A lot of people can tell you about what happened in the past. Theyre called teachers. Looking into the future? Thats not so easy. The folks at Robert E. Nolan Company (www.renolan.com) have taken a shot at it, though, with their publication of The Future of the Life Insurance Industry: A Strategic View.
More than 100 senior executives from life insurance companies were interviewed for the study, which looks at virtually all aspects of the life insurance business. When it came to technology issues, Robert E. Nolan chairman Ben DiSylvester said the top executives showed surprising insight into the world of technology, considering most are coming from the business side of the operation.
The CEOs are more forward-thinking than I would have thought, DiSylvester said. He was referring to the statistic that showed 85 percent of the interviewees believe electronic applications and underwriting via the Internet will be prevalent within the next decade. That figure totally surprised me, he said. I would have guessed it would be more like 50 percent.
According to DiSylvester, the fall of the dot-coms has shown insurers that virtual life insurance companies are not the threat to the marketplace that some once believed they would be. Four walls are still the order of the day, but carriers are realizing how important the Internet is to their future, particularly as a sales tool for agents and as a service provider for policyholders.
DiSylvester sees good news for businesses that are selling insurance software. If I was a technology vendor, I would be happy to read this report, he said. Although he doesnt foresee a spike in the insurance software economy, he did say that, Deep down inside the market, we see a lot of carriers doing a lot of three-to-five-year plans. Many of these plans have already been set in motion. Life insurers may not be moving at the speed expected two or three years ago, but the level we see it at now is a good level, he said.
The report noted that 30 percent of the respondents believe they will be replacing their legacy systems in the near future rather than integrating or enhancing the system. For the other 70 percent, DiSylvester hopes theyve made the correct choice, but he cautions, A lot of companies are sitting there with an old system that is past due to replace. On the other hand, he thinks that figure also shows that at least 30 percent of the carriers understand what the IT department means to their business. A lot of CEOs dont have that insight, he said.
Robert Regis Hyle
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
