Tech Seen As Top Challenge In Life Insurance Industry, LIMRA Says – InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Top Stories
Topics
    • Life Insurance
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Content
    • Webinars
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
INN Daily Newsletter Hot Off The Wires
Top Stories RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
October 21, 2021 Top Stories No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Tech Seen As Top Challenge In Life Insurance Industry, LIMRA Says

Global life insurers see technology growth as their No. 1 challenge.
By Press Release

As COVID-19 prompted life insurance companies to accelerate their digital adoption to ensure continuity of business and serve their customers, it exposed the challenges of life insurers’ legacy systems, siloed operations and the continued need to modernize.

As a result, life insurance executives cited technology as both the top challenge facing their companies and the external force driving change in the industry, according to the latest C-suite life insurance executive survey by LIMRA and Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

The 2021 study surveyed more than 400 C-suite life insurance executives across 50 countries to identify their greatest challenges and conditions that affect their business strategies.

Nearly 4 in 10 executives said technology was their company’s greatest internal challenge — twice as many as in 2019 when the survey was last conducted. Executives surveyed said digital automation and data science and analytics were the top technologies needed to ensure their companies’ progress in marketing, distribution and customer experience over the next five years. Six in 10 respondents said investments in customer service technologies, modernizing legacy systems, and mitigating cybersecurity threats would be crucial to being competitive.

Other top challenges, like low interest rates and regulation, reflect the significant headwinds facing the industry and amplify the need to manage risks in the current environment. Additional priorities, such as growth and new ways of working, demonstrate how insurers are preparing for a future in which they move faster and are more responsive to customer, advisor and employee needs.

“The pace of change has accelerated in our industry and across the world, requiring life insurers to adjust their strategies to not only to meet current demands of today’s customers but also to ensure competitiveness in the decades to come,” said Alison Salka, Ph.D., senior vice president and director of LIMRA Research. “What has been a consistent challenge for the industry is the long-term, ultra-low interest rates. LIMRA studies show the industry has adapted to this ‘new normal’ by adjusting how they manage investments, assets and liabilities, or shifting their product portfolio to focus their growth strategies on protection products that are inherently less interest-rate sensitive.”

Future Of Work

COVID-19 also significantly shifted companies’ positions on the future of work. In addition to introducing the need for remote and hybrid work arrangements, COVID-19 also highlighted the need to adapt to the ever-growing, digitally based customer engagement. Two thirds of executives surveyed said embracing digital innovation would be most important to the future of work in the industry.

“The pandemic exacerbated the existing war for talent in the life insurance space, especially in the digital domain. To attract and retain talent, companies will need to make substantial investments in new technology and re-skilling current employees to capitalize on the capacity made available by the automation or elimination of manual processes,” noted BCG Managing Director and Partner Rob Sims.

The study revealed this workforce transformation will require meaningful changes in how employees are managed. Sixty percent of executives say the biggest challenges associated with change management will be cultural.

“Another often overlooked aspect of these changes is how they will impact companies’ cultural and management styles,” Sims says. “As companies strive to build an increasingly diverse, technology-empowered workforce, leaders will need to balance the best ways to leverage people and technologies to create the greatest efficiencies and engagement.”

The study provides three recommendations to help drive growth:

Expanding distribution models. Life insurers should not only expand into new models that bring life insurance to customers where they bank, shop, work or travel but they also must reimagine how advisors interact with customers and provide them the training and digital tools needed to support this.

Evolving value propositions and products. While persistent ultra-low interest rates have required life insurers to shift their portfolio to products that require less capital and minimize risk, companies should develop personalized solutions that add value in a customer’s daily life, creating greater loyalty and new opportunities.

Taking new approaches to engagement. Insurers are exploring new customer engagement approaches to tap into growth opportunities. From health and well-being products to rewards programs (such as Vitality or Dacadoo), worksite well-being programs, voluntary benefits and use of social media, companies can leverage these new strategies to capture more data and learn about customer preferences and refine their offerings.

To download the report, visit: What’s On the Minds of Life Insurance Executives: Responding to the Moment, Looking to the Future. 

 

Older

Combined Insurance Announces ‘Reinforce Your Workforce’ Initiative

Newer

Insurers Continue To Flirt With Electronic Health Records

Advisor News

  • ‘Spring Cleaning’ Includes Your Client’s Finances, Too
  • Retirement Savers Remain Confident Despite Short-Term Woes
  • City of Memphis Helps Employees With Financial Wellness Programs
  • IRI CEO: ‘I Am Optimistic for Our Industry’s Future’
  • 2/3 Of Near-Retirees Failed Or Barely Passed A Basic Social Security Quiz
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Nationwide To Pay $5.6M For Annuity Violations, NY Regulators Say
  • LibertyMark Freedom Fixed Indexed Annuities Launch
  • Nationwide Adds BNP Paribas Global H-Factor Index To FIA
  • Transamerica Launches Structured Index Advantage Annuity
  • Recommending FIAs: Start With The Client’s Objective
Sponsor
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • Insurance execs and others weigh in on the industry’s critical talent gap
  • Medicaid Managed Care Bill Wins Approval Of Oklahoma Lawmakers
  • EBRI Studies Expanding Pre-Deductible Coverage For Chronic Conditions
  • Most Consumers Choose To Pay Higher LTCi Premiums
  • CMS Creates More User-Friendly Medicare Website
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance

  • Industry Looks To Extend COVID-Related Life Insurance Sales Boom
  • The 5 Secrets To Retaining Financial Sales Professionals
  • Life Insurance Activity Continues Dip In April But Still Stronger Than 2021, MIB Reports
  • Transamerica Adds Execs To Annuity And Life Insurance Team
  • Northwestern Mutual Invests $5M In Black-Led Financial Institutions
More Life Insurance

- Presented By -

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

FEATURED OFFERS

Get Linked INN to your industry Connect with INN on LinkedIn to be first on all the news and insights that matter to your industry.

Press ReleasesAll press releases

  • OneAmerica Commits $1 Million Toward Financial Literacy
  • Transamerica Structured Index Advantage Annuity Offers Investors More Certainty with Upside Growth and Downside Protection
  • Senior Market Sales Creates First-of-Its-Kind Lead Acquisition Platform
  • Growing financial services firm Kuvare opens Des Moines office in East Village, continuing expansion in Iowa
  • BetterLife Selects iPipeline® to Digitally Transform Its Business & Better Serve Future Generations
Add your Press Release >

Topics

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Content
  • Webinars
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2022 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your INNsider Account

Not registered? Become an INNsider.