Distribution

New York – New York Life Insurance Co. promoted Richard Eppink, Jr. to vice president in the Special Markets Department, reporting to first vice president Victoria Buhrow. Eppink is now responsible for developing and executing strategic direct marketing plans for the AARP Lifetime Income Program, New York Life's Tampa-based operation which markets and administers income annuity products to AARP members. Eppink joined New York Life in 1999 as an assistant vice president of marketing with the AARP Life Insurance Program, and was promoted to corporate vice president in 2002.

Bloomfield, Conn. - Juan Conde joined Bloomfield, Conn.-based CIGNA HealthCare as CIO. He is responsible for the IT strategy and delivery of CIGNA's consumer-focused technology solutions.

Bothell, Wash. - AMS Services, an insurance agency automation service provider that provides agency management, rating, benefits, performance management and carrier connectivity, announced the general availability of AMS Prevail Network, a Web-based marketplace of premium finance companies. The AMS Prevail Network is a free, agent-oriented marketplace designed to provide insurance agents one-click access to multiple premium finance offerings. More than 200 agencies are currently using the AMS Prevail Network for their financing needs. Agents simply launch the network from within their AMS Services management system and quotes, based on advanced finance matching rules, return in real time. The Bothell, Wash.-based AMS Services also announced that BankDirect Capital Finance, UPAC, Cananwill Premium Funding and Siuprem Inc. have joined the network of finance companies available through the AMS Prevail Network. The AMS Prevail Network provides users with direct access to a full range of terms, rates and financial services available on the market, with no switching fees for changing providers. The new sysem also enables users to use a browser to key in policy data once for multiple quotes, set up finance companies via via a single click, and use check boxes to choose the finance options within the agency management system. Source: AMS Services

New York - Look for accelerated growth this year of the outsourcing trends that predominated in 2006: Expansion of business process outsourcing (BPO), the maturing of the offshore market and more multi-sourcing at the expense of single, one-off “mega-deals.”

Kansas City, Mo. - U.S. Census projections issued in 2004 state the number of U.S population speak a language other than English at home will continue to trend upward. Two insurance industry organizations addressed this trend by launching Spanish-language Web sites.

Boston - Wrap platforms are changing the way UK insurance firms are able to distribute their products and will raise a number of challenges for IT departments, according to a new report issued by Boston-based research firm Celent LLC.

Cambridge, Mass. - Across every generation, females are more likely than males to say that life insurers meet their needs, and the relationship female seniors have with their life insurance providers is especially strong, according to new report by Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass. Forrester's Report, "Do Financial Institutions Meet Customer Needs" evaluated the relationships consumers have with eight types of financial institutions, including insurance. This most recent report is based on findings from Forrester's NACTAS Q3 2006 Survey. No surprise, banks were reported as the most prevalent provider, and seven of 10 consumers in the report--across all age groups--believe that banks meet their current needs. Both male and female seniors believe that home and auto insurers meet their needs. At the other end of the spectrum, only about half of consumers of all ages think that their credit card providers meet their needs. Across all of the other institutions, the Generation Y Group (consumers born between 1976 and 1982) are the least likely to have a relationship with a financial institution, says Bruce Temkin, Forrester senior analyst and author of the report. "We also found that credit card providers most often meet the needs of seniors and life insurers meet the needs of females more often than they do males. Looking across the institutions, it's clear that younger Boomers could use more attention," says Temkin. For more information, visit www.forrester.com

New York - A number of life insurance executives recently surveyed by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP's insurance industry group related that technology is more likely to be considered a barrier at this point in time, rather than a strength. Many stated they can do better in terms of streamlining the growth processes to enhance the distributor and customer experience, and they do not believe their technology is as advanced as it can and should be.The survey of 20 C-suite executives from top life insurance companies, as well as an analysis of life insurance industry growth patterns contributed to a report--"Organic Growth for Life Insurers: A Playbook for Market Advantage."

Forget the stereotypes--ASP isn't just for small, IT-challenged carriers any more, and many of the ASP problems that gave insurance companies pause only a few years ago are being solved. Dollar savings and fast time to market are still big pluses for ASP, but today there are a lot of other reasons to consider it.The market among insurance carriers for ASPs, or application service providers, is growing by about 10% a year-slower than in most other industries-according to Marc Cecere, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. From a supply-side perspective, that's partly because of the structure of the insurance industry and partly because of the regulatory scene for insurance companies.

Two factors that define a customer's image of an insurance provider are the quality of the buying experience and the effectiveness of the underlying communication. That's why carriers find a comprehensive enterprise communications platform critical. What's needed in communications is consistent excellence.Insurance carriers are feverishly modernizing almost every other aspect of their business, from claims and policy administration systems to agent automation. Large and mid-sized carriers alike are engaged in sweeping projects to grow their businesses and streamline internal processes. In many cases, those efforts provide an opportunity to embrace new capabilities. Yet their approach to document generation has remained static.