A prominent industry executive insists there is still a large, untapped treasure of life insurance sales left in the U.S. market.[@@]
“There’s a common belief that the life insurance industry is mature,” said Maurice R. (Hank) Greenberg, chairman and chief executive of American International Group Inc. at this week’s LIMRA International Conference in New York.
“I don’t buy it.”
Every day, people are entering the job market, getting married and having children, and life insurance plays an important role in each of those life stages, he said.
“The market is enormous,” Greenberg insisted.
But he lashed out at unnamed life insurance carriers that he accused of building market share at the expense of fiscal prudence. Price competition that pursues sales blindly is a serious problem for the industry, he warned.
“We’ll give up market share to companies that fail to maintain proper discipline,” he said. “In the graveyard of life insurance, there are new headstones being dug every day. Those who are doing that know who I’m talking about. “
Running an insurance is a long-term business, he argued. “If you run it the wrong way, you’re digging your own grave,” he said.