Deloitte’s 2019 Insurance Agent Outlook: ‘Stay Optimistic’

By Susan Rupe

Consumers may go online to get information about life insurance, but advice from an agent is still a big part of the insurance-buying process.

That was the word from Deloitte’s annual Insurance Industry Outlook for 2019.

“We found that consumers want to do self-directed research when they are interested in buying life insurance. And then, after they do the research and talk with family and friends, they still want to talk to an advisor,” said Gary Shaw, Deloitte vice chairman and U.S. leader for insurance.

“We also found that 25 percent of consumers said they were interested in going direct and buying life insurance online, but only 10 percent actually do.”

What this means is that consumers acknowledge that the life insurance purchase decision is significant, said Kevin Sharps, a principal in the Deloitte Consulting Insurance practices. “But the opportunity for the advisor to show up at the right point in time around the point of sale and provide the right amount of advice is becoming narrower.”

Carriers are still spending much effort advertising their products to consumers, Shaw said. But the flat rate of premium growth shows that “it’s just not moving the needle.”

One thing that the researchers found, Sharps said, is that the life insurance industry is prepared to serve high net worth individuals but not the middle market.

“We’re not bringing consumers in from that middle market and growing with their needs," he added. "Consumers still very much value advice and they want and need an advisor around the purchase process.”

The industry used to depend on its agent field force to educate consumers about life insurance, he said. But he foresees that field force being replaced by what he called a carrier/advisor/consumer partnership.

He described it as “building the right kind of digital marketing capabilities that generate awareness and then routing the right consumer to the right advisor at the right time.”

So what should an advisor do in the new year?

“Stay optimistic,” Sharps said. “It’s a challenging marketplace, but it’s rewarding.

“The industry overall is full of bright, creative people. When it finds the right idea, it tends to get behind it in a big way.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.