 
LOMA's Magazine for Insurance & Financial
Services Management
Special
Report:
Education Impacts Revenue
Highlights of Current Issues:
July 2008
People Power
Forward-looking human resources
executives are working with their line-of-business partners to identify
high-potential leaders, to foster emotional intelligence and to manage
generational diversity.
A report on HR issues.
June 2008
Learning Pays
What is the value of employee training and development programs?
Here is an in-depth look at how such programs provide strategic value.
May 2008
Technology:
What’s Next?
Everything’s changing. Hear
insights and advice from five of the industry’s top analysts on how to
thrive in the rapidly changing industry.
Capitalizing
on Insurance Globalization:
IT’s Crucial Role
Insurers face numerous issues and decisions in expanding their operations
around the world.
April 2008
Beyond the Boomers
Forward-thinking life insurance companies aren’t just targeting
affluent Baby Boomers any more. Who’s doing what—and why?
Does
Your Testing Practice Get a Passing Grade?
Insurers move testing offshore for independent validation and lower
costs.
March 2008:
The
Insurance Industry of the Future
Given the current challenges and characteristics of the industry, business
leaders look ahead to the future and share their thoughts on what they
predict for the industry in 10 years.
February 2008:
Fast Forward
Faster, more efficient service is seen by many experts as a key to
success in today’s insurance industry. Here are several ways insurers
can speed service.
January 2008
2008
Forecast: A New Year of Obstacles, Opportunities
Industry leaders sound off on what they predict in the new year for
sales and regulatory developments, as well as the role of technology,
customer service and other initiatives in driving industry profits.
Suppliers,
Partners View Industry Future
The insurance and financial services
industry faces numerous challenges in 2008 and coming years. Technology,
human resources, customer service are all top concerns for the industry.
Here are the views of several industry suppliers and partners on some key
issues in the coming year:
December 2007
Learning: A Key to Profits
A major Towers Perrin research study finds that learning and
development is one of the key factors in increasing employee engagement,
which, in turn, is linked to a company’s financial performance. The LOMA
Education Council was one of the first groups to hear the results of the
study.
November 2007
The
Role of CIO
Resource recently talked with six industry CIOs to gain
insight into the misperceptions and challenges of today’s top insurance
IT officers. See what
they’ve accomplished and what technologies they are watching.
Legacy
Modernization: Creating an Agile Enterprise
How
can you modernize systems and applications so your business adapts to
changing demands?
An official of EDS SOLCORP discusses the subject.
October 2007
Global Growth:
Room to Grow
Multinational insurers are flocking to
China
,
India
and the
Middle East
, domestic insurers are digging in, and everyone is branching out.
Here’s a look at who’s doing what—and why.
September 2007
Service Stratification
Some companies have begun grouping their producers into high- and
low-volume segments and providing different levels of service accordingly.
Officials from two insurance organizations talk about how they provide
preferential service and perks to high-volume producers/agents, and how
you can do the same in your organization.
Taking
a Benchmarking Tool into the Digital Age
In an effort to keep pace with the constantly changing information needs
of member companies, LOMA recently gave its annual Life Insurance &
Annuity Service Turnaround Times surveys (STTS) a high-tech upgrade.
August 2007
Systems Forum Report:
Service
Oriented Architecture and the Legacy Organization
Done right, SOA can help your company reduce costs and improve
time-to-market. Done wrong,
and it can become another expense. At
the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, David Koenig shared his
experiences with implementing SOA and how he learned to get it right.
Systems
Forum Exhibitors: Solutions for a Changing Industry
ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum attendees were able to discus their IT
needs at more than 190 booths, seeing how various solutions could help
them achieve greater success in today's market.
July 2007
The Coming Digital Native Workforce
As baby boomers
near retirement, the face of your organization will soon be changing.
Is your insurance company ready to handle a workforce of digital
natives?
Challenges
in Human Resources
The insurance industry faces several challenges related to the retirement
of the baby boomers, a trend that will affect future recruitment and
retention strategies.
June 2007
Customized
e-Learning Course Provides a Perfect Fit for Bankers Life
Bankers Life and Casualty Co. saw a need to enhance the training of
its contact center employees, especially when it came to serving the
company’s sizable career agent force. In its search for the right
training tools, it turned to LOMA, and the two organizations joined forces
to customize an existing LOMA e-learning course to fit Bankers’ needs.
Opportunities
for the Industry
The recent Life Insurance Conference and the Retirement Industry
Conference explored key issues facing our industry today. The wave of baby
boomers nearing retirement presents big opportunities, said speakers at
both conferences.
May 2007
Navigating
the Historic Technology Transformation
Technology and media changes are transforming our society and the
business world. Insurance
companies need to be ready for the challenges and opportunities in the
transitional years ahead.
Strategic
Priorities in Transition
A survey of the life insurance and annuity industry clearly indicates
senior executives shifting from an internal, operational focus to an
external, market-driven one.
April 2007
Building a Better Retirement
Innovative financial services companies are giving Baby Boomers the
tools to create a personal pension plan—as it turns out, just in time.
Is
Call Monitoring The Key To
Better
Call
Center
Performance?
Call monitoring may be among the most challenging and potentially
expensive practices undertaken in a call center, but it’s also one of
the most important.
March 2007:
Security: Are You Living in
Cyber Fear?
Cyber threats continue to increase, and the consequences of a data
breach are severe. Since
January 2006, at least seven insurers have announced the loss, theft, or
exposure of confidential customer data. Find out
what you can do to keep your company’s critical data safe.
Business Continuity: Are You
Ready for All Events?
Do you have a plan to insulate your call center capacity across a
spectrum of potential events? Find out what you need to know to keep your
business running.
February 2007:
Underwriting Trends:
We present two articles on trends in underwriting:
1. Where are Our Future Underwriters?
2. Instant Underwriting
Future of the Industry
In the January issue of Resource,
we published the 2007 Industry Forecast by the LOMA Board of Directors. This
month, we publish some additional perspectives on the future of the industry.
This article explores several key issues that will shape 2007 for the life
insurance market.
January 2007:
Forecast for 2007: Challenges Ahead
According to the LOMA Board of Directors, the industry may experience flat to
modest sales growth in 2007. The looming retirement of the Baby Boom generation
offers opportunities for the industry.
SOA: Hype or Reality?
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) has been discussed a lot in the
insurance industry. Resource explores the topic.
December 2006:
Harvesting Technology: The
2007 LOMA/Resource Technology Directory
The effective use of technology is one of the critical
factors for success in today’s insurance industry. To help members,
LOMA’s Resource magazine has complied the 2007 Insurance
Technology Directory. This is a comprehensive source of
suppliers of software, hardware and other services for the insurance and
financial services industry. It's published in print form in the December
issue of Resource, plus an on-line searchable version can be found at http://www.loma.org/TechDir/index.htm.
World-Class Performance for the
Insurance Industry
We have entered a new and exciting epoch in the insurance industry.
All of the characteristics that defined success in the past do not
guarantee success in the future. Convergence, consolidation and technology
have simply changed the game for evermore.
The article explores achieving performance today.
November 2006
The Business Potential of
I.T.
Pressure
is mounting; find out how your company can be more successful in
harnessing both the strategic and operational value of new generations of
technology.Executives
must consider two time horizons to get the most value from Information
Technology (I.T.) investments—the short and the long term.
New Technology for Insurers
Technology is critical to insurance companies today. This section tells
how many industry suppliers can help the industry. A
Special Section!
October 2006
Leaving the Nest: World Pension Reform
Many countries all around the world are making changes in their
pension systems, nudging citizens toward self-sufficiency.
September 2006
Creating a Service Culture
In 1999, the new UnumProvident Corp. that resulted from the merger of
three companies had a lot of work to do, as far as integrating all 3,000
of its customer service employees into a seamless organization. So its
leadership decided that if this new entity was going to become known for
excellent customer service, there was no better time to get everyone not
just on the same page, but the right page. Here’s how they made it
happen.
August 2006
Systems Forum Report:
Strategies, Technologies and Your
Future
Speaking at the Systems Forum, industry analysts discussed the
current tools and techniques that can help insurance companies do more, be
more and reimagine their future.
Systems
Forum Exhibitors: Solutions for Success
Some exhibitors took the opportunity provided by the ACORD LOMA
Insurance Systems Forum to unveil new products, introduce partnerships, or
make announcements. Here are some of those announcements, along with
highlights of the many products demonstrated.
July 2006
Executive Recruiting: Best Practices
As a recovering job market increases
competition for viable job candidates, finding, hiring and keeping the
right people for the right job is increasingly difficult. So what are the
best ways to do this? At the 2006 LOMA Financial Inforum, two human
resources executives and a talent solutions consultant revealed the
methods that have helped them avoid making hiring choices that don’t pan
out.
Dealing
with Employment Instability
Companies need to realize that changes in their workforce will severely
impact their competitive advantage, according to a consultant.
June 2006
Online Learning: What's in it for You?
Think online learning is just another flashy gimmick, left over from
the late-1990s dot-com feeding frenzy? Maybe it’s time to take another
look.
May 2006
Wireless Strategies for Life Insurers
Learn how developing a wireless strategy can help your company
increase productivity and improve customer service.
Policy
Administration Systems: Revolution Through Evolution
Policy Administration Systems are at the heart of the enterprise and
impact most of the business in some way, says an EDS official.
Speed to Market: More
than Just Technology
A cautious, structured approach is critical in an era in which
applications are components that must work in complete harmony, says a CSC
official.
April 2006
Strategies
for Serving the Boomers
The members of the
Baby Boom generation are turning 60. With their huge numbers and buying
power, the Boomers have had a large influence on American life and
business. As they age, this is not expected to change.
Financial services companies are responding to Boomer demographics
and traits in increasingly creative ways. They are crafting memorable
advertising campaigns; asking Boomers what they are doing to get ready for
retirement—and what they want when they get there—in surveys;
developing new products and services; re-organizing home office
operations; making strategic acquisitions; and more.
Special Report:
Avian Flu
With the
rapid spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian (bird) flu from Asia to
Europe
in the last few months, governments and businesses around the globe have
begun devising contingency plans so that their business could continue to
function if the virus were to cause a pandemic. Five insurers recently
participated in a LOMA survey that asked them to explain the status of
their contingency plans and what steps they’re taking to prepare for the
worst.
March 2006
Report
on Technology
Companies that implement effective
technology solutions can gain a competitive advantage in today's
environment. Here are examples of what
some solution providers and analysts say about technology.
Service
Needs of Intermediaries
In a recent study of intermediaries in the group life insurance industry,
Minnesota Life set out to learn more about the qualities intermediaries
look for in a group insurance carrier, the kind of relationship they like
to build with a carrier, and the things a carrier can do (and avoid doing)
to help make that happen.
February 2006
Report
on Compliance
Federal involvement in insurance regulation is a hot
topic in C-suites across the country. Here’s a status report—and what
various proposals mean for compliance and market conduct professionals.
The report also includes comments from several solution providers on
compliance.
January 2006
Forecast
for 2006: Challenges Ahead
According
to members of LOMA’s Board of Directors, tax reform proposals, the
optional federal charter, and the forthcoming retirement of large numbers
of baby boomers over the next decade or so are among the many challenges
the industry will face in the new year. However, they also see many of
these challenges as chances for companies to boost efficiency, utilize
technology to a greater degree, and create products that better serve
customers’ needs.
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