Four More Carriers Sign With DTCC Producer Management Portal

By Cyril Tuohy InsuranceNewsNet

Transamerica, New York Life, Great American and Prudential have signed on to a producer management portal offered by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC).

The automated platform offers insurers a centralized database for the annuities industry to track, share and verify producer training completions.

Because annuity agents can be licensed and appointed in many states, and because agents can sell dozens of annuity products, the industry has had difficulty tracking which agents have completed which programs.

The producer management portal (PMP) is designed to solve that issue.

“We have been gratified to see that tool gain traction and help carriers and distributors navigate complex regulations in a more streamlined way,” said Kevin Lewis, vice president and head of the DTCC’s Insurance & Retirement Services division.

The portal was launched in 2013 as an extension of the DTCC’s licensing and appointments service.

Allianz Life was the first insurance carrier to sign up, which it did in April of this year. Nationwide is set to go live with the producer portal next month.

The DTCC’s website says that benefits of signing up with the portal means insurers can cut operating costs, reduce lead times, eliminate unauthorized sales, support compliance, execute securities trades more efficiently, and access producer training data more easily.

Because of the fractured nature of the state-based regulatory system, producer training and licensing remains paper based.

“Access to PMP helps both carriers and distributors validate training requirements and quickly rectify any gaps in completion so producers can seamlessly complete good order sales improving their client’s overall experience,” Eric Michau, director of operations and relationship management at New York Life, said in a news release.

Lewis said that as more carriers and distributors join, they will have access to a broader set of data to ascertain producer qualification.

Distributors using the platform to manage training completions include H. Beck; Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, and Robert W. Baird & Co.

DTCC, structured as a holding company based in New York, is a user-owned and industry-governed organization. It automates and standardizes post-trade requirements for broker/dealers, custodian banks and asset managers around the world.

The company was created in 1973 to automate the rising volume of paperwork. It provides custody and asset servicing for securities valued at $64 trillion.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Writer Cyril Tuohy has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at cyril.tuohy@innfeedback.com.