Even if they went paperless (yeah, yeah, we know), insurance carriers would still be responsible for producing prospectuses for many of their products as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and various departments of insurance throughout the country. AXA Financial, parent of the Equitable Life Assurance Co., found that the typesetting requirements to produce such copies could be handled just as easily in house, particularly if the company acquired the same printing software used by its outside vendor.
AXA already did much of its printing in-house, but the more complicated world of financial printing called for more precision. [Forms and flyers] are different than legal documents. Theyre written in different terms, said Richard Rogers, manager of the e-publishing division for AXA. It is easy to do marketing material in Word or Quark, but to do a prospectus requires a high-end system.
AXA had used outside vendors for years, but with its number of life insurance and annuity products growing, Rogers said, We reached a certain level where it just made sense to bring it back in house. We felt it would be less expensive and we would have better control over the quality. We also felt we would have better control of the content and how we could re-use it for other products.
AXA has 54 products that require prospectuses for SEC filings. Constant updates for those various filings meant whatever system the company chose would be in use often. We looked at the numbers and the financial printing industry in general, and it bore itself out, Rogers said.
The company began by looking at three differentvendors. Rogers said fromthe start AXA leanedtowards XyEnterprises XML Professional Publisher package (XPP) for one simple reason: It was the same software being used by AXAs outside vendor.
XPP automates the composition of data generated by financial services companies by using an information repository of XML-based structured data. The system can turn that XML data into fully formatted documents complete with complex tables, math equations, footnotes, a table of content, and indices. It can also produce PDF or HTML documents.
Key features include XML and SGML support, batch composition, and sophisticated composition controls. Its XML and WYSIWYG capabilities lent itself to our needs, Rogers said.
After selecting XyEnterprise, Rogers said AXA went through three stages in the implementation process. Before installation, once we decided on the product, we brought together all the groups involvedIT, production, legal, and a representative from our president, Rogers said.
Over a period of six to seven weeks, the data from the legacy system was ported to the XPP system, according to Rogers. But that was only the beginning. Once the system was installed, it required resources to run the program. That meant personnel. You have to make a commitment, Rogers said. It is not an easy program to learn, but weve maintained a strong, core group of people.
Quick success is something you hope for with any software buy, and AXA was able to experience that feeling. We went through our first update season, and the numbers we thought we would save were even greater than anticipated, Rogers said. Plus we got the project done quicker than we had in the past six or seven years.
Network installations are never completed without some problems, but Rogers believes keeping IT involved from the start has eliminated at least some of them. Paper may be on its way out in the insurance industry, but reports and prospectuses are not going to go away as long as state and federal governments have anything to say about it. ROBERT REGIS HYLE
THE COMPANY: AXA FINANCIAL
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT: $400 BILLION
WEB SITE: www.axa-financial.com
THE PRODUCT: XML PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHER FROM XYENTERPRISE
WEB SITE: www.xyenterprise.com
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