Ten ways to thrive as an international life company
By Mark Battersby, 3 Nov 15
In the latest in a series of viewpoints from prominent life industry figures, Sean Christian, executive director – offshore of Canada Life International, sets out what it takes to thrive as an international life office.
Compared to other sectors within financial services the life sector has arguably been slow to move with technological advancements. Successful life companies will have recognised this and will have diverted a significant proportion of their development spend into delivering their digital strategy.
This typically happens in two phases. The first phase is nowadays a hygiene factor in that successful companies must be able to offer online transactional functionality to advisers and in some instances direct to policyholders, for example, online dealing & switching.
The second phase is to utilise online technology to streamline processes, reduce processing times and eliminate non-value added activity. This can apply equally to how products are distributed as it does to operational processes.
Continuous investment in technology will be essential for success in markets where unit costs are under increasing pressure.
This investment comes at a price which once again highlights the importance of a life company making an adequate margin on the products it sells.
Tags: Canada Life | Sean Christian
