The Life Offices' Association (LOA) recently released a discussion document outlining its proposals to reform the current regulations regarding up-front commission payments on long-term insurance policies, including endowments and retirement annuities. This has sparked much media discussion regarding the impact the proposal would have on the policyholder, the broker and the life assurance industry as a whole.
Little has been said, however, about the direct impact on the way policies are administered, or how commissions are to be administered and paid by both the administrators and brokerages. What is certain is that the industry is in the middle of a process of change that will affect everybody, from the insurers to their policyholders and everybody in between.
As a link in the financial services value chain, financial software house SDT has taken the opportunity to carefully analyse the LOA proposal with a view to discovering the real implications it will have on the industry. What the company has discovered is that while there are challenging times ahead, there are also great opportunities for those organisations able to proactively innovate and implement solutions designed to take advantage of the new business environment.
SDT will host a business breakfast on 11 August in Johannesburg, and one on 17 August in Cape Town, to discuss some of the seemingly debilitating business obstacles presented by the proposal. While there are real problems the industry will face, they can be overcome with forethought and the appropriate planning.
Topics of discussion during the breakfast will include:
* Brief overview of the LOA proposal to reform the regulations regarding commissions on long-term insurance policies
* The impact of the LOA's proposal on:
* The life assurance companies
* The brokers and agents
* Compliance with the LOA's proposal
* Technical impact of LOA's proposal on existing solutions
* SDT's solution: A flexible cost-effective commission engine
Share
SDT provides world-class business solutions for financial services administration, with particular emphasis on life insurance, pensions and employee benefits. The company is a strategic supplier to more than 20 clients in many countries, across two continents.
SDT develops and implements innovative systems, models and processes to satisfy the growing needs of the financial services sector. This empowers its clients to respond to the challenges of this fast changing sector, enabling them to substantially reduce operating and administrative costs without compromising on product innovation, competitiveness or service quality.
The company is a Microsoft Certified Partner and all its systems are based on Microsoft's development and operating environments. SDT transforms its clients' aspirations into reality, whether they are start-up organisations looking for guidance to enter the industry with minimal risk, or established players wanting to realise the inherent potential of their organisation.
Editorial contacts