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Life Health > Health Insurance

The 10 biggest announcements from life and health insurers this week

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AXA Strategic Ventures (ASV), announced it has invested in mobile insurance technology provider, Limelight Health. Founded in 2014, Limelight Health provides mobile, cloud-based technology that enables companies to simplify employee health benefits information and streamline the proposal, decision and renewal process. QuotePad, Limelight Health’s first commercial product released in January 2015, solves for the problem of redundant, paper intensive sales and administrative work in insurance. QuotePad is a mobile, real-time technology platform that enables brokers, carrier representatives and underwriters to immediately respond to customer quote requests, compare employee benefits information and model interactive health plan cost scenarios with real-time market data. This results in a superior customer experience and understanding of the benefits being offered.

Digital Insurance, an employee benefits-only company and a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial (FNF), has acquired Compass Consulting Group and its affiliate Prospective Risk Management (PRM), both headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. Compass Consulting and PRM are premier providers of employee benefits consulting and health care risk management services. The transaction underscores Digital’s strategy of expanding its national platform to include complementary lines of businesses.   

“Compass’ consultants are experts in the design and management of benefits solutions for an array of businesses including large employers, private equity arrangements, associations, and in particular, many of the largest PEOs (Professional Employers Organizations) in the country,” says Adam Bruckman, president and CEO of Digital Insurance. “In addition, they offer actuarial and underwriting services through their PRM affiliate which delivers risk management expertise using proprietary predictive modeling and emerging conditions tools. The consulting and risk management capabilities, together with the companies’ high-growth track record, make them attractive investments for Digital. Compass and PRM align with our strategy of investing in vertical businesses that thrive on a stand-alone basis, but have the potential to grow significantly by leveraging our capital resources.” 

The International Health & Wealth Conference (IHW) is getting in shape with program and speakers´ information now available online. Experts from more than 15 countries are vitalizing the conference agenda. IHW is a unique, independent networking event connecting industries, science and business linked to health and wealth, one of the world´s most prosperous and developing cross-section markets in the 21st century.For more information about the IHW Conference please visit the updated website here.

LIMRA, in collaboration with the Society of Actuaries (SOA), published a report examining recent experience data for long-term care insurance mortality and persistency experience in the United States. “With 70 percent of Americans over 65 expected to need long-term care, this research is very important to help companies design their products to reflect consumer needs and actual behaviors around long-term care solutions,” said Marianne Purushotham, corporate vice president and research project director for LIMRA. Based on the 10-year experience period, mortality rates for long-term care policyholders appear to be lower than other insurance products, including life insurance and individual annuities. The study used data gathered by the SOA from 22 long-term care carriers in the industry, representing approximately 75 percent of the lives in-force during the period 2000-2011. The report also used industry experience databases for incidence, claim termination and claim utilization experience by Towers Watson. Aggregate databases for policy termination experience including voluntary lapse, mortality, and total termination experience were developed by LIMRA and are detailed in the report. 

MassMutual Retirement Services is introducing co-browsing to enhance online services to retirement plan savers, employers, financial advisors and third-party administrators. Co-browsing allows retirement plan customers to more closely interact with MassMutual service team members and call center employees by allowing them to view what the customer is seeing online while answering questions about retirement plan websites. Co-browsing, which is used only when a client grants MassMutual permission, helps service representatives resolve issues more quickly, typically on the first call, with a greater level of understanding and satisfaction than other electronic communications. Security options also allow Web users to block sensitive information during the co-browsing session.

MetLife announced that its Guaranteed Income BuilderSM deferred income annuity is now available as a qualifying longevity annuity contract (QLAC) for individual clients. Guaranteed Income Builder provides a pension-like stream of income for life, helping to address a top concern of today’s retirees: running out of money in retirement. By using Guaranteed Income Builder as a QLAC, clients now have the flexibility to defer a portion of their required minimum distributions (RMDs) from their qualified IRA to a later date. For more information, please visit http://metlife.com/income.

Dave Viox, founder of AAdvantage Insurance Group in Glen Carbon, Ill., recently announced his company’s merger with Premier Insurance Associates. Vince and Deb Valesano, former owners of Premier Insurance Associates located in Edwardsville, Ill., will also join AAdvantage Insurance Group. The company specializes in farm, commercial, home, auto and life insurance and serves clients in the Metro-East/St. Louis area as well as throughout Illinois and Missouri.

InVida Financial Network (InVida) has appointed insurance industry veteran Philip Hudgins as president. In this capacity, Philip will lead InVida’s efforts to bring new life insurance agents into the industry and oversee the company’s direct sales model of insurance products for protecting families’ financial futures. Philip’s insurance career began in 1983 when he started building an insurance marketing organization. He quickly began to emerge as one of the most capable builders and mentors in the independent insurance agent marketplace. This soon segued into a partnership wherein he, and his partners, built National Agents Alliance (NAA) into one of the largest independent marketing organizations in the insurance industry at the time.

jamie harris

Prinova Inc., a software development and services company within the customer communications management (CCM) market, has announced that Jamie Harris (photo, right) has been appointed to vice president, sales, North America. Harris joins Prinova with over 16 years of experience in the document management industry, with senior leadership roles with many of the world’s leading customer communication management technology companies. Prior to joining Prinova, Harris was regional sales director at Exstream Software and quickly moved up to take on the role of VP of diversified services, growing the division to have the largest customer base in the company. Harris then held the position of CEO of CleverSpring, a startup software company, followed by VP of diversified services with GMC Software Technology. His most recent role was SVP of sales at airSpring software.

Global professional services company Towers Watson (NASDAQ: TW) has appointed Mark Griffin director in its Americas Life practice. Griffin will be responsible for delivering consulting, technology and solutions to life insurers. He joined the company earlier this month and is based in Hartford, Conn. “We’re delighted Mark has joined our growing Life practice and are excited to benefit from his deep expertise in insurance and risk management,” said Elinor Friedman, head of the Americas Life practice, Towers Watson. “We’re confident Mark’s experience in addressing insurance risk, asset/liability management, hedging and capital management will serve our life insurance clients very well. We look forward to his future successes at Towers Watson.” Griffin joins Towers Watson from Phoenix Life Insurance, where he was executive vice president and chief risk officer responsible for enterprise risk management. Prior to Phoenix, he held senior positions at MassMutual, Genworth, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. 


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