Businesses today are still in the early stages of maturing their use of business intelligence and performance management, according to benchmark research findings announced by Ventana Research. The research uncovers strong movement toward improving analytics, planning and collaboration across business and IT.
This major research on BI and performance management analyzed input from hundreds of organizations of various sizes from around the world to assess the maturity and direction of their efforts.
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> Total sales of equity-indexed annuities in the United States dropped to $6.8 billion in the first quarter of 2010, a decline of 4% from the same period a year ago, according to Annuityspecs.com, a firm that tracks the data.
The market is coming off a record-setting year, as two of the biggest sales quarters were in 2009, Sheryl J. Moore, president and chief executive officer of Annuityspecs.com, told BestWire. Also, it doesn’t help “that rates have been very depressed on all annuities for some time.”
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, a unit of Germany’s Allianz SE, remained No.
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Things are looking up for life insurers. Moody’s Investors Service today announced in its “U.S. Life Insurance: Outlook Returns to Stable” report that it upgraded its outlook for the U.S. life insurance industry to stable from negative. The ratings agency cited favorable economic and capital market trends, which signal the stabilization of life insurers’ business and financial prospect.
Moody’s said elevated stock prices have buoyed life insurers’ variable annuity and asset-based businesses, moderating corporate defaults and bond rating transitions will continue to assist profits and regulatory capital levels.
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As trying as the financial crisis and soft market have been to insurance carriers, it has been more so to independent agents. Shrinking premium volumes hurt both agent’s top and bottom lines, notes a new report from SMA, a Boston-based strategic advisory firm.
The report, “Fronting the Wave: Agent Technology Spending, Drivers & Approaches,” queried 64 agencies, including six managing general agencies about their plans for IT spending. The macroeconomic climate and lingering soft market continue to impact spending decisions, with 55% of respondents describing their operational mode as “sustaining.”
Yet, the report found an undercurrent of optimism in the numbers. “Agencies
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Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services reports that it will incorporate its insurance compliance information and analysis technologies with FINEOS Claims for Workers’ Compensation.
FINEOS Claims for Workers’ Compensation has been expanded to offer capabilities developed specifically for the U.S. market, including preconfigured business content in areas such as fraud detection and medical management. The claims processing system is designed to provide insurance carriers, third-party administrators, self-insureds, state funds and other government entities with a complete claims lifecycle management system that includes intake, payments, reserves and provider management.
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