Digital distribution

Cincinnati - With some 76 million baby boomers moving into retirement, the life and annuities industry is poised to grow at an exponential rate. Transforming labor-intensive paper processes into electronic ones is imperative to successfully serving this rapidly expanding market.

Frisco, Texas - Skywire Software has addressed a common, yet growing need in the insurance product development arena. The Frisco, Texas provider of software and services for the insurance industry released Launcher, an application designed to improve, coordinate and measure the process of getting new insurance products to market.

Atlanta - SunGard Data Systems Inc., Wayne, Pa., has acquired DSPA Software Inc., a Mississauga, Ontario-based supplier of sales compensation and distribution management software to the insurance industry. DSPA Software will become part of SunGard's insurance business.

Accuracy and visibility are vital in maintaining a motivated sales force and rolling out new products.

New York — Switzerland-based Zurich Financial Services Group named Kevin Dunham as senior vice president and global relationship leader for the Western region of its Global Corporate in North America business unit. Dunham is based in Glendale, Calif., and will manage accounts primarily in the Southwest and Western United States."Kevin's range and depth of experience in all aspects of customer service and relationship management, specifically in this region, make him an ideal candidate for this role," says Mario Vitale, CEO of Zurich Global Corporate in North America. "His focus will be on developing and expanding relationships with our brokers and customers in order to provide them with a differentiated experience, and to deliver Zurich products and services."

Warren, N.J.–The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies has created ePolicy, a secure electronic insurance policy, to streamline the delivery of personal insurance policies and reduce environmental waste.

Miami - To deliver on the commitment to promote ecosystem-based innovation and collaboration, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP AG announced that the industry value network (IVN) for insurance will join 13 existing industry-focused IVNs hosted by SAP. The IVN for insurance will bring together independent software vendors, system integrators and SAP to co-innovate with insurers to help them improve profits, customer relationships and their competitive position through effective applications and a flexible IT environment. Members of the IVN for insurance will initially focus on issues facing property/casualty insurers in the North American market in the areas of claims, customer service, sales and distribution, and underwriting and policy processing.Plans for the IVN for insurance currently include key innovative partners in the insurance industry: Adobe, CGI, IBM, MSG, Opentext, Planetsoft and Skywire. The partners and SAP will initially collaborate to bring together industry expertise, knowledge and capabilities in a multi-vendor ecosystem to address the high-value business needs of customers. Customers will be invited to participate in the second phase of the IVN.

Denver - Colorado Casualty's appointed agents in Arizona and New Mexico are the first in the Liberty Mutual Group member's six-state territory to be equipped with Commercial IQ, the company's, Web-based technology for commercial lines quoting, binding and policy issuance.Commercial IQ is designed to deliver an automated underwriting process with expanded, yet simplified, eligibility criteria, and a sophisticated pricing system with multiple price points, which results in fewer referrals, less intervention, the best price up front and quicker policy issuance. Commercial IQ's "Quick Quote" feature enables agents instant access to a faster online quote with minimal entry of information, according to Liberty Mutual Group. Agents also can select the most appropriate product for a commercial risk using Commercial IQ's SmartNav, the pre-qualification tool that requires only a business class code and responses to a few basic eligibility questions to best meet customers' needs.

Armonk, N.Y. and Ottawa - IBM and Cognos have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Cognos, a publicly held company based in Ottawa, in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $5 billion or $58 per share, with a net transaction value of $4.9 billion. The acquisition is subject to Cognos shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.The acquisition of Cognos supports IBM's Information on Demand strategy, a cross-company initiative announced on Feb. 16, 2006 that combines IBM's strength in information integration, content and data management and business consulting services to unlock the business value of information, according to IBM. Integrating Cognos, the 23rd IBM acquisition in support of its Information on Demand strategy, will enable new business insights to be delivered to a broader set of people across an organization, beyond the traditional users of business intelligence.

Pittsburgh – Looking for something special for a special someone this holiday season? Highmark Inc. has come up with a novel marketing idea - the Highmark Healthcare Visa Gift Card.

Needham, Mass. – New research from Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup Inc. finds that in today’s global business model, electronic commerce is no longer a “nice-to-have” capability, but a necessity, yet the insurance industry continues to hold onto the traditional paper-based, wet-signature contract execution model.

Schaumburg, Ill. - Commercial P&C carrier Zurich is targeting the needs of technology customers by providing a range of coverages designed specifically for mid-sized businesses. Zurich 's focus is on the creators and builders of technology products rather than end-users.

Chicago - Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd., London, has acquired Chicago-based InsuranceNoodle, an Internet distributor of small business insurance.

Bolivar, Mo. - Surrey, England-based Duck Creek Technologies Europe, backed by New York-based Pequot Ventures and Duck Creek Technologies Inc., Bolivar, Mo.,announced its intention to bring to market software applications that enable insurers to rapidly define, develop, deploy and manage their insurance products and services.

Minneapolis - The Allianz Income Management Services division of Allianz Life Insurance Co. released its "PONG" annuity product, the Minneapolis-based insurer announced. PONG, broken down liberally, spells "P" - paychecks forever (lifetime income annuity payments), "O" - opportunity for a pay raise each and every year (payouts indexed to the S&P 500), "N" - never less income than what you start with, and "G" - guaranteed return of remaining premium to the beneficiary upon death, plus a 10% bonus (if taken as income). The PONG analogy, quite naturally, comes from the early and first real video game that helped spawn a revolution.It was quite simple and direct, much like the AIMS product, claims the company, which really goes under the name of Command Provider.

Washington — The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), a national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, released its annual Best Practices Study, which includes the new Rule of 20 statistic, which provides a quick means of calculating whether or not an agency creates value for its shareholders.

Glenmont , N.Y. — Data collected by a group of professional insurance agents that ranks insurance carrier performance is now available online.The Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York, a Glenmont, N.Y.-based voluntary, membership-based trade association representing professional, independent property/casualty insurance agents, published its company performance survey database, the result of a five-year collaborative project in which PIA members ranked the performance of more than 80 insurance companies.

Few people would argue that Internet functionality has improved over the past few years. But some may argue whether consumers are shopping more on the Web. The fact is, organizations from many industries are using the Web in a variety of ways to drive potential customers to their Web sites. Recent estimates place the online advertising market at more than $28 billion. Boston-based Celent LLC cites the recent acquisitions of online advertising marketplaces by major online players such as Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft as a clear indication that a battle is on to get to the customer through online advertising. Insurance companies need to factor in the costs of marketing online and decide on a targeted strategy.The rate of online marketing growth varies among lines of business. But the constant throughout: Online marketing is growing. The insurance industry may look to other industries as the reason for the growth, says Lisa Phillips, senior analyst at New York-based eMarketer Inc. "In general, most businesses are moving at least part of their marketing budgets online. They're following consumers who are online shopping and comparing prices, etc. People have come to depend on the Internet for any kind of research," she says.

It's incredible how quickly technology, and the accessibility of the Internet and Web-enabled devices have evolved-even in the past few years. With these rapid advancements, both society and insurers are forced to adapt. So now that anyone can check claims status on their iPod, laptop or PDA from anywhere in the world, there's no excuse for carriers not to ramp up their online customer service offerings in an effort to better serve their Web-savvy client base.To many people, upgrading online customer service may seem the next logical step in the development of the Internet as a whole. However, many insurers may not be keeping pace with competition that is offering services and tools that not only attract new customers, but also address client's needs.

Much like soccer, the concept of bank insurance or "bancassurance" enjoys a much higher profile outside the United States than within.While the idea of banks offering insurance products is not new, in much of the world, the practice is, and has only taken off in the past two decades. In parts of Europe, such as France, Italy and Spain, the adoption of bank insurance has grown steadily as consumers have become accustomed to their bank as a distribution channel for insurance products.