Distribution

Competition, regulatory compliance and cost cutting still drive life insurance product lifecycle management (PLM).To remain competitive in an economy with a demographic of escalating baby boomer prospects, developing and maintaining a constant flow of new product offerings requires agility, expert communication between work groups and technology to support the effort.

SAFECO NAMES WILLIAM JENKS AS CIO

UNIVERSAL SIGNS SEVEN-YEAR BPO AGREEMENTUniversal Insurance of North America, Sarasota, Fla., has signed a seven-year agreement with CGI Group Inc. valued at between $45 and $75 million for policy and accounting business process services (BPS). Montreal-based CGI will process Universal's personal lines (book of business) including homeowners, dwelling-fire, auto, and umbrella in Texas and Florida. CGI will continue to support Universal's business processing needs as they expand their services into new markets. As part of this agreement, CGI will open a processing facility in Tampa to support Universal Insurance and other Florida-based insurance customers. CGI will initially hire 50 professionals and expects staff to grow to more than 200 professionals over the next two years.

Englewood, Colo. - Online insurance shopping service company InsureMe, is rolling out its Insurance Resource Center, the Englewood, Colo., company announced. The center, which contains numerous articles on the topics of auto, home, life and health insurance, was designed to educate consumers about insurance, as well as provide them with relevant shopping information and tips for saving money on coverage.

Las Vegas, Nev. - While the independent agency system has benefited by real-time communication improvements among carriers, agencies and customers, frustration remains over multiple workflows brought on by carrier-unique systems, according to findings in the ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) 2006 Agency Technology Survey. The results were announced in Las Vegas at a panel presentation of the annual ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, sponsored by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) Pearl River, N.Y.

Boston - Fidelity Investments and WebMD Health Corp. are expanding their relationship to integrate WebMD's health care cost planning tools with the Fidelity HSASM, Fidelity's health savings account (HSA) product launched in December.

Hartford, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., headquartered in Hartford, Conn., has created a new office in the greater Chicago area dedicated solely to processing claims that arise out of catastrophic events.The new catastrophe office will function as part of The Hartford's existing property claim operations in Chicago, and will focus on significant losses that arise from either man-made or natural disasters.

Springfield, Mass. - Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., Springfield, Mass., is taking podcasting to new levels by using it to provide its field sales force with company news, product information and marketing tips.

Chicago - Aon Consulting announced that Thomas Avery and Bruce Pixley joined the company's high-tech investigations unit of its IT risk consulting group, which is a part of its Financial Advisory and Litigation Consulting Services practice. Aon Consulting is a division of Aon Corp., a Chicago-based provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting,

Chicago - UniCare has launched a newly redesigned and improved secure member Web site designed to provide members and their families more streamlined access to personalized online health and benefit information.The changes make the site easier to navigate by requiring fewer clicks in order for members to access information specific to their health care needs, according to UniCare. The site now provides members easier access to personal online health information through single sign-on log-in capabilities. In addition, if members have misplaced or forgotten their username, they can request it online without having to call customer service support.