Among life/annuity insurers, distribution is an area increasingly attractive for analytics investments. More than half of life/annuity insurers surveyed by Strategy Meets Action say they're currently investing in analytics technology to supplement distribution.
"Data and Analytics in Insurance: L&A Plans and Priorities for 2013 and Beyond," a survey from SMA, found life/annuity insurers planned to spend 11 percent of their IT budgets on data and analytics in 2013, up from 8.5 percent in 2012. Also, 87 percent of life/annuity insurers plan to increase data and analytics spending through 2015. None said they plan to decrease spending, and the remaining 13 percent expect spending to remain flat. Regardless of size, the top priority for those investments is new business/underwriting. Distribution sits in the top five, and many are implementing distribution applications as well.
