Policy adminstration

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).

Computers are supposed to shorten or take over routine tasks for us, freeing human brains and hands for creative projects beyond the capabilities of machinery. Frequently, however, users find themselves at the mercy of their mainframes, desktops and laptops, performing repetitive input chores and time-consuming database maintenance functions. Now, a technology that takes advantage of automated Internet resources is allowing carriers to skip the middlemen and take the data directly where it needs to go - the agent and the consumer - without costly delays.Being able to use this type of technology to streamline the release of new products and reduce the time it takes to announce changes in a product's pricing structure is a growing need faced by most carriers. Such was the concern of Electric Insurance Company (EIC), a Beverly, Mass., carrier whose roots date to 1966 when it provided insurance for employees of General Electric. Today EIC, licensed in all 50 states, has expanded its P&C direct-to-customer rates to the general public.

In the late 1990s, when insurance firms were running high loss ratios (from 110 to 130), Lombard Canada Ltd., one of the oldest property and casualty insurance operations in Ontario, hired a consulting firm to assess its underwriting and claims leakage while it sought to improve IT and drive down expenses.With the firm's help, Lombard's loss ratio started dropping. While other Canadian firms were still grappling with hefty loss ratios, Lombard moved on to major technological decisions.

Since the beginning of the decade, it's been pedal to the metal for AAA Life Insurance Co.. The organization, which offers term and universal life products, fixed annuities, and travel accident insurance to AAA members, has grown from 75 employees in 1999 to a staff of 400, supporting more than 800,000 customers and more than $1.1 billion in assets.As AAA Life's business began to accelerate at breathtaking speed, the organization's managers began to see some treacherous bumps and obstacles on the road ahead. The company lacked an enterprisewide system for watching and managing costs within the various business units. With relentless hiring and increasing costs of doing business, managers needed a clear, single view of where more gas needed to be applied to boost business, and where the brakes needed to be applied to curb spending.

Insurance companies are under constant pressure to acquire new business to respond to market demands and competitive pressures. Insurers realize they must improve the efficiency, scalability, and flexibility of their new business processing applications. The IT infrastructures of most insurers are not geared to handle these improvements, being minimally integrated, minimally automated, or both.Many insurance companies are now embracing the concept of straight-through processing (STP) for new business. STP applies enabling technologies such as document imaging, rules engines, and workflow to automate new business processes.

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.

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.

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.

Springfield, Mass. - MassMutual Financial Group, Springfield, Mass., announced the acquisition of New York-based Golden Retirement Resources Inc., (GRR) a privately held firm that develops and distributes products and services for the retirement-income market. Comprising member companies with more than $350 billion in assets, MassMutual Financial Group is a global, diversified financial services organization providing life insurance, annuities, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement planning products, structured settlement annuities, trust services, money management, and other financial products and services. Under the transaction, MassMutual Holding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (MassMutual) purchased a majority interest in GRR (including all intellectual property), and intends to own the entire company by year-end. No financial terms were disclosed.

Boston - Liberty Mutual has launched a new Website designed to put benefit tools and information at the fingertips of benefit managers, employees, brokers and consultants. The site - MyLiberty Connection - is a gateway to the Boston-based carrier's on-line tools, secure services, and product information. From the site, users access resources built just for them; so each audience gets specific product and service information answering their common questions, and on-line tools to manage their exact benefit needs.

Jersey City, N.J. - Despite slowing premium growth and a deluge of catastrophic losses, property and casualty insurers ended a 26-year drought by posting $5 billion net underwriting profit in 2004, according to Insurance Services Office (ISO), Jersey, City, N.J. Powered by the best underwriting results in almost three decades, insurers' net income after taxes and overall profitability rose for the third consecutive year, and insurers' surplus climbed to a record high, according to ISO's newly-published insurance issues series study "Insurer Financial Results: 2004."

Hartford, Conn. - The U.S. life insurance industry is projected to post operating gains in 2005 and 2006 that build on positive 2003 and 2004 results, according to Conning Research and Consulting Inc. Hartford, Conn.

Dublin, Ireland - In response to the increasing in outsourcing of insurance company assets to third-party investment firms, Ireland-based Research and Markets released a Resource Guide that profiles the industry's most prominent global asset management firms, insurance companies, and key industry service providers. Included in the guide are industry rankings and comparisons, asset management firms, industry service suppliers, and corporate indexes. The names of major property and casualty, life and health, mutual property and casualty, mutual life and health, and reinsurance companies are also included, along with executive-level contact information. The Resource Guide also includes a full directory listing for industry consultants, technology and information providers, custodian banks, industry-related law firms, and industry associations.

Kansas City, Mo. - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) warns that significant market disruptions could develop with the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act's (TRIA) expiration on December 31, 2005, the law's current sunset date. The economy's current strength reflects the ability of businesses to cover affordably catastrophic terrorism risks.