republic Press

 

– Sama Bilbao y Leon, Director General, World Nuclear Association

 

– Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

 

– Vera Daves, Angola Finance Minister

 

– Benjamin Diokno, Governor, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

 

– Deep Kalra, Founder & Group Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip Limited

 

– Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International

 

– Takeshi Niinami, Chief Executive Officer, Suntory

 

– Maria Ressa, Founder, Rappler

 

– Vergel O. Santos, Member, Board of Trustees, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

 

– Thae Yong-ho, The Member of the National Assembly of The Republic of Korea

 

– Lei Zhang, Founder, Hillhouse Capital Group

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The stellar line-up also features previously announced speakers including Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank President; Sandeep Mathrani, CEO, WeWork; activist and businessman Bobi Wine; Kristin Peck, CEO, Zoetis; Shan Weijian, Chairman and CEO, PAG Group; Mike Wirth, CEO, Chevron; Waad al-Kateab, Founder, Action For Sama; and Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation.

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The diverse roster of speakers to examine topics from multiple perspectives, bringing their passion, experience and expertise to find new ways forward on the most pressing issues of our age.

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Josh London, Reuters Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Reuters Professional, said: “I’m delighted to welcome such diverse, high-profile leading speakers to Reuters Next, who bring a wealth of experience and insight to provide trusted intelligence for our professional audience. It’s shaping up to be an incredibly exciting global conference, which will start 2021 with a bang.”

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Led and programmed by newsroom editors, Reuters Next draws on the strength of the world’s biggest news provider – with 2,500 journalists in 200 locations – and its unrivalled ability to provide professionals with both business and general news from every part of the world.

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The summit follows the launch of Reuters Professional – a new, unified offer of global news coverage, commentary and industry-leading events to help professionals make smart decisions.

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Reuters Next is produced by Reuters Events and powered by Reuters award-winning newsroom. Reuters Events was created in October 2019 after Thomson Reuters acquired FC Business Intelligence. It delivers high-end conferences and exhibitions to diverse sectors including energy, insurance, pharmaceuticals, transportation, travel, strategy and technology. Its offerings help senior business professionals stay at the forefront of change through insight sharing and networking with peers.

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The full agenda and further details can be found at reutersnext.com.

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[Reuters PR Blog Post]

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Media contact:
Joel.ivory-harte@thomsonreuters.com

Next Gen Personalization Methodology for Life Insurance

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Consumers have come to expect personalized, multichannel user experience from companies that they interact with. Most industries are now able to offer their customers products that match their immediate and long-term needs wrapped in tailored messaging that speaks their language and caters to their lifestyle, behavior, attitude, and preferences. This the basis for the data driven, ‘People Like You’ marketing strategy that is commonly used throughout B2C campaigns.

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Most life insurers currently use traditional segmentation tools such as Tapestry (Esri), Mosaic (Experian), and even Facebook, as the basis for their marketing strategy. This allows insurers to personalize their marketing activities and products in the Life Insurance vertical. In short, Tapestry, and the like, classify people into over 60 groups and types based mainly on zip code data. This cohort is creating unique live style segments relating to demographics and socioeconomic characteristics. Tapestry, for example, describes US neighborhoods in easy-to-visualize terms, ranging from “American Royalty” to Heartland Communities.

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tapestry          esperian

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But what if you could add a totally new dimension to traditional classification in the form of recurring Behavioral Patterns to create hundreds of thousands of additional granular segmentations, providing a full and complete insight into your Book of Business?

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Atidot leverages on these powerful segments with its AI and Machine Learning capabilities and augment a behavioral pattern to the data. We use external information from public databases as well as internal sources such as CRM systems. This information will enrich your database and provide additional insight into your Book of Business or creating a platform for new marketing strategies that are more accurate, potentially enabling marketing campaigns based on real time customer data. Occupation, proximity of hospitals, day of premium payment, investment patterns etc., can impact the Lifetime Value of your policyholders and can help create additional revenue sources.

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This is the next generation platform for product personalization and product offering for tailored marketing campaigns, new risk modeling, lapse strategy and more. Moreover, machine learning technology can keep learning as policyholders’ actions are recorded to create more accurate and additional profiles, thus detecting the most profitable potential customers. This is the basis of our Nano-Segmentation Methodology.

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For example, one behavioral pattern is the client’s payment date. Different dates may have different meanings. For instance, if someone is repeatedly late in their premium payments, the machine can find a pattern such as “these people, if their age is between 40-50, tend to lapse within 5 years”. This behavioral pattern could have a totally different meaning if they are between the ages of 20-30. Here it might suggest that they are busy successful people who don’t have enough time to attend to their finances. Yet they may match the most profitable policyholder groups that insurers have.

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Another example of a Behavioral Pattern relates to sensitivity to financial market trends. For instance, when the Bond Index is on the rise, some people tend to invest more in their own pension funds. AI and ML technology tie such behavior patterns into different groups, such as the trendsetters segment (a traditional segmented group) that potentially tends to invest when the Bond Index is up (based on the correlation between two sets of behaviors) indicating that they have a financial orientation and can be treated in two different ways. If the client owns a policy with a 4% guaranteed premium that was issued years ago, they should be encouraged not to lapse that policy. When the Bond Index is down, insurers might consider selling more protections to that segment.

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On a strategic level, if you are catering to this specific group you might launch a marketing campaign in channels that cater to this specific group of trendsetters with a financial orientation, for instance, via bloggers associated with style, targeted ads in fashion publications, direct email, etc. The possibilities are endless.

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So, since AI and ML capabilities can be trained to translate real time events into real time data, this newfound segmentation becomes the platform for tailored marketing targeting that can factor any real time relevant data. For instance, changes in the COVID 19 geographic spread can impact the demand for life insurance, generating real time targeting on a weekly or monthly basis, through traditional channels such as email campaigns, social networks etc.

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Key Benefits: 

– Tens ot thousands and up to millions of new segmentations.

– A dynamic software platform vs. static commonly used tools.

– Life insurance-specific software, catering to the life insurance segmentation

– An accurate platform for new marketing strategies

– Behavioral-based on top customary data driven – providing  a competitive advantage.

– Maximizing the value for your existing customers.

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Resulting in deep understanding of the customer base and full optimization of the Book of Business, as well as new revenue streams generated from a specific target audience. This next generation approach will set the basis for marching your company into the challenges of the next decade that are all about customer experience and profitability.

Creating an Integrated Experience for Buying Life Insurance

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The life insurance industry is at a tipping point! Forced to deal with constant challenges in optimizing operational costs, improving overall accuracy, and enhancing customer experience, all the while ensuring the highest return on allocated capital, insurers worldwide are treading treacherous waters. As insurance companies are overwhelmed with vast amounts of structured and unstructured data, they find it extremely hard to collect and analyze data from multiple sources. Most insurance carriers still rely on outdated technologies and legacy IT infrastructure to facilitate data capture, and this typically leads to poor data quality, scalability issues, and cost and operational inefficiencies. Alongside, the intense market competition, stringent regulatory norms, and growing compliance pressures are making it much harder for life insurance companies to keep revenue flowing and stay in the game.

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The need of the hour for carriers is to embrace faster and more efficient business practices and advanced technologies that not only accelerate the insurance application processes but also eliminate redundancy and reduce operational costs. This is where automation plays its part; it streamlines the repetitive mundane tasks, clears up bottlenecks, enhances risk management, and drives companies toward the next level of growth. Tapping into the immense potential of automation, ApplicInt, a leading information technology company, has developed several innovative, interoperable solutions that can be customized to meet the unique requirements of each client. ApplicInt was founded in 2003 to provide efficient and cost-effective technology solutions for the collection and distribution of information for life insurance applications. Automating the broker’s world not only means digitalizing their offices but, more importantly, streamlining and simplifying the process of obtaining insurance.

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“Whether you are an agent, call center representative, consumer, or examiner, our intelligent solutions can be utilized to quickly complete life insurance applications digitally”

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To that end, ApplicInt provides alternate ways for agencies to become more efficient. “Whether you are an agent, call center representative, consumer, or paramedical examiner, our intelligent solutions can be utilized to quickly complete life insurance applications digitally,” says Michael Feroah Sr, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, of ApplicInt. All of ApplicInt’s solutions are designed around automating the entire process of collecting and moving data from the pointof-sale to a carrier, making it easy and fast to issue policies. Since its inception, the firm has worked with a growing list of carriers, brokers, third-party administrators (TPAs), paramedical companies, and banks to increase revenue and dramatically reduce the cost of acquiring new customers for life, health, and disability insurance; annuity; and mutual fund products.

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Faster Policy Decisions at No Additional Costs

While segments of the insurance application process are automated today, most of them are yet to be fully digitalized. ApplicInt is the first company to provide a fully digital, end-to-end process for all types of insurance. ApplicInt’s end-to-end digital technology can connect all software solutions—regardless of the software provider—into a unified solution that can process all types of life insurance products. ApplicInt’s solutions can be used by insurance examiners, call centers, and even consumers to address information collection and consolidation problems. In other words, ApplicInt’s software includes a consumer-direct solution; consumers can fill out the insurance application on their own instead of relying on a third-party. “The key to dealing with challenges in today’s business landscape is flexibility. ApplicInt’s solutions are designed to work the way you do; their flexible workflow and easy configuration allow carriers to quickly adapt to changing market conditions and seamlessly integrate into any software solution or process,” informs Feroah.

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ApplicInt has a complete suite of insurance application fulfillment solutions. ExpressComplete serves as an easyto-use multi-carrier quoting and drop ticket platform that guides and directs a user or agent in filling the insurance application order and cuts down on the processing time. ExpressComplete has integrated ticketing capabilities such as health analyzer (which confirms the underwriting rate class), call scheduling (passes an order to the carrier call center), and real-time exam scheduling. The software comes with single sign-on, and helps connect producers (individual agents) to fulfillment centers. Agents can keep track of their applications and pending status via ExpressComplete. It also helps guide reps through the process of accurately filling the carrierspecific short application form and electronically submitting it to the designated fulfillment center.

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CallComplete, on the other hand, is a web-based flexible application fulfillment platform that snaps easily into any carrier’s call center and can be used by distributors and third-party call centers to gather medical as well as nonmedical information. The CallComplete solution has scripted reflexive interview questions (Part A/B) that ensure cases are 100 percent in good order. CallComplete can also be used remotely as a fulfillment process for ExpressComplete term ticket and any other platform. Forms, including unique special authorizations—required for over 25 percent of attending physician statement (APS) records—are signed with voice or eSignature. A distinctive aspect of CallComplete is the fact that it can also be combined with ApplicInt’s digital paramed platform, ExamComplete, to provide a seamless end-to-end application process. “We developed all of our solutions as a response to the increased complexity of the insurance sales and underwriting process. We achieved our ultimate goal to automate the information collection process for insurance agencies, carriers, brokers, and other stakeholders involved,” mentions Feroah.

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Eliminating the “Not In Good Order” Problem

ApplicInt’s ExamComplete can be deployed in multiple paramedical service providers’ systems and call centers. Through the software, ApplicInt enables insurance carriers to accurately collect information during the paramedical exam via a reflexive interview. “We have also automated the process of ordering copies of attending physician statements (APS), which are medical records from doctors and hospitals. ExamComplete is the only platform that facilitates the examiner to obtain the digital special authorizations that has proven to reduce cycle time attributed to APS health record acquisition,” adds Feroah. In fact, ExamComplete is the leading digital paramed platform used by the top lab facilities and paramedical vendors in the industry, like APPS Paramedical Services, ExamOne, and Clinical Reference Laboratory (CRL). ApplicInt also developed end-to-end digital application solutions where the software could qualify the proposed insured in real-time.

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ApplicInt Flow 7-23-2020

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Providing the customer with the tools to complete some or all of the application on their schedule has been a goal of the life industry for years. With the recent launch of UComplete that flexibility is now a reality

More recently, ApplicInt incorporated electronic lab slips into ExamComplete and introduced a consumer facing solution (UComplete) that allows consumers with the resilience to complete the application package online on their own schedule. Alongside, the firm also integrated pharmaceutical prescription historical data into the data collection processes and introduced Exam-2-CallComplete, a new module that enables an insurance examiner that failed to complete the exam in the field to revert the application process to a call center for fulfillment . “Earlier, it was just a matter of automating and digitalizing the parts of the insurance industry that were paper-based. We have expanded our core information collection processes to provide more flexible data collection solutions, better information with integrated Rx history, and eliminate the black holes of information collection by integrating automatic APS ordering (attending physician statements) and reducing the time taken for special authorizations,” stated Feroah.

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“ApplicInt’s solutions are designed to work the way you do; their flexible workflow and easy configuration allow carriers to quickly adapt to changing marketing conditions and seamlessly integrate into any software solution or process”

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Dedicated to Continuous Innovation

It is not just ApplicInt’s ability to deliver innovative, customer-focused technologies and solutions that have helped the company attain exponential success; it is their approach toward solving consumer and business needs that set them apart in the marketplace. ApplicInt is an accessible, service-driven, software provider that keeps its development costs in order to create an environment that makes innovation easier and less expensive while maintaining high quality. The firm works in partnership with each of its clients and focuses on building successful, long-lasting relationships. “We find different ways to automate the insurance application process and make it much more efficient and less expensive. The cost to deploy an ApplicInt solution has a nominal fee compared to our competitors and we generate revenue by charging a modest transaction fee,” says Feroah. ApplicInt’s result-oriented staff interacts with each customer from beginning to end of a project and continues to own the relationship. “Our team’s engagement and commitment to constantly inquiring and learning the ongoing needs of our customers is key to our growth and success. We listen, we work together, we create solutions,” cites Feroah.

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The Way Forward: Adapting to Change

ApplicInt is always in pursuit of providing better solutions and being better partners to its clients. For the road ahead, ApplicInt is looking forward to expanding into the emerging market where a paramedical exam is not required. In parallel, the firm is also working on new extensions for its software with additional capabilities. This includes incorporating pharmaceutical data from information sources like the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) on the front-end to allow carriers to speed up the application process even more, and essentially, in the long run, make the agencies and agents a lot more profitable. Currently, the firm works with over 40 carriers and we are growing our customer base. “We are well-positioned for continued growth. Our goal is to expand our core products and technology and continue to make the insurance application process easier and more efficient,” expresses Feroah. As digital technologies continue to disrupt the insurance sector, the industry will have to move from its current ‘reactive’ mode to ‘predict and prevent’ mode. And, this evolution will have to be at a faster pace than before as the stakeholders in the insurance value chain (like brokers, consumers, financial intermediaries, carriers, and suppliers) become more adept at using advanced technologies. With the right tools and approach, such as those offered by ApplicInt, carriers and distribution can thrive in these changing times.

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By Pamela Morgan

In$urance CIO Outlook Magazine

NOVEMBER – 25 -2020 ISSN 2644-2795

https://www.insuranceciooutlook.com/

 

iPipeline’s WELIS Systems Wins 2020 XCelent Award for Depth of Customer Service for Ascent Illustration System

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WELIS Excels in Customer Satisfaction Above All Other Illustration System Providers

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Exton, PA (December 2, 2020) – iPipeline® – a leading provider of low code cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry – today announced recently acquired WELIS Systems has won the 2020 XCelent Award for Depth of Customer Service. The award is given to a company for outstanding performance in implementation and post-implementation services, training, the quality of user conferences, service-level agreement (SLA) scope and features, and mechanisms to obtain and service customer tickets. WELIS is long considered to be an industry leader in Illustration systems for the U.S. life insurance industry. The acquisition of WELIS positions iPipeline as one of the largest providers of illustrations in North America.

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The WELIS Ascent® Illustration System is designed to help insurers sell and service customers in a multi-channel distribution environment. The multi-time, award-winning software is constructed as a standard single life illustration system that can be transformed into a sophisticated multiple life/multiple plan system with a single button click.

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“Happy customers are what customer service is all about, and the WELIS team delivers services at a level not easily emulated by others within the Illustration System industry. Stephen Frederick and his team are a unique breed with an intense focus on excellence,” said Larry Berran, CEO, iPipeline. “Celent’s awards are highly coveted within the life insurance industry, and I am thrilled to see WELIS setting the bar for depth of customer service within our industry. Our focus will remain fixed on maintaining exceptional customer satisfaction.”

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“Celent’s framework for evaluating vendors is called the ‘Celent ABCD Vendor View.’ Our standard representation of a vendor marketplace is designed to show our industry readers at a glance the relative positions of each vendor in four categories: Advanced Technology, Breadth of Functionality, Customer Base, and Depth of Customer Service,” said Karen Monks, Senior Analyst, Celent. “In the category of Depth of Customer Service, WELIS emerged as the clear winner based on customer evaluations. We congratulate Stephen and his team on a job well done.”

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“Our customers are viewed as family at WELIS. Our team’s accessibility for them is second to none, and we understand the critical role Ascent plays in their agents’ abilities to attract and secure customers,” said Stephen Frederick, Senior Advisor, iPipeline. “We are honored to receive this award and committed to maintaining the same level of performance for our customers in the future.”

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Ascent will be integrated into iPipeline’s low code, SSG Digital® Platform to enable agents and advisors to quickly run real-time scenario-based illustrations, save them, and send them to customers for review and e-Signature through the PAS+® (Policy Administration System Plus) agent portal. Agents and advisors will also be able to run an illustration and include it during the e-App process to collect e-Signatures, reducing cycle times and improving iGO® e-App processing rates.

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To learn how you can implement iPipeline’s innovative solutions to automate how your products are marketed, sold, and processed, contact sales@ipipeline.com or call 1-800-758-0824, option 2.

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About iPipeline
iPipeline is a leading provider of low code, cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry. Through our SSG Digital, end-to-end platform, we accelerate and simplify sales, compliance, operations, and support. We provide process automation and seamless integration between every participant in our ecosystem including carriers, agents, general agencies, advisors, broker-dealers, RIAs, banks, securities/mutual fund firms, and their consumers on a global basis. Our innovative solutions include pre-sales support, new business and underwriting, policy administration, point-of-sale execution of applications, post-sale support, data analysis, reporting, user-driven configuration, consumer delivery and self-service, and agency and firm management.

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iPipeline’s platform is used by approximately 450 carriers and fund companies, 1,400 distributors and financial institutions, and their agents and licensed advisors in a cloud-based environment. With headquarters in Exton, Pennsylvania, iPipeline has locations in Boston, Bromley (UK), Burlington (Canada), Cheltenham (UK), Dallas, Davidson, Fort Lauderdale, Huntersville, Ontario (CA), Philadelphia, Pleasanton, and Salt Lake City. Visit www.ipipeline.com.

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For iPipeline:
Lisa Shea
Marketing
lshea@ipipeline.com
484-870-6234

MIB Acquires Paperless Solutions Group

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PR Newswire

 

Expands Portfolio of Digital Solutions Expediting the Life Underwriting Process

 

NEWS PROVIDED BY

MIB Group, Inc.

 

MIB, the life insurance industry’s most trusted and secure partner for data-driven services, announced that it has acquired Paperless Solutions Group (PSG), a digital solutions provider. The acquisition expands MIB’s portfolio of solutions aimed at making the application and underwriting processes quicker and more efficient.

 

MIB’s expanded portfolio will include PSG’s products and tools that automate and facilitate the application process, including requirement gathering, signatures, policy delivery, application submission and underwriting risk assessment. These services integrate flexibly and easily with carrier systems and complement MIB’s existing products, which help insurers assess risk during and after the underwriting process.

 

“PSG has a long history of service to the life & health space with a special eye to process improvement,” said Jeff McCauley, President of PSG.  “The team and I are very excited to join the MIB Group as we believe the alignment of our products, services and personnel will bring even more innovation to the industry.”

 

“The life insurance industry is in the early stages of a digital transformation that has only accelerated since the onset of the pandemic,” said Brian Winikoff, President and CEO of MIB. “PSG’s portfolio of products and services are well positioned to support the industry’s quest to simplify and expedite the insurance application process and fit well with the solutions MIB offers our clients today.  Integrating PSG’s platform with our existing services will enable us to provide next-generation capabilities focused on automating the approach to selling and underwriting life insurance.”

 

PSG’s tools can be used individually, or on a bundled basis, and are easily incorporated into a carrier’s existing systems through robust API plug-in capabilities. “We believe PSG’s platform could provide significant value to the life insurance industry by streamlining the underwriting process and providing an efficient and reliable portal to collect key data closer to the point of sale,” said Winikoff.  That value is of critical importance as the life insurance industry looks to new technologies to help them drive efficiencies.

 

About Paperless Solutions Group
PSG is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry. Our products and services provide unparalleled automation and integration for the insurance services industry. These innovative offerings conduct millions of transactions annually by enabling the presale, new business and underwriting, point of sale, and post-sale support. To learn more about PSG, please visit www.psginc.co.

 

About MIB
MIB Group, Inc. is the life and health insurance industry’s most trusted and secure partner for data-driven risk management and digital solutions that protect the financial integrity of its members and clients while addressing their evolving needs. Owned by its members who span the life insurance industry, MIB is uniquely positioned to provide data-driven solutions that address common industry challenges and enable clients to gain efficiencies, manage their risks, and grow profitably.  For more information about MIB, visit www.mibgroup.com.

 

Media Inquiries:
Betty-Jean Lane
MIB Group, Inc.
781.751.6135
blane@mib.com

 

SOURCE MIB Group, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.mibgroup.com

Wink, Inc. Releases Third Quarter, 2020 Life Sales Results

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WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE SALES SHINE AMIDST A DISMAL QUARTER

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Wink, Inc. Releases Third Quarter, 2020 Life Sales Results

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Des Moines, Iowa. November 30, 2020– Wink, Inc. released the third quarter, 2020 life sales results in its 93rd edition of Wink’s Sales & Market Report. Wink’s Sales & Market Report is the insurance industry’s #1 resource for life insurance sales data, since 1997.

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Non-variable universal life sales for the third quarter were $624.9 million; down 5.2% when compared to the previous quarter and down 25.7% as compared to the same period last year. Non-variable universal life (UL) sales include both indexed UL and fixed UL product sales.

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Noteworthy highlights for total non-variable universal life sales in the third quarter included National Life Group gaining the #1 ranking overall, for non-variable universal life sales, with a market share of 10.9%. Transamerica’s Transamerica Premier Financial Foundation IUL was the #1 selling product for non-variable universal life sales, for all channels combined.

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Indexed life sales for the third quarter were $503.5 million, down nearly 1.0% when compared with the previous quarter, and down 9.1% as compared to the same period last year. Indexed life sales include both indexed UL and indexed whole life. “Thanks to the challenges of recent product repricing, low rates, market volatility, and Covid-19 challenges- indexed life was lucky to achieve sales that were relatively level from last quarter.”

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Items of interest in the indexed life market included National Life Group gaining the #1 ranking in indexed life sales, with a 13.4% market share. Pacific Life Companies, Transamerica, John Hancock, and Nationwide rounded-out the top five, respectively.

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Transamerica’s Transamerica Premier Financial Foundation IUL was the #1 selling indexed life insurance product, for all channels combined. The top pricing objective for sales this quarter was Cash Accumulation, capturing 66.7% of sales. The average indexed life target premium for the quarter was $10,920, an increase of nearly 2.0% from the prior quarter.

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Fixed UL third quarter sales were $121.7 million, down 19.4% when compared with the previous quarter and down 57.6% as compared to the same period last year. Noteworthy highlights for fixed universal life in the third quarter included the top pricing objective of No Lapse Guarantee capturing 54.3% of sales. The average UL target premium for the quarter was $5,066, a decline of more than 13.0% from the prior quarter. Moore commented, “It will be a miracle if total 2020 UL sales equal whole life insurance sales for a single quarter!”

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Whole life third quarter sales were $1,053.2 million, up 12.9% when compared with the previous quarter, and down more than 10.2% as compared to the same period last year. Items of interest in the whole life market included the top pricing objective of Final Expense capturing 57.7% of sales. The average premium per whole life policy for the quarter was $3,700, a decline of more than 3.0% from the prior quarter. “I anticipate that whole life sales will remain strong through 2020,” commented Moore.

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Wink currently reports on indexed universal life, indexed whole life, universal life, whole life, and all deferred annuity 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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November 30, 2020

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Des Moines, IA

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(855) ASK-WINK

illustrate inc launches OPUS™ Mobile, a quoting and illustrations app for life insurance carriers

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Toronto, ON, November 23, 2020 – illustrate inc, a point-of-sale software solutions provider for the North American Life Insurance industry, announced today the launch of OPUS™ Mobile, a downloadable quoting and illustrations app created for Carriers, which will dramatically improve the agent and client experience.

 

OPUS™ Mobile is a powerful sales tool for agents that enables them to provide quotes, illustrations and reports to clients, quickly and easily, on the spot, through their mobile phone. As with illustrate inc’s entire solution set, OPUS™ Mobile is built to be configurable and customizable to the individual needs of specific insurance carriers. It can be used in conjunction with illustrate inc’s other digital solutions, separately, or can integrate with other 3rd party systems and information providers.

Watch The Video to Learn More

“Life Insurance agents and clients are continuously pressed for time. OPUS™ Mobile enables them to respond to consumer expectations where they can deliver complicated information, easier and faster, to facilitate an informed decision,” says Lyndon Edwards, President of illustrate inc. “We’re thrilled to offer this powerful new sales tool to help agents increase the speed at which they can provide quotes and illustrations to prospective clients, and ultimately close more accounts to achieve their growth targets.”

 

illustrate inc is dedicated to helping insurance carriers evolve their organizations to better serve their agents, and current and prospective clients. OPUS™ Mobile is the latest in a line of solutions that aims to deliver state-of-the art tools that facilitate a highly productive, informed and efficient sales process.

 

Learn more at illustrateinc.com or contact us at info@illustrateinc.com.

 

About illustrate inc

Established in 1989, with offices in Toronto and Kansas City, illustrate inc has been building and delivering powerful and innovative web based POS software solutions – including quoting, illustrations, and eApps – for the North American Life Insurance industry, enabling carriers of any size to embark on, extend, or enhance their Digital Transformation.

 

For additional information contact:

 

Anastasia Sudetic

Marketing Manager

illustrate inc

anastasia.sudetic@illustrateinc.com

416-890-8147

The Future of Automation in Life Insurance

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The Future of Automation in Life Insurance

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There are really four areas of technological revolution happening together and at once to reshape the industry: automation, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud. Combined and intertwined, they mark the current disruption that shapes any discussion on the future in life insurance

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Cloud computing has been around since the 1960s, though only adopted for mainstream use in the last twenty years. Widespread cloud acceptance means uninterrupted access to data. If you think about it, this mirrors the same timeline for many types of records and databases. Twenty years ago, most medical records were not even electronic; the big push was to get industry-wide acceptance of electronic medical records by 2014. Constant access is a new phenomenon.

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Big data means we have more complex data sets from new places. More connected devices in the world means more data. Think of late generation devices and the data they collect: exercise wearables, fitness apps, smart TVs, smart vehicles, and even surgically implanted medical devices collect information about you. The implications for the insurance industry are undeniably massive. Insurance companies will be able to leverage data assets for strategic decision making, sometimes in real time. Constant access to next-level data offers insurers new insights into risk mitigation, and new avenues to recognize and seize opportunities.

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Such opportunities may be just in time to address generational challenges. Millennials have shown a general unwillingness to buy life insurance. Not only that, but they are less likely to join the insurance workforce. Millennials prefer the more lucrative tech-jobs.

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Part of the reason why is that legacy industry entry-level jobs had long been filled with mundane, repetitive, routine-type tasks – the very same jobs that are being replaced by a combination of AI and automation. Underwriting is a perfect example. The job has traditionally required repetitive, time-consuming, manual processes that once provided a small army of young professionals with industry experience. Underwriting was a paperwork-laden task. Today, the desire for fast decisions combined with 24/7 access to increased data sources means the role can be performed electronically and instantly. It’s not uncommon for the technology firms that service insurers to process 19 out of 20 insurance applications immediately and without any human intervention.

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Digital transformation across the industry has delivered business agility but transforming has been more about survival. 44% of policyholders surveyed in 2019 stated they would change carriers if they couldn’t access and service their account electronically.

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The future of life insurance involves a heavy dosage of the same four ingredients: automation, AI, big data, and cloud working together to provide new growth opportunities with the same old-world concept of security. Look for more data, increased reliability, and immediate decisions made with less human intervention.

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Ushering the industry into tomorrow are technology and automation firms like Management Research Services (MRS). MRS helps carriers streamline their application system with their no-code platform. Underwriting decisions can be made in just moments and at the point of sale. With voice and electronic signature capability, the MRS system allows for a time-to-issue of just a few minutes. For carriers seeking a technology partner that provides AI-based automated insurance services and solutions, learn more at www.managementresearchservices.com.

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Firms Using iPipeline’s InsureSight Data Analytics Increased Life Insurance Placements by 9% for Perm, 3% for Term

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InsureSight Data Analytics Enable Agents/Advisors to Break Through COVID-19 Challenges to Sell

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Exton, PA (November 10, 2020) – iPipeline® – a leading provider of low code cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry – today reported, for the period ranging from March to August 2020, five top firms using InsureSight® Data Analytics increased placement for permanent insurance products by 9% and term insurance products by 3% above the industry averages. This resulted in a $7.3 million increase in sales for the five firms during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Developed by iPipeline’s data analytics and data science team, the InsureSight® Data Analytics leverages data from iPipeline’s Agency Management System (AMS), which is comprised of 300+ Distributors, 70+ Carriers, 800,000+ annual application submissions, $8 Billion+ in annuity deposits, and $4 Billion+ in life premium within the industry. Real-time performance metrics for a participating firm are benchmarked against the industry to deliver a holistic view and drive improvement.

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“Nothing thrills me more than to see our customers benefiting from our digital products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges to customer engagement are real, and selling in the contactless environment is extremely difficult,” said Larry Berran, CEO, iPipeline. “InsureSight Data Analytics is an extremely powerful and insightful tool for top management to use in benchmarking performance both within their unique environments as well as on a national basis. It not only provides knowledge about how you stack up against the competition, but it enables top management to evaluate what is being sold, where, and to whom to fine tune operations and optimize sales on a demographic and geographic basis. Being able to analyze white space for a product portfolio and identify viable markets is invaluable when things are tough. InsureSight is making a difference and proving to be a critical service in today’s marketplace.”

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“As an early adopter of iPipeline’s InsureSight Data Analytics, AgencyOne began to see and measure data points that we had never looked at before. We had a gut feeling about the success of our business, but we could not prove it other than by looking at our revenue,” said Gonzalo Garcia, Partner, AgencyOne. “To understand more about our business and people, we worked with iPipeline to develop the ‘advisor scorecard’ functionality of the system. By measuring each advisor’s business relationship with us and more importantly, communicating that information to our advisors on a quarterly basis, all parties are held accountable for the success of each other. It became a true business partnership. From there, we were able to have some very real conversations—using factual data points—to enhance services for productive relationships and terminate non-productive ones, resulting in long term, mutual profitability and growth.”

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“Lion Street has an intense focus on connecting high-net-worth individuals, family offices, business owners, and corporate clients with the best financial solutions to meet both their short- and long-term needs. Our ability to understand all their current and future needs has a profound impact on our performance,” said Dan Stanley, Vice President Operations, Lion Street. “iPipeline’s InsureSight Data Analytics provides the ability to quickly and efficiently identify service gaps and adjust both internally and externally to strategically plan our next move, and this has positively impacted our placement ratios in a very difficult year.”

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“As a data driven firm, having immediate insight into the dynamics of our business enables us to understand how we are performing as an integrated operation to address the needs of our customers and agents. This is particularly critical in today’s marketplace given the challenges,” said Mac Chrystal, President & CEO, Gen3 Advisor Group. “InsureSight Data Analytics is a powerful and rapidly enabled service, which has allowed Gen3 to react in real-time to all activities within our business process. There is no question that it has improved how we function as a team and driven record growth for us during the COVID-19 pandemic period.”

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To learn how you can implement iPipeline’s InsureSight Data Analytics to improve agent selling for permanent and term insurance products, contact sales@ipipeline.com or call 1-800-758-0824, option 2.

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About iPipeline

iPipeline is a leading provider of low code, cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry. Through our SSG Digital, end-to-end platform, we accelerate and simplify sales, compliance, operations, and support. We provide process automation and seamless integration between every participant in our ecosystem including carriers, agents, general agencies, advisors, broker-dealers, RIAs, banks, securities/mutual fund firms, and their consumers on a global basis. Our innovative solutions include pre-sales support, new business and underwriting, policy administration, point-of-sale execution of applications, post-sale support, data analysis, reporting, user-driven configuration, consumer delivery and self-service, and agency and firm management.

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iPipeline’s platform is used by approximately 150 carriers, 1,400 distributors and financial institutions, and their agents and licensed advisors in a cloud-based environment. With headquarters in Exton, Pennsylvania, iPipeline has locations in Boston, Bromley (UK), Burlington (Canada), Cheltenham (UK), Dallas, Davidson, Fort Lauderdale, Huntersville, Ontario (CA), Philadelphia, Pleasanton, and Salt Lake City. Visit www.ipipeline.com.

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About AgencyOne
AgencyOne works with a select group of life insurance and wealth advisors across the nation who specialize in the needs of high net worth clients. AgencyOne delivers full-service, back office support to our advisors so that they can focus on the client experience. By working with a select group of advisors, we help clients protect their financial security and transition their wealth in an orderly manner. We employ our talents and resources in medical underwriting, insurance-based solutions, and advanced planning techniques to deliver a highly personalized service platform. Our objective is to be recognized as the leading Brokerage General Agency in the country by the most successful insurance and wealth advisors serving the affluent marketplace. Visit us at www.agencyone.net.

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About Lion Street
Lion Street is a leading financial services company based in Austin, Texas. Lion Street provides elite life insurance advisors access to the financial products, intellectual capital, and specialized resources they need to meet the sophisticated needs of high-net-worth and corporate clients. Together, Lion Street’s Advisor-Owners are strongly committed to building a highly collaborative network of professionals. Visit us at www.lionstreet.com.

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About Gen3 Advisor Group
Gen3 is a family owned and operated IMO located in Youngstown, Ohio. Our goal is to help top insurance professionals and financial advisors simplify their businesses and better serve their clients through every step of the planning process. With a broad portfolio of life and annuity products, sales platforms, back-office, and marketing support, Gen3 is here to help producers grow. We’d love for you to join the family. To learn more, visit us at gen3advisor.com.

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For iPipeline:
Lisa Shea
Marketing
lshea@ipipeline.com
484-870-6234

Covid-19 And Life Insurance

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COVID-19 And Life Insurance

The pandemic is a game-changer. There’s no way around the evidence: closed schools, stock market volatility, shuttered small businesses, and a swamped healthcare system. With civil discourse at an all-time low, we might need to wait for history to decide what happened.

With every sea change comes opportunity; some industries have found a boom amidst the chaos. Courier and logistics services have experienced massive growth with online shopping and doorstep deliveries. Online education is in the midst of an unprecedented heyday. Video streaming services exploded during the initial Spring lockdowns; production teams are now scrambling to keep up with demand in a forever changed television landscape. Another pandemic-time growth industry: life insurance.

The significant rise in policies sold during 2020 is especially notable because it reverses a decade-long downturn. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Americans holding a life-insurance policy dropped from 63% to 54%. That’s 16 million less people over ten years, even though the country’s population grew by 21 million.

Declines in the number of Americans holding a life insurance policy have been something of a mystery. Life expectancy has steadily increased, but fewer Americans were choosing to buy policies. One would reasonably assume ownership to rise among middle and lower-level earners, but that’s not what happened. Experts point to factors like declines in group policy sales, higher premiums, and more restrictions for an older population, though they don’t really explain the failure to reach younger generations.

Whatever caused the slump, it might be over. The second and third quarters of 2020 have shown sharp increases in policies sold, some months with double-digit percentile increases over 2019. Americans see that good health and a long life is no longer something we can take for granted as COVID-19 has increased our awareness of our own mortality. Daily reminders of tragic losses and spiraling infection rates have set off a round of panic-buying the country has not seen since 9/11.

A new landscape comes along with some new restrictions. Insurers cannot deny claims due to COVID-19, but many firms are restricting underwriting for certain at-risk groups. Individuals over 60 with heart or lung issues, diabetes, or obesity might encounter raised premiums or denials. For individuals over 70 options are even more restrictive.

Finding out your options has never been easier. Online marketplace applications use reflexive questioning to customize each application in a manner that satisfies underwriters. Behind the scenes, medical records are retrieved electronically allowing policy decisions in just moments. Naturally, prospective buyers like the ability to compare rates and options with such immediacy. Growth during the pandemic would have encountered bottlenecks and obstacles with the industry’s old model, which required meeting with an agent and scheduling a doctor’s appointment.

The industry’s new model relies on next-generation application and underwriting processes from firms like Management Research Services (MRS). MRS offers customized insurance underwriting solutions to support a range of insurance services. We can assist with your new business applications and underwriting processes through our proprietary technology and no-code platforms. Together, the MRS no-code technology and services represent a one-stop solution that reduces customer acquisition costs and saves time and overall resources for insurance carriers.

No one can say if or when the pandemic will end. Virus experts contend COVID-19 might never go away, but vaccines and treatments will turn it into something much easier for all of us to live with. As things change, MRS’s flexible system can and will change with it. Our technology is built to allow for progressively more complex underwriting and scripting scenarios. For more information on how MRS is helping insurance companies look toward a better tomorrow, visit their website at www.managementresearchservices.com .

To read more articles related to MRS and Life Insurance click here: https://managementresearchservices.com/mrs-blogs