Core systems

DALLAS--Docucorp International, a leading provider of enterprise information solutions, announced today the availability of Library Xpress for the insurance industry. Library Xpress provides insurers with customized electronic libraries of ISO industry standard forms for the property and casualty (P&C) marketplace.

GREENSBORO, N.C.-- Jefferson Pilot Financial, one of the nation's leading providers of fixed and variable universal life insurance and fixed annuities, today introduced its E-Delivery service for owners of variable universal life and variable annuity policies on the company's public Web site at www.jpfinancial.com. E-Delivery, or electronic delivery, enables owners of variable policies to view product prospectuses and semi-annual and annual reports online.

With the number of career life insurance agents on the decline, new research from TowerGroup urges insurers to explore nontraditional distribution outlets as a means to mitigate potential future losses. These channels include banks and wirehouses, where life insurance premium sales have traditionally been elusive."It's imperative that insurers approach this market with a fresh perspective relative to products, distribution and operations," says Cindy Saccocia, senior analyst in the Insurance practice at TowerGroup and author of the research. "The distribution of life insurance through nontraditional channels is an area of growth for those insurers willing to invest in long-term opportunities."

JUPITER, Fla.--Property and casualty insurers earned $22.9 billion during the first nine months of 2003, representing a $12.1 billion, or 112 percent, increase over the $10.8 billion profit reported during the same period in 2002, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent provider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds, and stocks.

Answer Financial Inc., provider of the SAM'S CLUB Insurance Services program, will offer group health insurance plans to small businesses through the SAM'S CLUB Insurance Services program, enabling business owners to provide a suite of employee benefits.This launch builds on an already extensive list of insurance products available nationwide geared toward SAM'S CLUB business members including commercial property, liability and worker's comp insurance as well as auto, home, life and individual health insurance plans. The initial rollout of group health will be to five states largely populated with SAM'S CLUB business members: Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

EnvoyWorldWide Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based provider of enterprise notification services, and Unitrin Direct, the direct, personal auto insurance arm of Unitrin Inc., Chicago, have unveiled details of Unitrin Direct’s successful pilot of EnvoyConnect, the campaign management suite from EnvoyWorldWide.Implemented in September 2003, EnvoyWorldWide’s solution enabled Unitrin Direct to deliver automated, personalized messages to policyholders, proving to be very cost effective while improving customer satisfaction and retention. Unitrin Direct is now live with a full implementation of EnvoyConnect.

Evolution Benefits Inc., Avon, Conn., and Seattle-based drugstore.com inc. have teamed to create a paperless, IRS-compliant system for electronically substantiating and adjudicating the reimbursement of over-the-counter medications (OTCs) eligible under flexible spending accounts.The program, available through the drugstore.com Web store, automatically recognizes and separates those OTCs eligible for reimbursement under flexible spending accounts (FSAs)--a benefit authorized by the Internal Revenue Service last year--as well as for prescription drugs covered under basic health plans. Purchases of eligible OTCs and covered prescription drugs can be placed on Evolution's Benny Card, a special purpose, debit MasterCard card, and electronically deducted from the consumer's appropriate Benny Card account(s).

BB&T Insurance Services today said it plans to buy Iler Wall & Shonter Insurance Inc. of St. Petersburg , Fla. The acquisition would give the nation's sixth largest insurance broker its second agency in the Sunshine State .

At the urging of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance that will provide annuity policyholders under age 59 more flexibility in taking distributions from annuity contracts.In Notice 2004-15, the IRS says that annuitants age 59 or younger who are receiving annuity payments --a regular stream of income--from a life insurance company can revisit their insurer to restructure their payment plans. In effect, the IRS guidance allows these annuitants to restructure their payment schedules to take advantage of changing market conditions.

Keane Inc., a Boston-based business and information technology consulting firm, has completed the acquisition of Nims Associates Inc., an information technology and consulting services company with offices in the Midwest and Advanced Development Centers in Indianapolis and Dallas. On February 11, Keane announced it had signed a letter of intent to acquire Nims, which reported 2003 fiscal year revenue of $48 million. This transaction was completed on February 27, 2004. Nims has a 25-year history of project delivery in IT consulting, training, and outsourcing services with a long-term client base of Fortune 1000 companies, particularly in the financial services and insurance industries. Keane also announced that Nims' president Dwight Berryman has joined Keane as a group vice president reporting to Bob Atwell, senior vice president of North American Branch Operations.

Traditional methods of predicting financial intermediary investment preferences based on distribution channel segmentation provide little insight into underlying behavior and may actually be counter-productive, according to the results of a new study conducted by kasina, a New York-based consulting firm.The study, "The Six Segments: A Comprehensive New Look at Intermediary Behavior" examines the investing behavior and product preferences of financial intermediaries across the full range of distribution channels, including wirehouse and regional brokers, registered investment advisors, independent advisors, accountants, and bank- and insurance agency- based agents.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--Workscape Inc., a provider of benefits and workforce management solutions, today announced that it has acquired the business of Performaworks, Inc., a leading developer of Goal-Driven Performance Managementsoftware based in Burlington, Mass.

ATLANTA--Crawford & Company was recently named one of three national service providers to offer property, casualty, and workers' compensation claims handling to CNA Insurance Companies. "Crawford is honored to be chosen as the primary provider for such a prestigious and world-renowned company," said Grover L. Davis, Crawford chairman and CEO. "I look forward to continuing to grow this relationship, and am confident that this arrangement will greatly benefit both companies."

Quotesmith.com, Darien, Ill., has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of privately held Life Quotes Inc., an Evergreen, Colo.-based life insurance agency. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Quotesmith.com also has agreed to sell 2.36 million shares of its common stock to Zions Bancorporation for $5.50 net per share, thus raising $13 million in new capital, which is contingent upon the closing of the Life Quotes asset acquisition. After the completion of this capital transaction, Quotesmith.com will have 7.3 million outstanding common shares, with Zions holding a 32% equity interest and one board seat.

A new study by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed that Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is on the boardroom agenda as a key driver for a competitive edge in the insurance industry, but some leading insurers need to close the gap between the design and planning stages, and the actual execution and integration of ERM programs. Market and regulatory forces will continue to drive insurers to implement ERM as an enabler for attaining financial goals. Leading companies look to ERM as a framework under which they can not only manage all the categories of risk but also optimize their portfolios and enhance product development. Some, however, continue to struggle with the necessary infrastructure, people, processes and technology essential to fully reap these benefits.

The Phoenix Companies Inc. has completed the implementation of Metaserver Inc.'s business process integration (BPI) technology that supports the Phoenix Information Gateway, which is supporting several straight-through processing initiatives for the Connecticut-based insurer.

Daniel Burrus, a leading technology forecaster and one of the New York Times' top three business "gurus will keynote the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, to be held May 23-25, 2004, in Las Vegas, NV. Burrus has a worldwide reputation for accurately predicting the future of technological change."In times of great uncertainty, we must ask ourselves what we are certain about," says Burrus. "Changing times mean changing strategies." At the Forum he will share "Technostrategies for Creating and Sustaining Strategic Advantage" in an uncertain world.

Atlanta, GA--DWL, a provider of Enterprise Business Services Software, today announced the release of DWL Insurance for Group Life and Health 3.0, giving health insurers the market's most functionally rich set of self-service business capability for agents, customers, call center staff, internal employees and distribution networks. Built on a composite application framework, version 3.0 has more than 35 new end-to-end business services to allow group life and health companies support plan member enrollment, dependant enrollment, billing, coverage selection and provide new and enhanced claims processing functionality.

The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) has published "The Real-Time Revolution: Redefining How We Work," a report to help independent agents and brokers and carriers better use real-time technology to improve workflows, customer service and sales, and understand the broad reach technology is likely to have in the industry. ACT, affiliated with the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), Alexandria, Va., formed a work group to study the potential of real-time transactions and to help agents and brokers and their carriers keep pace with the efficiencies provided by technology that allows the agency system to effectively compete long-term with other distribution systems.

Sun Life Financial has contracted for NaviSys Front Office(TM) illustration software. Sun Life Financial's producers will use the software to propose term, whole life, universal life and variable universal life products to their clients.