Digital Platforms

NEW YORK--The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc. (GIAC) announced today that it will reintroduce its Guardian Advantage group variable annuity, a funding vehicle for qualified retirement plans. GIAC intends to initiate new sales by June 1. This decision has no impact on Guardian's other defined contribution products including 401(k) PLUS with The Park Avenue Portfolio.

BOSTON--John Hancock Life Insurance Company (JHLICO) is now offering an inflation-adjusted retail note, an addition to its SignatureNotes program. The inflation-adjusted SignatureNotes will be a medium-term note offering, but have a two-part coupon. The first part is based on the year-over-year change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The second part is a fixed amount, set at the time of the offering, which is added to the year-over-year percentage change in the CPI.

Washington, D.C.--The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) announced today that it is joining with Computer Sciences Corporation, a leading information technology services provider, to evaluate state and federal regulatory environments for the U.S. life insurance industry, report on the economic impact of the current state-based charter system, and assess the potential for improvement under an optional federal charter system.

ATLANTA--Sun Microsystems, Inc., the creator and leading advocate of Java technology, today announced that it is working with Research In Motion (RIM) to extend mobile Java Web services technology to the more than one million customers currently using BlackBerry. Sun and RIM will enable the end-to-end secure delivery of enterprise data via BlackBerry based on Sun's Java Enterprise System, Java technology for mobile devices, and Web Services technologies.

BIRMINGHAM, Mich.--Richard P. Poyle announced today the formation of an innovative new enterprise called PKC. PKC will provide consulting and inspections to the insurance industry -- but PKC is much more than the typical insurance inspection company. "The vision is to provide a critical service bridge between underwriters and insured companies. Too often we find that vital risk management and loss control systems are lacking or not properly in place. The gap between the insured and the insurer hurts both parties. PKC will close that gap with consulting services, inspections, training services and documentation," said Poyle. PKC is an acronym that stands for the three principals of the new entity: Richard Poyle, Dianne Kennedy and Gary Copeland.

NEW ORLEANS--Managing general agencies, wholesalers and their agency customers can take advantage of expanded nuServe software providing an organized approach to indicating, rating, and binding business as well as processing claims and endorsements.

WASHINGTON--Employers with lower health care cost increases for 2004 more often encourage workers to take responsibility for their health care decisions, according to the 9th annual National Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt health cost study.

HARTFORD, Conn.--Insurity Inc., a ChoicePoint company, today announced that AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc. has selected Insurity's Commercial Intellisys property/casualty policy processing services and software platform. The company is the managing general agent for AEGIS, a leading insurer of utilities and related energy businesses.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Standard Insurance Company, a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. has launched 401(k) on the Brain, a new financial educational series for participants in The Standard's retirement plans. 401(k) on the Brain was developed by The Standard to provide in-depth retirement planning education for participants. It uses everyday language and a humorous, interactive approach to address a wide range of retirement, investing and financial planning topics.

Safeco Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its life and investments operations to a group of investors led by White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The sale includes Safeco Life & Investments' life insurance, group insurance, annuities and mutual fund businesses. The purchase price is $1.35 billion, and could include additional proceeds based on June 30, 2004 statutory book value.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp. announced that it has executed a definitive agreement settling asbestos-related statutory-based direct actions pending against Travelers under various unfair trade practices acts and similar statutes, including the Wise, Meninger and Cashman purported class actions and similar cases. The settlement in principle was previously announced on November 21, 2003.

Sapiens International Corp.has announced results of its survey of U.S.-based senior insurance executives on industry IT trends conducted at the ISOTech tradeshow in Anaheim, California, in late 2003. The survey uncovered an industry inclination toward short-term solutions and quick fixes that could harm companies downstream.

DALLAS-- Entrust Inc., a global leader in securing digital identities and information, today announced that Aon Limited, a leading global insurance broking, risk management and human capital consulting company, is expanding its use of the Entrust Secure Identity Management Solution by capitalizing on Entrust's innovative CPU-based pricing model to make deployment of its Web-based applications more cost effective.

PHILADELPHIA--CIGNA today released the findings of a new study that reveal an unmistakable trend: Integrating disability with health care programs has the potential to lower employers' total benefits costs and help disabled employees get back to work sooner and stay at work. As a result of the positive results found in the study, CIGNA is lowering its prices on disability benefits purchased with CIGNA medical coverage.

ATLANTA, March 12 --In follow-up to definitive agreements announced with Atlanta-based Cotton States Insurance Group in December 2003, COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services has filed the required Form A with the Georgia Insurance Department to seek approval of the proposed transactions.

OLDSMAR, Fla. --eAutoclaims, a provider of claims management services, and ADP Claims Services Group, a leading provider of integrated business solutions for the property and casualty, collision repair and automotive recycling industries, announced today an agreement offering insurance carriers a new service to more efficiently and effectively administer their managed repair programs.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Hartford, Conn., assisted the New York Attorney General's Office and the New York Insurance Department's Auto Fraud Unit in a major investigation that led to a 100-count indictment charging 11 people and seven corporations, including health care providers, attorneys and a network of recruiters, for engaging in a scheme to defraud insurance carriers of an estimated $1 million.New York's No-Fault law allows reimbursement to medical facilities for services provided to persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. The defendants are charged with manipulating New York's No-Fault system by soliciting motor vehicle accident victims to attend Queens-based IK Medical P.C., and submitting fraudulent claims for treatment that had not been provided and for medical procedures that were unwarranted. Among the charges the defendants face are scheme to defraud, money laundering, grand larceny, insurance fraud, and falsifying business records.

New York Life Insurance Co. has unveiled an educational online resource for African—American consumers at www.newyorklife.com/africanamerican. The site is intended to increase awareness and understanding of the protection and wealth building aspects of life insurance, annuities and the company's financial products. Centered on education, the site will be updated regularly with articles targeted toward individuals, families and businessowners.In addition to offering details on insurance and financial planning, the site contains information on the company's commitment to diversity, supplier diversity program, diversity—themed messages in its current advertising campaign, job postings, and various awards for being an outstanding employer in the African—American community.

Investment professionals wanting to help clients better plan for retirement investing and distribution now have access to a tool capable of modeling both. Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Financial has introduced its Nationwide preVIEW tool, located on the company's sales and service center Web site at www.bestofamerica.com. "Investing for retirement is only half of the retirement financial equation," said Richard A. Karas, president of Nationwide Financial Services Distributors Inc. "Investment professionals should be enabled with answers to the complete equation, which includes calculating accumulation and distribution needs. This tool can help producers develop personal defined benefit plans for their clients."

Wilmington, Del.-based Rockwood Programs has initiated a promotional campaign designed to raise market awareness regarding its Sponsored Errors & Omissions Program. This campaign will be aimed at insurance companies and Managing General Agencies with large sub-producer networks.

LANSING, Mich.--Continuing a year-long process to significantly expand its life insurance operations, Jackson National Life Insurance Company (JNL) announced today that it has launched Perspective Investor, its first-ever variable universal life product. Perspective Investor is a flexible premium, variable universal life product designed to provide the security of base life coverage for the duration of the contract.

DALLAS--Docucorp International, a leading provider of enterprise information solutions, announced today the availability of Library Xpress for the insurance industry. Library Xpress provides insurers with customized electronic libraries of ISO industry standard forms for the property and casualty (P&C) marketplace.

GREENSBORO, N.C.-- Jefferson Pilot Financial, one of the nation's leading providers of fixed and variable universal life insurance and fixed annuities, today introduced its E-Delivery service for owners of variable universal life and variable annuity policies on the company's public Web site at www.jpfinancial.com. E-Delivery, or electronic delivery, enables owners of variable policies to view product prospectuses and semi-annual and annual reports online.

With the number of career life insurance agents on the decline, new research from TowerGroup urges insurers to explore nontraditional distribution outlets as a means to mitigate potential future losses. These channels include banks and wirehouses, where life insurance premium sales have traditionally been elusive."It's imperative that insurers approach this market with a fresh perspective relative to products, distribution and operations," says Cindy Saccocia, senior analyst in the Insurance practice at TowerGroup and author of the research. "The distribution of life insurance through nontraditional channels is an area of growth for those insurers willing to invest in long-term opportunities."

JUPITER, Fla.--Property and casualty insurers earned $22.9 billion during the first nine months of 2003, representing a $12.1 billion, or 112 percent, increase over the $10.8 billion profit reported during the same period in 2002, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent provider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds, and stocks.

Answer Financial Inc., provider of the SAM'S CLUB Insurance Services program, will offer group health insurance plans to small businesses through the SAM'S CLUB Insurance Services program, enabling business owners to provide a suite of employee benefits.This launch builds on an already extensive list of insurance products available nationwide geared toward SAM'S CLUB business members including commercial property, liability and worker's comp insurance as well as auto, home, life and individual health insurance plans. The initial rollout of group health will be to five states largely populated with SAM'S CLUB business members: Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

EnvoyWorldWide Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based provider of enterprise notification services, and Unitrin Direct, the direct, personal auto insurance arm of Unitrin Inc., Chicago, have unveiled details of Unitrin Direct’s successful pilot of EnvoyConnect, the campaign management suite from EnvoyWorldWide.Implemented in September 2003, EnvoyWorldWide’s solution enabled Unitrin Direct to deliver automated, personalized messages to policyholders, proving to be very cost effective while improving customer satisfaction and retention. Unitrin Direct is now live with a full implementation of EnvoyConnect.

Evolution Benefits Inc., Avon, Conn., and Seattle-based drugstore.com inc. have teamed to create a paperless, IRS-compliant system for electronically substantiating and adjudicating the reimbursement of over-the-counter medications (OTCs) eligible under flexible spending accounts.The program, available through the drugstore.com Web store, automatically recognizes and separates those OTCs eligible for reimbursement under flexible spending accounts (FSAs)--a benefit authorized by the Internal Revenue Service last year--as well as for prescription drugs covered under basic health plans. Purchases of eligible OTCs and covered prescription drugs can be placed on Evolution's Benny Card, a special purpose, debit MasterCard card, and electronically deducted from the consumer's appropriate Benny Card account(s).

BB&T Insurance Services today said it plans to buy Iler Wall & Shonter Insurance Inc. of St. Petersburg , Fla. The acquisition would give the nation's sixth largest insurance broker its second agency in the Sunshine State .

At the urging of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance that will provide annuity policyholders under age 59 more flexibility in taking distributions from annuity contracts.In Notice 2004-15, the IRS says that annuitants age 59 or younger who are receiving annuity payments --a regular stream of income--from a life insurance company can revisit their insurer to restructure their payment plans. In effect, the IRS guidance allows these annuitants to restructure their payment schedules to take advantage of changing market conditions.

Keane Inc., a Boston-based business and information technology consulting firm, has completed the acquisition of Nims Associates Inc., an information technology and consulting services company with offices in the Midwest and Advanced Development Centers in Indianapolis and Dallas. On February 11, Keane announced it had signed a letter of intent to acquire Nims, which reported 2003 fiscal year revenue of $48 million. This transaction was completed on February 27, 2004. Nims has a 25-year history of project delivery in IT consulting, training, and outsourcing services with a long-term client base of Fortune 1000 companies, particularly in the financial services and insurance industries. Keane also announced that Nims' president Dwight Berryman has joined Keane as a group vice president reporting to Bob Atwell, senior vice president of North American Branch Operations.

Traditional methods of predicting financial intermediary investment preferences based on distribution channel segmentation provide little insight into underlying behavior and may actually be counter-productive, according to the results of a new study conducted by kasina, a New York-based consulting firm.The study, "The Six Segments: A Comprehensive New Look at Intermediary Behavior" examines the investing behavior and product preferences of financial intermediaries across the full range of distribution channels, including wirehouse and regional brokers, registered investment advisors, independent advisors, accountants, and bank- and insurance agency- based agents.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--Workscape Inc., a provider of benefits and workforce management solutions, today announced that it has acquired the business of Performaworks, Inc., a leading developer of Goal-Driven Performance Managementsoftware based in Burlington, Mass.

ATLANTA--Crawford & Company was recently named one of three national service providers to offer property, casualty, and workers' compensation claims handling to CNA Insurance Companies. "Crawford is honored to be chosen as the primary provider for such a prestigious and world-renowned company," said Grover L. Davis, Crawford chairman and CEO. "I look forward to continuing to grow this relationship, and am confident that this arrangement will greatly benefit both companies."

Quotesmith.com, Darien, Ill., has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of privately held Life Quotes Inc., an Evergreen, Colo.-based life insurance agency. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Quotesmith.com also has agreed to sell 2.36 million shares of its common stock to Zions Bancorporation for $5.50 net per share, thus raising $13 million in new capital, which is contingent upon the closing of the Life Quotes asset acquisition. After the completion of this capital transaction, Quotesmith.com will have 7.3 million outstanding common shares, with Zions holding a 32% equity interest and one board seat.

A new study by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed that Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is on the boardroom agenda as a key driver for a competitive edge in the insurance industry, but some leading insurers need to close the gap between the design and planning stages, and the actual execution and integration of ERM programs. Market and regulatory forces will continue to drive insurers to implement ERM as an enabler for attaining financial goals. Leading companies look to ERM as a framework under which they can not only manage all the categories of risk but also optimize their portfolios and enhance product development. Some, however, continue to struggle with the necessary infrastructure, people, processes and technology essential to fully reap these benefits.

The Phoenix Companies Inc. has completed the implementation of Metaserver Inc.'s business process integration (BPI) technology that supports the Phoenix Information Gateway, which is supporting several straight-through processing initiatives for the Connecticut-based insurer.

Daniel Burrus, a leading technology forecaster and one of the New York Times' top three business "gurus will keynote the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, to be held May 23-25, 2004, in Las Vegas, NV. Burrus has a worldwide reputation for accurately predicting the future of technological change."In times of great uncertainty, we must ask ourselves what we are certain about," says Burrus. "Changing times mean changing strategies." At the Forum he will share "Technostrategies for Creating and Sustaining Strategic Advantage" in an uncertain world.

Atlanta, GA--DWL, a provider of Enterprise Business Services Software, today announced the release of DWL Insurance for Group Life and Health 3.0, giving health insurers the market's most functionally rich set of self-service business capability for agents, customers, call center staff, internal employees and distribution networks. Built on a composite application framework, version 3.0 has more than 35 new end-to-end business services to allow group life and health companies support plan member enrollment, dependant enrollment, billing, coverage selection and provide new and enhanced claims processing functionality.

The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) has published "The Real-Time Revolution: Redefining How We Work," a report to help independent agents and brokers and carriers better use real-time technology to improve workflows, customer service and sales, and understand the broad reach technology is likely to have in the industry. ACT, affiliated with the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), Alexandria, Va., formed a work group to study the potential of real-time transactions and to help agents and brokers and their carriers keep pace with the efficiencies provided by technology that allows the agency system to effectively compete long-term with other distribution systems.

Sun Life Financial has contracted for NaviSys Front Office(TM) illustration software. Sun Life Financial's producers will use the software to propose term, whole life, universal life and variable universal life products to their clients.

St. Louis, MO--Genelco Software Solutions, a division of Liberty Insurance Services Corporation (LIS), today announced the newly released version 3.0 of its front-office Web portal product, Genelco LifeView. Genelco LifeView 3.0 builds upon its common-sense approach to Web access with innovative improvements to function and design.

The question still remains whether a critical mass of consumers will actually purchase insurance online-not just research options and get quotes. But 21st Century Insurance Group is betting they will.Even with that belief driving its e-commerce strategy, however, the Woodland Hills, Calif.-based personal auto carrier hasn't been passively waiting for consumers to get accustomed to the idea of buying their policies online.

Who knows what the future holds? While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is actively investigating terrorist communications and activity to prevent possible attacks, insurers are beginning to understand the necessity of taking a new, more proactive approach to assessing their own risks of loss related to people, processes, technologies or external events.These "operational risks," as defined by the Bank of Inter-national Settle-ment (BIS) in its proposed Basel II accord, are exemplified by events and failures such as Enron and WorldCom, the power outage in the Northeast last summer, the continual stream of computer viruses infesting the Internet, and, of course, the September 11 terrorist attacks.

For years, administration of workers' compensation insurance at Boston-based OneBeacon Insurance Group was viewed as an occupational hazard-a bona fide accident waiting to happen.With antiquated operating systems trying to support the effort, OneBeacon, which sells $40 million in workers' compensation coverage a year, had a difficult time furnishing transactional data for workers' comp insurance to the state rating bureaus and statistical agents in the states that it wrote workers' comp insurance.

Two General Motors Corp. subsidiaries are partnering to create new products for their joint customers.

Although nearly half of the states have passed laws allowing insurance companies to use credit-based insurance scores to assess and price risk-albeit with some restrictions-a new study reveals that the practice disproportionately harms low-income and minority policyholders."There was a tremendous demand to know what happened to low-income folks and protected classes like minorities when you use credit scoring," says Randy McConnell, communications director for the Missouri Department of Insurance (MDI), which conducted the study. "It struck people as disingenuous whenever the credit-scoring vendors were saying, 'There's no relationship between credit scoring and income.'"

As insurers hatch strategies to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), a new report suggest that they should view the law "as a catalyst for much-needed and long-delayed business transformation objectives," triggering "long-overdue investments in technology they have been putting off for years."The report, by Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup, says that Sarbanes-Oxley should not be viewed as a burden but as an opportunity. In the report, "Technology Considerations for Sarbanes-Oxley: A Catalyst for Long Overdue IT Upgrades," Virginia Garcia, TowerGroup analyst, writes that the act "blows the cover off inherent weaknesses in hodgepodge IT architecture typically found in U.S. financial institutions today.

Although lobbyists on Capitol Hill remain optimistic that the asbestos liability malignancy can be resolved through legislation, it appears unlikely that the gaps in current talks toward an alternative dispute resolution mechanism for asbestos claims can be bridged this year.Indeed, even if the considerable differences between the private parties can be resolved, two key barriers remain toward a resolution: There's no sense that asbestos liability is a crisis, and, given the optimism Democrats have for winning the White House this fall, they appear unlikely to allow Republicans to take credit for major legislation that the Senate Republican legislation leadership is already dubbing a "jobs creation" bill.

The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts insurance information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be faxed to Insurance Networking magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by electronic mail to Stephen.Dwyer thomsonmedia.comAncora

There's no way around it: It takes a long, long time to develop the software programs for a new underwriting and billing system. Then throw into the mix the risk of the internally built system not working properly, taking longer to implement, and perhaps even draining cash flow."I've been in the business for about 30 years," says Mark Gire, vice president of information services for Norcal Mutual Insurance Co. "I've never seen it take less than four to five years" to develop a solution internally.

State Farm unveiled a new financial education Web site that provides fun ways for K-12 students to learn basic principles of financial responsibility and money management. With only a handful of states requiring students to complete a personal finance course before graduating high school, the State Farm "Common Cents" online program can help parents and educators give children the real-life skills they need to become smart consumers, sensible savers and responsible investors, according to the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurance company.