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From the Desk of Dean Lambert
The Journey Begins
Until recently, I was part of a senior management team tasked with, among other things, scrutinizing operating expenses to ensure we squeezed the most return from every dollar spent. "Scarce resources abound," we often lamented. But we were careful to keep education, research and association memberships in our budget because they are critical to creative problem-solving, promoting forward thinking, and more effective decision-making.
I have a deep appreciation for the LIC because of the mutually beneficial business relationships and . . .
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Industry News
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Industry Experts Weigh In on Mortality 2023-2030
In a Hot Notes article entitled, "Mortality 2023-2030," three industry experts were asked how they think overall mortality experience on individual life will evolve between 2023 and 2030: Doug Ingle, FALU, FLMI, Doug Ingle Underwriting Research LLC; Al Klein, FSA, MAAA, Milliman; and Cindy Mitchell, FALU, FLMI, CLU, SPLP, VP, Underwriting Risk Consultant, SCOR Life & Health. (Klein will be presenting at the LIC Final Expense Workshop, June 7-8, 2023).
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Wurfel Takes Over as President of Allen Bailey
In March 2023 Thomas Wurfel, FSA, MAAA, stepped up from his role as Consulting Actuary to become the new President of Allen Bailey & Associates.
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Prosperity Withdraws Proposal to Acquire American Equity
On February 21, 2023, Prosperity Group Holdings withdrew its proposal to acquire American Equity Investment Life Holding Company for $45 per share.
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Brian Saperstein joins NGL as Senior VP, Chief Information Officer
National Guardian Life Insurance Company welcomed Brian Saperstein to their leadership team as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer. He will be managing the evolution of IT capability growth, with a focus on strategic alignment.
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Transamerica Expands Hospital Indemnity Insurance Offered for Workplace Benefits
Transamerica recently announced the availability of new benefit riders with its employer-offered hospital indemnity insurance to help workers financially when they experience a hospital stay. The new riders expand the hospital indemnity options available to employers as they design the proper benefits for their employees.
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Canvas Annuity Announces Launch of Multi-Year Guarantee Annuities in California
Product Features Unique "Buy Direct" Model and 6.25% 7-year Rate
Canvas Annuity, a distribution affiliate of Puritan Life Insurance Company of America, has announced the availability of their Future and Flex Fund multi-year guarantee (MYGA) fixed annuities in the state of California. Californians seeking high, guaranteed rates of return in the current volatile market will now have the ability to purchase a Canvas annuity directly from the company.
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Matt Berman Named President, Foresters Financial US and Canada
Foresters Financial, the fraternal life insurer that's boldly redefining the life insurance industry through innovation, purpose and wellness, announced the appointment of Matt Berman as President, Foresters Financial US and Canada, effective March 1, 2023.
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Citizens, Inc. Partners with Alliance Group to Serve Spanish and Portuguese Clients
Citizens, Inc., a diversified financial services company providing life, living benefits, final expense, and limited liability property insurance, announced that it has entered into a white-label partnership with Alliance Group, a large Independent Marketing Organization that is a leader in providing life insurance with living benefits. Under this partnership Alliance will include Citizens' living benefits life insurance product in its Living Benefits product portfolio and make it available on a white-label basis to its clients located throughout the United States. With over 40 million Spanish or Portuguese speakers in the U.S., Citizens' ability to produce products end-to-end in those languages provides a solid foundation for Alliance to promote their new white-label product
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Industry Faces Continued Recruitment/Retention Challenges
An April 13, 2023, article by Doug Bailey in Insurance Newsnet cited Jacobson Group research findings on insurance recruitment challenges and featured insights from "outlier" Northwestern Mutual.
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New Study Shows Interest in Life Insurance at All-Time High
The 2023 Insurance Barometer Study shows a record-high proportion of consumers (39%) who say they intend to purchase life insurance coverage within the next year. The intent to buy is even higher among Gen Z adults (44%) and millennials (50%). This year's study, conducted jointly by nonprofit industry trade associations LIMRA and Life Happens, shows younger generations are less likely to have coverage and more likely to live with a life insurance coverage gap. The study also found that less than half (41%) of single mothers say they have life insurance.
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Royal Neighbors of America Expands RoyalConnect Program
Royal Neighbors recently decided to include nonmember participants in its RoyalConnect program, launched in December 2022 to encourage its members to make a difference through small acts of kindness. For each person that conducts a small act of kindness in a given month, the company donates $10 to a nonprofit.
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Royal Neighbors of America Reports $24.5 Million in Social Good for 2022
Royal Neighbors of America, the Rock Island-based fraternal benefit society and one of the largest women-led life insurers in the U.S., announced its top 10 community chapters for 2022, based on number of volunteer hours. The number of volunteer hours submitted by Royal Neighbors chapters is calculated to measure Royal Neighbors' annual Social Good impact, a record $24.5 million for 2022.
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Conference Speakers Question Future of Small Policies
In Insurance Newsnet coverage of LIMRA's 2023 Life Insurance and Annuity Conference, speakers discussed economic, regulatory, and marketplace factors they suggested might lead insurers to stop selling policies under $250,000. Steve Cox of product development company Life Innovators noted that "it's hard to say you're serving middle America when you do that."
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Bank Failures Point To Need for Stress Testing
The April 2023 newsletter from Bruce & Bruce Actuaries and Consultants pointed to recent bank failures and the Fed's relaxation of stress testing requirements for small and medium-sized banks as a signal of the importance of stress testing for insurance companies of all sizes. This issue also includes insights on "Navigating Higher Interest Rates."
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LexisNexis Risk Solutions Acquires Human API
LexisNexis Risk Solutions announced it has acquired Human API, a leading provider of a proprietary consumer-driven data platform. LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Human API will deliver a next-generation consumer consent management solution that enables more seamless delivery of data. This approach empowers consumers with better access to their healthcare data and insurance resources that can improve care coordination and automate life insurance underwriting.
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Transamerica Elevates Employee Benefits Experience Through Automation and Predictive Analytics
Transamerica announced the introduction of ConnectedClaims(SM), a suite of customizable services that makes it easier for employees to access their workplace supplemental insurance benefits. ConnectedClaims offers an automated and personal claims experience to help take the stress and guesswork out of filing a claim.
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May 17 Webinar Addresses Legacy System Challenges
The May 17, 2023 Equisoft Accelerate Series webinar will cover "Tackling Your Legacy Challenges: Holistic Digital Transformation for Insurers."
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Equisoft Releases Research on Digitalizing Life Distribution
Equisoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct an in-depth study with over 200 carriers, brokers and advisors to find out about distribution challenges, technology solutions, and emerging trends that create new opportunities
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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)
From the Desk of Dean Lambert
The Journey Begins
Until recently, I was part of a senior management team tasked with, among other things, scrutinizing operating expenses to ensure we squeezed the most return from every dollar spent. "Scarce resources abound," we often lamented. But we were careful to keep education, research and association memberships in our budget because they are critical to creative problem-solving, promoting forward thinking, and more effective decision-making.
I have a deep appreciation for the LIC because of the mutually beneficial business relationships and longtime friendships I developed over 15 years. The peer networking, sharing, and transparency about challenges and successes we experienced across the spectrum of organizational functions are invaluable. The payoffs are many: We become better contributors and collaborators; we gain greater marketplace insights; our companies are more successful; and the life insurance industry rises to meet the evolving needs of our customers.
LIC members belong to an association unlike any other in the world, whose members so freely collaborate while also operating in a highly competitive and challenging marketplace. Often, it is LIC member companies that reach underserved markets and affinity groups that larger carriers might overlook, providing broad-based financial and emotional security so necessary in these disruptive times. This is what I know.
But that's not enough for me to know in order to succeed in this new role, and so my journey of discovery begins! I hope to meet and hear from many of you during the 24 virtual and in-person LIC events scheduled for 2023. I am also planning to make several company visits this year to learn how I can ensure that LIC remains an important part of your success stories.
I want to thank the many members and affiliates who have reached out to me offering confidence and encouragement during my first couple of weeks on the job. Finally, I couldn't close until I acknowledge my gratitude for Jeff Shaw's longtime friendship and support. He has accomplished so much working with LIC members to shape this organization into a global standard in networking and improving performance through shared excellence. Please join me in wishing him all the best in retirement.
Please contact me any time with comments, concerns and ideas!
Dean Lambert, Executive Director, LIC
dlambert@limra.com | 515-414-6895
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