Ensight – InsurTech Express

The Rise of Platforms

…And what it means for the life and annuity sector

May-1-Essick-Tech

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.

The era of the platform economy is here.

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

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

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”.

And in the financial services space?

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.

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:

– 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

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

Some Predictions for the Life and Annuity Platform Era

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.

Here are three predictions over the next decade:

– 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”

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.

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

“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]

Unstoppable Drivers Towards Platform Distribution

There are several unstoppable forces and accelerants now at play.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

3 Recommendations To Win

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

Develop a platform-led distribution strategy

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.

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

– 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?

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”.

Expect to see a few casualties.

“Get on” the dominant platforms early

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

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”.

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.

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

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.)

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.

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

Play to win and embrace the change

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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)

Ensight™ Surges Past One Million Digital Life Sales Presentations

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.”

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

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.

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

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

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

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:

– “Virtual Selling Might Be Here To Stay”

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

– “Will Agents Ever Return To The Office”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Sail with the wind, not against it.

What’s New In Life And Annuity eApp, Illustrations, Mobile And Self-Service

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By Ken Leibow – March 1, 2021

Originally Published in Broker World Magazine

Life and annuity technology solutions are growing in both innovation and in the number of platforms that are available in the marketplace. Today I want to give you a taste of the latest stats on eApp and eDelivery for BGAs; a new simple method of presenting complex illustrations; a mobile modular option for carriers for eApp and illustrations; and self-service tools for policyholders.

The Latest Stats and Trends on eApp and eDelivery for BGAs

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It was a no brainer to reach out to iPipeline whose eApp platform (iGO) has the biggest footprint in the BGA space. They provided the latest stats and trends in eApp and eDelivery: “Why does going digital today really matter? Over the past year, we’ve seen our world turned upside down in every way. In a business where relationships rule and in person meetings have been the key to selling more, the insurance industry was quickly turned on its head. Many carriers were left struggling with how to get paper polices out the door, agents were scrambling to figure out how to work better with consumers, and consumers were afraid to meet with anyone at the kitchen table anymore.

The good news is that the industry, although mildly prepared, is pulling through. During these times, we’ve seen a huge surge in adoption by brokerage agencies to push digital processes even further. In 2020, dozens of insurance carriers started a process to bring live more eApps and more ePolicy deliveries. Here are some benefits for you to think about, as a brokerage agency, on why having a digital strategy is essential.”

eApp

– Shortens the application cycle time by 50 percent.

– Average cost reduction over paper 37 percent.

– Offers client collaboration where the agent and consumer can both work on the same digital app together—keeping the relationship, and the app, alive.

– On Behalf Of—allows case managers to take over the eApp process for their agent to provide more value in the process.

ePolicy Delivery

– Shortens the cycle time by 23 days on average.

– Increases placement ratios by 11 percent on average.

– Has an over 90 percent consumer adoption rate.

“2020 was a wakeup call for everyone in our industry, especially brokerage agencies whose agents were traditionally paper-based. iPipeline, one of the biggest players digitizing these processes, saw a huge growth in some areas, in both eApp and eDelivery by you and your peers last year—more than 70 percent growth in eApps, and nearly 300 percent growth in ePolicy delivery.”

“Sales-Stories” Simplifying Life and Annuity Illustrations for Agents and Consumers

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Today there are three exciting sales model transformation dynamics taking place in the InsurTech life and annuity space. First, the consumer experience of financial products is being driven towards simplicity, transparency and an easy-to-understand digital experience. Second, the traditional wholesaling and agent model is on the cusp of radical transformation, shifting towards a hybrid (cyborg) agent/wholesaler who is digitally enabled with interactive educational sales tools. Third, the “pre-sale to application experience” is rapidly driving towards a “single experience” digital workflow, from quote to pre-sale proposal to eApp submission. A seamless experience completed in minutes, “live” and during the engagement with the prospective client. These three strategic shifts are core drivers to meeting the new FinTech “experience threshold.” and will be critical to sustainable growth for the life and annuity sector going forward.

I am very excited to say that Ensight’s new “Sales Story” platform module has made a significant leap forward in helping to drive these industry shifts. Working in partnership with leading life, LTCI and annuity insurance carriers and national distributors, Ensight™ has created a configurable sales experience engine, empowering the rapid creation of a broad range of different types of consumer-centric sales experiences—based on rich content and personalized client illustration data. For instance, a “Sales Story” may take the form of a new engaging product concept to support a critical market launch, encapsulating the product benefits and performance in an intuitive, personalized interactive microsite. Or a “story” may take the form of an online product training course. Or a step-by-step sales script to walk a client through a proposal at the point of sale. The Ensight “Sales Stories” engine is a highly configurable platform, enabling stories to be customized for each carrier’s or distributor’s sales model.

Ensight’s “Sales Stories” are also modernizing the traditional “sales concept” experience. The most successful financial professionals engage the client based on financial need and “story selling,” the art of “telling a story with the aim of engaging your client, so they remember, connect, and perceive the benefits of acquiring your product or service.” “Concept-selling” has been at the heart of life, LTCI and annuity sales for decades. Ensight has modernized the art of concept selling for the digital era. Think of an elegantly designed, interactive supplement retirement, Cost of Waiting, or “Life vs Another Asset” concept—that a client can digitally play with to drive understanding.

Finally, Ensight’s ”Sales Stories” also increase agent sales effectiveness (e.g. higher sales closing rates) for carriers and distributors with agent-based networks, providing the financial professional with a best practice, compliant and engaging (interactive) sales script to run a meaningful client conversation. Every captive agent network is seeking to make every agent, whether new to the business or not, a top selling agent in the field. Similarly, insurance carriers are seeking to digitally scale the expertise, education and pitch of the wholesaler. Ensight™ Sales Stories is the digital sales enablement platform to deliver on both.

Life and Annuity True Mobile Illustrations and eApp for Carriers

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illustrate inc is proud to have recently launched OPUS Mobile, a downloadable app for individual life insurance carriers. OPUS Mobile is designed and customized to be carrier specific, with the core functionality centering on instant calculations and quotes for virtually any life or annuity product for on-screen visualization and report generation.

Lyndon Edwards, president of illustrate inc says, “Data shows that mobile users live in the app world and that downloaded apps capture much higher levels of user attention and usage than going through a mobile browser. Accessibility, design, user experience, and overall functionality are built specifically for the app, and users are very familiar and comfortable in that environment.”

While the entire OPUS line of web solutions—illustrations, eApps, and more—are responsive in design, meaning they will automatically adjust and reorientate to virtually any device and screen size, OPUS Mobile takes it to that next level.

“Our approach was to take OPUS Mobile beyond the core powerful quoting and reporting functionality through providing the opportunity to add high value features including quote compare, user preferences and tools, product and marketing information, needs analysis, push notifications, and more. Built using a single code base for both Apple and Android, OPUS Mobile is integration ready and highly secure.”

A major U.S. carrier has recently launched OPUS Mobile to their thousands of agents across the country. This custom branded carrier app is fully integrated with other company apps and systems, covers multi-channel requirements, and has a web service to allow approved users access on their desktop.

Carriers Deploying Self-Service Solutions for Life Insurance Policyholders

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Sureify, an established insurtech provider, finds that roadblocks like legacy systems that don’t pair well with the new digital capabilities and a complex product line that isn’t typically intuitive are holding some insurers back from jumping into the digital waters where self-service is concerned. But perhaps the biggest hurdle remains confidence in the capability and security of self service.

“Life insurance agents have historically referred policyholders to call centers—the former pinnacle of self-service—because they had confidence in the ability of those call center employees to answer questions and solve problems,” explained Dustin Yoder, Sureify’s CEO and founder. “In 2021, we are helping insurers build the same kind of confidence into their web and mobile capabilities. Sureify’s goal is to help carriers’ reps and agents feel 100 percent comfortable referring their customers to these digital platforms, like LifetimeService, to find answers and solve problems. Once that confidence is achieved, those agents can focus their time and effort on building and growing business.”

– LifetimeAcquire: Powers omnichannel sales capabilities that drive increased placement rates via quoting, e-application, automated underwriting and e-delivery.

– LifetimeEngage: Uses multiple engagement methods and analytics to foster a lifelong digital relationship with policyholders, leading to a greater lifetime value for each policyholder.

– LifetimeService: Enables insurers to provide a comprehensive digital self-service suite for their policyholders.

Sureify is a SaaS platform for the life and annuity industry that provides the digital technology experience that today’s customers expect. Sureify’s platform, Lifetime, is a modular, highly configurable set of software solutions that sits on top of policy administration systems. Lifetime delivers a best-in-class experience that modernizes sales, policyholder servicing and innovative customer engagement.

The solution platform landscape for life and annuities is growing and the workflow models are multiplying. We are now seeing new innovative digital point of sales solutions that not only help close the sale but are designed for our new virtual world. Even if agents and consumers are not traveling, they still spend more time on their mobile devices than their laptops. As the Millennials are becoming the target consumer, self-service technology solutions are growing in popularity.

The Latest In Sales Illustrations, Paramed Exams And Client Engagement

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Published in Broker World Magazine in October 2020

There has been a lot reported on the impact of COVID-19 to the life insurance industry. I wanted to research this from a different perspective. Starting with sales illustration vendors from changes to carrier projects to how BGAs and agents are engaging with their clients. Next, I was curious about the truth regarding paramed exams. You will be surprised at what the paramed vendors revealed. Also, there is a growing trend for life insurance carriers using solution platforms to remotely engage with their policy owners.

Sales Illustrations
Let’s take a look at two types of illustration vendors to see how their businesses have changed since COVID-19. The first is illustrate inc. who works with carriers. They have modular point of sales solutions that run quotes, illustrations and eApps on both mobile and desktop devices for life insurance agents and consumers. illustrate inc. works on carrier digital point of sales projects customizing their solutions to integrate in the life insurance sales experience. The second type of illustration vendor is Ensight who focuses on the distribution side. Ensight has a modern multi-carrier intelligent quoting platform with a presentation solution used by BGAs for case design and analyzing permanent products like index universal life to visually help the agent explain the benefits of the UL product to their clients.

The feedback we received from illustrate inc. is that their business continued uninterrupted due to COVID-19, however they did see an impact on short term projects with some life insurance carriers as they shifted their immediate attention towards their own operations. Carriers recognize the impact COVID-19 has had on their distribution channels, clients, and operations, which has led them to start to reevaluate and review their current digital strategies to ensure that they’re aligned with the new business environment. Lyndon Edwards, president of illustrate inc., stated, “We’ve experienced a significant increase in conversations, largely due to COVID-19, with carriers who are ramping up their digital capabilities. This ranges from those just starting to look for a practical solution to those who see this as an opportunity to expand on their existing capabilities, as the pandemic has reinforced the need for automated and digital services from both a sales and business continuity perspective. Vendors, like us at illustrate inc., must be flexible, nimble, and innovative to deal with the changing requirements, immediate needs, and long-term scalability and sustainability of our solutions in order to support carriers and provide continuous value.”

From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ensight has seen a dramatic shift to the remote sales engagement model on virtual meetings such as Zoom and Go To Meeting—whether it is BGA case designers and wholesalers virtually supporting producers and financial professionals on key cases or providing product training, or life and annuity producers engaging with prospects over the Zoom to help fulfill the increased demand driven by the pandemic, or financial advisors, almost 50 percent of whom were already moving to a virtual client engagement model, interactively walking clients through the benefits of life insurance. Bill Unrue, CEO of Ensight, commented, “At Ensight, we have seen a dramatic shift towards the virtual sales experience with growth of 155 percent in just the last three months. We have also been supporting hundreds of wholesalers and financial professionals on a weekly basis via webinars and interactive training sessions to enable interactive client engagements on remote meetings. The pandemic has acted as an accelerant in the march toward digital transformation for the life and annuity sector. The rapid and agile response over the last seven months to COVID-19 bodes well for returning the sector to long-term growth and wider financial protection in society.”

Paramed Exams
APPS Paramedical Services has been able to not only “make it through” the initial stages of the COVID-19 crisis, APPS has seen significant paramedical exam order volume increases, and completions that are exceeding year over year projections. Joe Klein, SVP of National Accounts at APPS, was eager to provide some details, “As we entered mid-March, Coronavirus and uncertainty were at an all-time height in the U.S. Markets were shaken, neighborhoods were rocked, and many people hunkered down in isolation. Life insurance sales fell sharply, and paramedical exam orders were only half of what was expected. Fortunately, APPS responded by pulling together non-N95 masks and other PPE. Exam services continued, albeit slower, but fortunately in line with the speed of sales. Only four to six weeks later Americans were back in the saddle. The paramedical exam orders were flowing full force. Sure, some carriers deferred exams in lieu of higher rating offers, but those that saw their applicants’ continued desire to be fully medically underwritten had their exams completed and completed safely. Thus far into the pandemic the number of exams completed by APPS eclipses half a million. Paramedical exams are getting completed safely every day in the privacy of applicants’ homes. APPS is proud to not only help more Americans secure the financial security of their families, we are proud to serve our underwriting customers as they ensure the correct decisions are being made.”

As some actuaries are predicting, the mortality impact of COVID-19 will stretch far past the missed doctors’ appointments for preventative health and skyrocketing binge drinking. Just take a read of the newly published Hank George article titled Dire Diagnosis—COVID-19, the Great Recession, and the coming underwriting apocalypse. You will find it a sobering reminder that right now, more than ever, the value of fluids results cannot be replaced.

I spoke with a second paramedical service provider, MediPro Direct. Ryan Janeway, president and CEO, stated, “The impact of the SARS-CoV2 virus (COVID-19) on the insurance industry is significant. As a paramedical service provider, we experienced an immediate decline in exams being performed due to state and community shutdowns, economic uncertainty, and an increase by carriers in the policy amount requirement for these exams. We also experienced the demise of one of our largest competitors due directly to the impact of this virus on their business. As an organization MediPro Direct was well positioned to respond to these market shifts, having already established a virtual office environment for our entire national team and utilizing secure and redundant cloud services for our case management systems. Our multifaceted business meant we were also able to hire some of the top talent made available by the sudden shut-down of our competitor, further increasing our ability to exceed client expectations.” In addition to operational consistency and data security, MediPro Direct was able to provide its field examiners with immediate access to PPE, as well as PCR and antigen testing through MediPro Direct’s genetic and clinical lab. This meant the safety for examiners and the applicants they service was never in question. Ryan continued optimistically, “Looking forward, we see the future of the insurance industry requiring a more data conscious and capable paramedical network, including access to data on the health of the examiners in the field. With one the largest examiner networks in the nation, real-time reporting through our Quality First system, and examiner health tracking, MediPro Direct is ready to lead the way.”

I reached out to IMS-Insurance Medical Services to see if there was a change in the number of examiners being recruited. IMS offers a full array of services to assist with the pre-underwriting process such as paramedical examinations, attending physician statements, criminal background checks and motor vehicle reports. IMS is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. They have a national network of over 5,000 paramedical examiners nationwide. Bilal Saeed, VP of Operations at IMS, Paramed Inc. responded, “In spite of COVID-19, we have observed our business has grown due to increased awareness of life insurance and in result we have fully prepared our field staff to wear complete personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times during all examinations in the field. Our recruiting efforts of field examiners has doubled to meet the demands of the life insurance industry.”

Life Insurance Consumer Engagement Platforms
Sureify, a leader in digital enablement in the life insurance arena, has spent the past several years preparing carriers for a moment such as this. The pandemic has illuminated blind spots in the industry, especially reliance on disjointed, disconnected legacy systems that are proving wholly ineffective for remote selling, service and engagement. The Lifetime Platform is focused on helping carriers sell, engage and service with one enterprise platform that was developed to empower insurers and their agents to act, interact, and react in real time—via digital means. Sureify’s LifetimeEngage uses a collection of data and analytics to create robust engagement programs (financial education, health and lifestyle) that foster a life-long relationship with policyholders, while LifetimeAcquire drives placement rates via quoting, e-application, automated underwriting and new business transmission, and LifetimeService offers in-force customers a comprehensive self-service portal and native applications. CEO Dustin Yoder says that, “Sureify has seen significant growth as traditional insurers come to realize the positives (cost savings, functional improvement, and the enhanced ability to meet policyholder expectations) that come with the new digital landscape.”

As expected, the initial month of COVID-19 stalled businesses across the industry. Soon after, digital point of sales projects with carriers picked right up. Vendors used innovation to adapt sales illustration solutions to help agents virtually sell to their clients. Paramed exams, contrary to what many believe, are busier than ever today, and life carriers are looking to consumer engaging platforms to service their policyholders.

Proformex and Ensight Team Up To Transform Life Insurance Inforce Policy Monitoring

Proformex

Ensight’s API platform advances transparency and oversight for insurance agents and financial advisors

CLEVELAND, Ohio – August 12, 2020 – Ensight, the leading life and annuity digital sales acceleration platform for insurance carriers, distributors and financial professionals, today announced it has partnered with Proformex, the market-leading inforce management platform.. The company will integrate Ensight’s quoting API platform to enhance Proformex’s intelligent inforce policy monitoring, which provides insurance agents and financial advisors better oversight and visibility into inforce policy contract performance.

The partnership is part of Proformex’s strategy to simplify the complexity and challenges of managing inforce business at scale, while providing actionable insights for its customers. Integrating the Ensight Quoting API enables Proformex customers to evaluate potential protection options for their clients during the policy review process without ever leaving the Proformex platform. The result is a solution that saves time and enhances overall policyholder service.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Ensight,” said Mike Pepe, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Proformex.“The ability for our customers to access automated product quoting from Ensight directly in the Proformex platform is gamechanging to make policy reviews fast and easy for our customers. This relationship strengthens our mission of being a partner across the life insurance ecosystem while we reimagine how all policies are serviced after they’ve been sold.”

As Best Interest (BI) regulation continues to extend into the Life and Annuity market, ongoing policy servicing becomes increasingly important to complying with fiduciary standards. Over time, a policy’s death benefit, cash value performance and net surrender value can be negatively impacted by a range of factors. It is increasingly critical that financial professionals monitor a client’s overall policy health and, when necessary, compare the inforce policy against new potential protection options in the marketplace.

Ensight’s life insurance API provides access to the broadest number of life insurance carriers, products and product classes in the US life insurance industry today. The Ensight API supports over 22 leading life carriers, 200 products, and has the ability to quote across product classes (Term, GUL, Whole, IUL, VUL) for a common case design. It is also the only API able to support platform partners seeking to meet the emerging BI requirements.

“Like Ensight, Proformex is a leading insurtech enabler helping transform a critical area of the life insurance policy lifecycle. While we focus on transforming the sales experience, from illustration design to advisor-client discussion at the point of sale, Proformex is enabling customers to securely store, manage and analyze their entire inforce book,” stated Bill Unrue, CEO, Ensight. “We are thrilled to partner with Proformex as they transition the industry from reactive to proactive inforce policy monitoring.”

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.

To learn more about Ensight at https://www.ensightcloud.com/.

About Proformex™

Proformex is the leading inforce management platform offering data aggregation, analytics, and portfolio monitoring for life insurance and annuities. The platform is purpose-built to help advisors, GAs/BGAs, IMOs, financial institutions, settlement companies, and broker-dealers protect their clients’ best interest and ensure regulatory compliance by monitoring individual policy performance, identifying at-risk policies, and uncovering new sales opportunities. Our automated solutions make inforce management more efficient, more profitable, and results in better experiences for policy owners.To learn more about Proformex at https://www.proformex.com/.

Media Contacts

Ensight

Trish DaCosta

KCD PR

Ensight@kcdpr.com

Proformex

David Morris

Chief Marketing Officer

(855) 341-1331

dmorris@proformex.com

COVID-19 Pandemic Drives Surge in Life Insurance Virtual Sales Meetings

SAN DIEGO (PRWEB) June 10, 2020

Ensight, a leading life and annuity digital sales platform, today released the latest findings from its quarterly Trends Report which highlights a dramatic shift in life insurance interest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As shelter-in-place orders forced life insurance agents to work from home, remote selling utilization increased by 155% in just eight weeks. Social distancing restrictions were among the biggest drivers of a transformation towards digital life insurance sales in more than 20 years.

During April’s nationwide shutdown, the Ensight Platform created over 31,000 digital illustrations for remote sales engagements by agencies, producers, and financial advisors. The insurtech company also reported a dramatic increase in the number of agency users of its interactive virtual sales platform – from 84 to 215 between January and May of 2020.

“Life insurance has always been a relationship-based business. It’s about connecting with clients and understanding their personal financial protection objectives, and the need for controlled risk that insurance products can offer amidst market volatility. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only re-catalyzed awareness of the need for financial protection, but also ignited a shift to digital client engagement, such as remote discussions over virtual meeting platforms,” said John “Hutch” Hutchinson, Founder of BankingTruths.com. “For years we’ve been working to train our clients to meet virtually, but over the past eight weeks, we’ve found the world is now leaning into a virtual way of doing business. The life insurance sector has realized that a virtual discussion is so much more flexible for the client, but also more productive for our business model. Ensight’s interactive presentations have been instrumental in elevating our virtual professionalism, and the interactive visual experience transforms mundane granular product data into a more tangible digital presentation that a client can understand and act upon.”

The company, whose interactive virtual sales platform supports life insurance quoting with an easy-to-use, intuitive platform notes guaranteed universal life insurance (GUL) protection-oriented quoting maintained strong activity of nearly 39% in April 2020. In contrast, indexed universal life insurance (IUL) grew from 30% earlier in the year to an average 35% in six weeks. The company’s life agency base supports tens of thousands of life agents, producers, financial advisors and financial services firms with digital interactive presentations for remote sales.

“The response to the coronavirus has created a broadscale shift to a virtual sales model and is reinvigorating the traditional way life insurance agents conduct business,” says CEO Bill Unrue. “These changes were already taking form as the growth of the gig economy, remote working, and virtual financial advice increased; what we’re seeing now is how the pandemic has accelerated the industry’s digital transformation.”