In an effort to feature more insurtechs, Digital Insurance has modified the format of our Meet the insurtech series.
Brandon Ellison, Quility founder and CEO, shared the following responses, which have been lightly edited.
What's the origin story of the company?
I got into life insurance back in 2001, straight out of college. I answered a newspaper ad, got an interview and ended up having a great run at it (and learned a ton) over the next seven to eight years.
In 2009, my wife Meredith, along with seasoned life insurance agents, Casey Watkins and Brian Pope, founded Symmetry Financial Group. That was a success, and by 2019 we were starting to receive buyout offers from larger organizations. That sounded great, but we had no desire to be part of a rollup strategy. We wanted to innovate. We knew the industry was ripe for disruption, and we had the carrier relationships, experience, capital and vision to make it happen. So, we launched Quility – a purpose-driven insurtech and holding company for two distribution channels, Symmetry Financial Group and Quility B2B.
When was it founded and/or when was the product launched?
Quility was founded in 2020. Since then, we've launched multiple platforms and digital products.
Can you tell me about the founders/founding team?
Brian Pope served as part of an elite airborne unit in the United States military and carries over 30 years of experience in the life insurance industry. Today, he focuses on envisioning and implementing long-term and future-state technology and its business processes, strategic transactions, partnerships, and legal and regulatory matters.
Meredith Ellison is my wife and serves as both founder and chief well-being officer. She brings her background in psychology and community counseling to her roles, leading the Compensation Committee, EOS implementation and leadership and wellness initiatives among corporate staff and our nationwide network of over 8,000 agents.
Casey Watkins became a life insurance agent in 2001 when he was 19 years old. These days, he focuses on the development of field divisional plans, agent and agency development, and strategic integration.
Currently, I'm focused on supporting tech solutions, modernizing current business processes, general operational and financial oversight, and distribution strategy and execution.
Any meaning behind the company name?
While you won't find the word in a dictionary, we felt "Quility" conveyed the tranquility and sense of ease we wanted our agents to feel when selling life insurance and our clients to feel when purchasing life insurance.
How many employees?
198 and growing!
Where is the company based?
Quility is headquartered in Asheville, N.C., however, many of our employees work remotely and from all different parts of the country.
What pain points is the technology trying to solve?
Quility tech is built by agents, for agents which ensures practical, tried and true solutions. We provide an integrated platform that takes the agent from prospecting to policy placement with ease. Quility offers lead options fit for every experience level and offers a digital lead-ordering platform to ensure agents receive leads they can act upon quickly.
The Quility Switchboard for example, enhances the efficiency of client outreach so agents can meet clients in a multitude of ways. Platforms like Quility Navigator allow agents to compare traditional plans to an IUL through an interactive illustration feature to show progress over time and analyze tax exposure in real time.
What funding rounds has the company had?
F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. ("F&G")
What's ahead?
We'll be focusing on further integration of Quility's sales enablement platform, Switchboard Funnel, and the expansion of our unique product offerings to better serve our clients.
