Core systems

New York-As the next step in its efforts to automate the sales and processing of life insurance policies, The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has launched its pilot program for InsurExpress, New York. Leveraging DTCC's infrastructure and established network of connectivity, InsurExpress integrates key insurance industry service providers to support communications between insurance companies and participating distributors of insurance products, providing necessary functionality for life insurance application processing.Firms participating in the initial pilot testing include Genworth Financial, Richmond, Va., and Piper Jaffray, Minneapolis. In the coming months, DTCC intends to expand the program to include multiple financial advisors in various geographical locations, together with an expanded product set and carrier list.

Washington, D.C. - There is a clear economic case for structural changes in insurance regulation, namely an optional federal charter (OFC), that could benefit both consumers and life insurers, according to a study conducted by the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., and Computer Sciences Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.

Northbrook, Ill.--Allstate Life Insurance Co., a subsidiary of The Allstate Corp., is participating in the PREPARE (PREVU* Predicts Atherosclerosis Risk and Events) clinical trial, a study with Toronto-based IMI International Medical Innovations Inc. and McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Guelph, Ont. The study evaluates a new medical technology for assessing the risk of coronary artery disease.Currently, Allstate Life customers who apply for a life insurance policy must undergo a blood test as one of a number of factors to assess their coronary artery disease risk. The new study incorporates a skin test that uses an adhesive collection strip that is applied to a study participant's hand. Upon removal of the strip, dead skin cells are collected and then sealed in a collection device and processed using IMI's patented PREVU* LT Skin Sterol Test system.

Green Bay, Wis. - Amex Assurance Company, a subsidiary of the American Express Property Casualty companies, is selling policies to New Jersey drivers directly over the Internet. The Green Bay, Wis., company has sold property/casualty insurance since 1986 and writes auto insurance in 38 states and Washington, D.C. It's the fourth new firm, following Mercury General, GEICO and Esurance, to enter the auto insurance market since legislative reform began two years ago in what is called one of the most heavily regulated states.

The decision to send IT operations overseas is often viewed in the pejorative by IT line personnel, who feel they must continuously "skill up" or face the unemployment line. Though carriers are often reluctant to publicize their strategies, sources indicate it's definitely a topic of executives' conversation.IT offshore outsourcing, i.e., offshoring, has intensified, and from a business driver perspective, its discussion is becoming more commonplace in the boardroom, where it holds less controversy.

Do the numbers 705/4 mean anything to you? What about the name Ronald Katz? If not, you may want to pay more attention to what's happening in the patent world.The numbers 705/4 represent the U.S. Patent Office classification for insurance inventions. And, according to industry sources, carriers are woefully oblivious to the spike in patents filed under that classification over the past few years.

A survey conducted by AIIM, a Silver Spring, Md., enterprise content management (ECM) association, reveals that while cost reduction is still dominant in driving ECM decisions, compliance and payback are growing in popularity.AIIM surveyed more than 1,200 end users and potential end users of content and document management technologies in nine countries: the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany, Australia, and the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg).

In one corner, a number of professional organizations support federal regulation of the insurance industry. And, on the opposite side of the ring, other groups support state oversight. The debate over state and federal regulatory control seems to have resurfaced, and a host of parties affected are gearing up for the battle.Some insurance carriers, however, are asking: Does it really matter who's standing when all is said and done? Many insurers simply recognize that there is a need for regulatory reform -and where that control lies is of secondary concern, according to Dick Luedke, spokesperson for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Bloomington, Ill.

New York - More than 90% of risk management executives are building or want to build enterprise risk management (ERM) processes into their organizations, but only 11% have completed such a task, according to a recent report issued by New York-based The Conference Board. The Board, in conjunction with Mercer Oliver Wyman, a New York financial consulting firm, surveyed 271 risk management executives from a variety of industries across North America and Europe.

Avon, Conn. - Worksite carriers recorded another year of reserved growth in 2004, according to the sixth annual U.S. Worksite Study, conducted by marketing advisory firm Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc., Avon, Conn. New worksite sales in the U.S. totaled an estimated $4.223 billion, a 3% increase over 2003 results. Growth improved from the 1.8% increase realized in 2003 (based on revisions several companies made to their reported 2003 sales). [Note: As a result of these revisions, total sales for 2003 were revised downward to $4.1 billion.]

Needham, Mass. - U.S. insurers may face a tough road to better aligning business processes, data, and content to help to drive more profitable, competitive, and differentiated services for growth, but as insurers advance their capabilities, the demands for straight-through processing will drive them toward more open business architectures that will help produce reusable assets, services, and business modules.

Chicago - Agents are being introduced to an e-mail autoresponder that automatically includes complete health insurance quotes to prospective customers and allows continuous flow of e-mails to prospects over a specified timeframe. Norvax, a Chicago developer of Web-based sales and customer communications tools, has released its LeadMiner tool in three versions - Basic, Pro and Marketer. Each version enables agents to automatically e-mail messages customized with their own information on a regular basis at intervals specified by the agent, automatically send HTML and text e-mails with instant, integrated health insurance quotes, and automatically add updated health insurance quotes to scheduled e-mails sent after the initial contact.

Alexandria, Va.--Five top insurance industry leaders will participate in a CEO panel discussion during the opening session of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America's (Big "I") Convention in New York.CEOs participating as panelists for the discussion are: Frederick H. Eppinger, CEO, Allmerica Financial Corp.; Robert J. Joyce, chairman and CEO, Westfield Group; Charles M. Kavitzky, president and CEO, Fireman's Fund; Axel P. Lehmann, CEO, Zurich North America Commercial; and William J. Mullaney, president, MetLife Auto & Home.

Princeton, N.J. -- American Re-Insurance Co. was named "Best Overall Reinsurer in the U.S." in the 2005 survey of cedant perceptions about reinsurance and reinsurers conducted by Flaspohler Research Group, a Kansas City, Mo.-based business-to-business research. American Re received the same recognition in 2003, the last time this survey was conducted."We are enormously proud of the results of the Flaspohler Survey. Retaining our No. 1 ranking in the "best overall reinsurer" category clearly demonstrates that we continue to be judged as the best reinsurer in this market by our clients - by far the most important arbiters of our performance," said John Phelan, Chairman and CEO of American Re-Insurance Co.

Boston - Although its financial services sector is still small compared to the United States, Europe, or Japan, China's rapid growth rates and huge potential make it a critical arena for expansion for both insurers and solution providers, according to Celent Communications. In its latest report, Insurance in China: Market and IT Overview, Celent predicts IT spending by insurers in China will jump from $2 billion in 2005 to more than $5 billion in 2009.

Washingon, D. C. - Members of the PIA Insurance Technology Coalition met with Congressional staffers on Capitol this week to discuss data security/identity theft and its potential effect on the insurance industry.

Chapel Hill, N.C. - Yankelovich Inc., has unveiled a tool that links the attitudes of individual consumers to insurance industry-specific product behaviors. The tool, Attitudes in Action, enables marketers to tailor their messages to a specific individual's wants and needs and tailor their offers to attitudes linked to individual names and addresses. These insurance-specific attitudes can be used for selecting target lists and performing database enhancements, thereby improving marketing productivity through higher response rates and reduced costs.

Frisco, Texas -Skywire Software, an insurance and financial services software company based in Frisco, Texas, announced it has completed its acquisition of InsBridge, Richardson, Texas, a rating and underwriting applications software provider.

Brookfield, Wis., - Fiserv, Inc., a financial management and compliance software provider, released a software system designed to be compliant with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The Nautilus SOX solution is a tool that uses document management technology for enterprise-wide compliance with the 2002 federal legislation, and similar provisions that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is expected to embrace for non-public insurers. The software provides an automated, searchable system for documenting internal controls and business processes to help ensure SOX compliance. With Nautilus SOX, users can create, collaborate, log, execute and conclude business transactions in a structured, efficient environment. It also provides users immediate access information regarding a process or project, including all outstanding issues, approvals, statuses, discussions and communications. The system's framework of pre-defined indexes and templates enables users to monitor and record all external and internal events affecting SOX compliance--from risk assessment to controls testing and remediation. Notifications and scheduled reviews can be set up to ensure that important deadlines are met, and the system can automatically route content between collaborating participants.

Orem, Utah - Xactware Inc. has introduced a collaboration tool that allows homeowners to review and approve their insurance to value calculations. This new tool, XactInfo, is a first-of-its-kind offering for the property insurance market, according to Xactware Inc., Orem Utah. Existing XactValue customers can automatically link into XactInfo for homeowner review and approval. XactInfo automatically sets up a personalized Web site for each homeowner and displays a copy of the information recorded about the home during the initial valuation such as total square footage, features and finishes. Homeowners can use the site to directly communicate with insurance agents and other interested parties regarding approval of existing information, and to provide updates as needed.