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What's Holding Us Back?
By Dean Lambert, Executive Director, LIC
I titled this article to grab your attention; hopefully it worked. Stick with me for the next few hundred words, because I'm hoping to generate some dialogue about what small-to-midsize life companies might need to achieve the growth, stability and long-term strength important to consumers seeking the protection you provide.
The inspiration for this piece comes from two recent items: The LIC's Final Expense Sales Report released in June, and a June 6 press release from LIMRA that states the 4% increase in Q12023 vs Q4 2022 policy sales was driven by "small- and mid-sized carriers." Sometimes when going through the day-to-day grind, it's easy to wonder if we're making progress. This is . . .
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Industry News
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LIC Releases Final Expense and Preneed Insurance Sales Studies
Total final expense life insurance premium was $640 million in 2022, a 5% decline from 2021 sales results, according to a survey of 22 companies in the final expense market. This is the first drop in final expense premium since 2018 and follows two years of double-digit growth. The 2023 study, conducted by LIC, surveyed 22 final expense life insurers that primarily use independent marketing organizations (IMOs) to distribute their products.
LIC also released its 2022 sales results for preneed life insurance based on 12 companies' results. Unlike final expense products, preneed policies are contracted directly with a funeral home for burial expenses and services. In 2022, sales were just over $2 billion measured by face amount among the 11 companies providing sales for both 2021 and 2022, up 3% compared with 2021 results.
Both reports can be ordered at www.loma.org/LICSurveys (free for LIC members).
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U.S. Insurers Update Platforms to Match New Competition
Many insurance carriers in the U.S. are updating their core technology platforms to fend off new competitors and overcome growing macroeconomic challenges, according to a new research report published by Information Services Group, a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
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Lambert, Busch Named 'Ambassadors of the Year'
The Selected Educational Trust announced its 2023 Ambassador of the Year Award recipients:
- James H. Busch, Owner and President, Busch Funeral and Crematory Services, Cleveland, Ohio, 2023 Ambassador of the Year – Funeral Service Professional.
- Dean Lambert, Executive Director of LIC and former Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Homesteaders Life Company, 2023 Ambassador of the Year – Industry Partner Leader
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Navy Mutual Announces New VP of Sales
Navy Mutual Aid Association announced that Jake Mitchell, formerly of WorldStrides, assumed the position of Vice President of Sales on May 8, 2023. Mitchell is responsible for leading sales strategy and operations for life insurance and annuity products.
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LIMRA: U.S. Life Insurance Policy Sales Increased 4% in First Quarter 2023, Driven by Small and Mid-Size Carriers
Total U.S. retail life insurance new annualized premium fell 7% in the first quarter 2023 to $3.75 billion, yet the number of policies sold increased 4% from the prior year. This represents the highest policy sales growth since the second quarter 2021, during the height of the pandemic sales surge.
"Sixty-one percent of the total policy growth was from whole life and term sales and driven primarily by small to mid-sized companies," said John Carroll, senior vice president, LIMRA and LOMA.
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Lamberts Promote Mental Health Support for Soldiers Exiting Military
LIC Executive Director Dean Lambert and wife Jill were in the news recently to show support for Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn's bill for a program to address the high suicide rate in the first year after veterans leave the military. The bill is named in part for their son Marine Corporal Adam Lambert, who died by suicide in 2015.
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Trustworthy Selling Named a 2023 Top Sales Training Company
Trustworthy Selling was named one of the Top Sales Training Companies of 2023 by Selling Power, Inc., a multi-channel media company and producer of Selling Power magazine - the leading digital magazine for sales executives. Since 2013, Trustworthy Selling, developed by LIMRA and Hoopis Performance Network, has helped more than 25,000 financial professionals strengthen customer engagement strategies and improve productivity.
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NGL Promotes Kaset and Olson
National Guardian Life announced recently that Jennifer Kaset and Judy Olson have been promoted to Vice President, Sales and Business Development. These promotions will further strengthen strategic partnerships and deepen relationships to enhance sales growth potential in the insurance marketplace.
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Was SVB's Collapse a Failure of Ethics, or Just Management?
In an April 24, 2023 Reuters column, Azish Filabi, JD, MA, Executive Director of The American College's Maguire Center for Ethics in Financial Services, analyzed the Silicon Valley Bank collapse through a behavioral science lens to help policymakers address the harmony between good management and good ethics.
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BetterLife Announces Appointment of Chris Campbell as New CEO
BetterLife's Board of Directors has announced the selection of Chris Campbell as its new CEO effective June 19, 2023. Campbell, 53 will succeed Dan Shinnick who has announced his intention to retire following 39 years of service in the insurance industry.
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American Enterprise Group Announces Move to New, Single Brand Identity: Wellabe
American Enterprise Group announced it will rebrand to Wellabe in June 2023, marking a significant milestone in the company's 94-year history. The new name, pronounced well-uh-be, comes from the phrase "we'll always be." It is an extension of the company's promise to always be here for its customers, distribution partners, communities, and each other.
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American Equity CEO Sees Annuity Competition Moderating
ThinkAdvisor's Allison Bell reported insights in 1st quarter results from Anant Bhalla, CEO of midsize annuity issuer American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. Bhalla told securities analysts that competition is becoming "more rational."
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Investment News Examines LIMRA Annuity Findings
A May 15, 2023 article in Investment News reported on LIMRA's 2022 Individual Annuity Sales Survey, in which record-high annuity sales are predicted to increase again in the coming year.
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The American College Summit Offers Remote Management Resources
The shift to remote work was discussed at The American College's 2023 Women Working in Wealth Summit. Resources from the breakout session include best practices and a sample remote work policy.
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LIMRA Releases Financial Crimes Services and Fraud Prevention Study
LIMRA's third annual Financial Crimes and Fraud Prevention Benchmarking Study was published recently, with 53 companies' responses to 70+ questions. All Financial Crimes Services Committee Members, FraudShare Users, and prospective FraudShare User contacts received the study link. The 53 participating companies received an additional report detailing the survey questions along with aggregate and participating company responses.
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Zinnia to Acquire Policygenius
Zinnia, a life and annuity insurance technology and digital services company, announced it is acquiring Policygenius, a digital insurance marketplace. The acquisition lays the foundation for the industry's first front-to-back architecture to power the entire insurance value chain and better serve carriers, advisors, and policyholders.
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Upcoming LIC Events
LIC Marketing & Home Service Committee Meetings
Hosted by Liberty Bankers Insurance Group, Dallas
July 18-20, 2023
LIC Summer CEO Forum (reserved for insurance company CEOs)
The Chateaux at Deer Valley, Park City, UT
August 28-30, 2023
LIC Preneed Forum
Hosted by National Guardian Life, Madison, WI
November 15-16, 2023
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LIC 2023 Premier Sponsors
Many thanks to the following companies! As LIC Premier Sponsors, they support all LIC events throughout 2023.
Parkway Advisors
Parkway Advisors is focused on being the best most respected provider of service in the insurance industry. Parkway offers asset management, consulting, and statutory investment reporting services that are customizes to the needs of each insurance client. Through Parkway's emphasis on personal service, custom solutions, and strong communication, our clients have enjoyed historically strong performance success, especially during the financial crisis and the low interest environment that has followed. www.parkwayadvisors.com
iPipeline
iPipeline is a leading provider of low code, cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industry. Through our SSG Digital, end-to-end platform, we provide process automation and seamless integration between every participant in our ecosystem including carriers, agents, general agencies, advisors, broker-dealers, RIAs, banks, securities/mutual fund firms, and their consumers on a global basis. Our innovative solutions include pre-sales support, new business and underwriting, policy administration, point-of-sale execution of applications, post-sale support, data analysis, reporting, user-driven configuration, consumer delivery and self-service, and agency and firm management. www.ipipeline.com
Trilogy Actuarial Solutions
Let Us Be Your In-House Actuaries. We are a trio of actuaries with a combined 45 years of experience providing exceptional service to insurance companies, fraternal benefit societies, and marketing organizations. We can support your existing actuarial staff or serve as your entire in-house actuarial department. We understand the value of a dedicated in-house team and we will endeavor to replicate this experience for you. Our goal is to seamlessly integrate into your organization and culture. www.trilogyactuarial.com
thinktum
thinktum is a technology company with a strong commitment to innovation, leadership and a responsibility to give back to the communities in which we serve. thinktum's dimmpl platform offers modular InsurTech systems that support true end to end functionality via multiple distribution models. Whether it be face-to-face or non-face-to-face, affiliate or direct-to-consumer, dimmpl supports you from early prospecting straight through to policy delivery. www.thinktum.com
QLAdmin Solutions
QLAdmin Solutions is a leading technology partner for the small to mid-sized insurance company offering traditional life, health, annuity, preneed, final expense, and Medicare Supplement products. QLAdmin serves the entire policy lifecycle from new issue to termination with expert policy administration processing that is both comprehensive and easy to use. QLAdmin continues to evolve based on product and client needs ensuring extreme client longevity and satisfaction with QLAdmin products and support. QLAdmin is your proven partner in policy administration. www.qladmin.com
Equisoft
Equisoft is a business-first technology company dedicated to helping insurance and wealth management organizations reach their goals. Specialized expertise: Over 25 years of experience helping small and mid-sized life insurers & fraternals solve their biggest challenges through digital transformation. www.equisoft.com
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About The LIC Bullet
The Bullet is the official e-newsletter of the Life Insurers Council, which has been providing networking and practical business solutions for life insurers since 1910. As a council of LOMA, LIC serves the unique needs of small-to-midsize member companies, offering a personal network of peers with practical solutions to shared challenges. The Bullet delivers immediate and relevant industry news and editorial.
LIC E-News Online Community: As a networking organization, we welcome dialogue and input from our readers – therefore we are transitioning the Bullet to its new home in the LIC E-News online community at LICConnect. All Bullet subscribers have access to this forum, and others can request access by contacting lic@loma.org.
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Feature Article (Full Text)
What's Holding Us Back?
By Dean Lambert, Executive Director, LIC
I titled this article to grab your attention; hopefully it worked. Stick with me for the next few hundred words, because I'm hoping to generate some dialogue about what LIC members might need to achieve the growth, stability and long-term strength important to consumers seeking the protection you provide.
The inspiration for this piece comes from two recent items: The LIC's Final Expense Sales Report released in June, and a June 6 press release from LIMRA that states the 4% increase in Q1 2023 vs Q4 2022 policy sales was driven by "small- and mid-sized carriers." Sometimes when going through the day-to-day grind, it's easy to wonder if we're making progress. This is validation, folks – you're making progress and a difference in the lives of your members, policyholders, distributors, and employees.
Still, we do face unique challenges in an increasingly competitive market. From keeping pace with technology innovations that provide improved member and customer experiences, to distributor retention and growth (and a whole lot in between), there is no shortage of projects and initiatives that require people, time and money to plan and implement.
John Carroll, Senior VP-LIMRA and LOMA, is quoted in the LIMRA release, saying, "It is encouraging to see an increase in policies sold with smaller face amount, possibly signaling continued interest from middle-market consumers." That's an interesting observation. What does that mean to you?
I don't doubt my boss' assertion. Assuming he has something there, what can LIC member companies do to maximize this potential opportunity? The basic definition of "middle market" is consumers who usually buy things that are neither very cheap nor very expensive. What might be holding us back from further excelling in engaging this consumer group? One thing is for sure: That's a pretty wide segment to target with any precision.
Let's turn to the LIC's Final Expense Sales Report (based on 2022 sales data). I realize not all of our member companies are in this market or focus on final expense, but the data does provide some insights. One particular dataset, "2019 to 2022 Average Premiums, Face Amounts and Issue Ages," is interesting. Between 2019 and 2020, average premium increased from $801 to $832; average face amount decreased by $1,200 ($12,648 to $11,449); average age was stable at about 63.
That was smack in the middle of the pandemic. In 2021, average premium increased to $860 and average face popped back up by $1,000 ($12,423). At the same time, many companies are reporting increases in the number of policies issued. Consider too, the stressed economy. More people are buying insurance policies despite increasing costs.
This begs another consideration: Is pricing a competitive advantage? Do we have permission from the market to raise rates? If consumers are buying insurance because they feel a sense of mortality and they wish to protect their loved ones, where does pricing fit into their decision journey? Far be it for me to suggest price doesn't matter – but I'd be very interested to know the degree it impacts a couple of things: 1) How much does premium rate affect what an agent presents to a consumer; and, 2) How do consumers factor in the price of insurance versus brand familiarity and other considerations when shopping online?
This is all quite fascinating, but the LIC Bullet is not a forum to explore all the possible questions. We'll do this through the connecting you with resources, prompting discussions and providing opportunities for LIC members to learn from one another. Your feedback is vital to helping Audrey and I create programs, networking opportunities and content to answer the question, "What is holding us back?" I encourage you to use the LIC Connect portal for any thoughts or questions, and certainly reach out to me by email with thoughts and questions (dlambert@limra.com).
Meanwhile, doesn't it feel great to know small- to medium-sized companies are being recognized for the positive impact on the life insurance marketplace? Well done!
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