This session will provide an update on the legal cannabis industry and its impact on the insurance industry, with a particular emphasis on life companies. The presentation will introduce cannabis, how it is being used, and the marketplace for cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds. We will examine the legal treatment of cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds under federal and state laws. Finally, the presentation will examine the impact of legal cannabis on the life insurance industry including: investing opportunities in cannabis; limitations or restrictions on investments where the underlying business operates in violation of federal law; applicants’ use of cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds; potential for false positives; impact of false positives on underwriting; dealing with seemingly untruthful applicants; insuring employees in the cannabis industry; dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity; anti-money laundering concerns; dealing with employees who are cannabis users (medical users and emerging state law); cannabis and HIPAA compliance; and underwriting best practices.

Now in its 12th year, LIMRA and Life Happens’ Insurance Barometer survey examines the current state of the consumer mindset regarding the most important and relevant topics in the life insurance industry. This session provides the first look at the 2022 results, focusing on consumer behaviors and attitudes. We look at insights and trends and this year, will explore each by an expanded number of demographic segments. The goal of the findings is to help your company tailor its communications, improve target marketing, and aide in decisions surrounding product and distribution development. Finally, it reviews how Life Happens uses this information to build consumer awareness programs and online tools.

With more term business reaching the end of level term period each year and the growing size of this block of business, it's important for insurers to accurately model emerging experience. A new study highlighting post-level term mortality and lapse trends was recently released by the SOA and can be leveraged for new insights into how to best model the post-level term period for inforce and new business projections.

This session will focus on accelerated underwriting to get perspectives from reinsurers and consultants about whether direct writers are getting too aggressive with their underwriting and the trends and potential impacts around that.

Serving a truly diverse customer base is about more than race and ethnicity. There are cultural and generational components to consider. What are the market expectations of Gen Y or Gen Z consumers, and do they vary by ethnicity? What is their background dealing with insurance and financial services and how has it prepared them for a discussion of life insurance? How do different ethnic groups react to discussions of mortality and end of life planning? The speakers at this session bring a wealth of experience to help your company meet underserved consumers where they are.

With all the technology advancements for the life insurance purchase process (investment, strong adoption), are the turnaround time trends for the industry moving the needle and getting agents/clients to act quickly when the ball is in their court to advance the business? If so, how are carriers seeing success?

The growth of InsurTech influence on the life insurance industry is reaching an all-time high as more technology startups offer products and services, and companies look to stimulate more internal innovation. What lies ahead for the life insurance industry? This session will cover which InsurTech companies have made strong headway in the industry, what venture capital firms are looking for in their next rounds of funding, and a view to the further future integration of insurance and technology concepts.

For years AAA/SOA ESG was the bedrock for economic scenario generator for pricing and reserving. The NAIC is converting to the Conning ESG for valuation to address shortcomings and allow more robust valuation calculation. What is important to know and what are the potential impacts to companies?

In this session, we’ll cover how to attract and retain great talent by building inclusive, high performing organizations. At a time when most companies are facing severe talent shortages and employee engagement and trust have reached an all time low, we can’t afford to keep trying the same old approaches. We will provide pragmatic practices and effective tools for building truly inclusive organizations that can attract and retain great talent who are being overlooked.

Learning Lounge in the Exhibit Hall

Sponsored by Sureify

Join Pete Schaefer, President & CEO of Hannover Re, as he sits down with Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier to discuss a broad range of issues impacting the insurance industry. Hear their leadership insights on the most pressing topics of the day.

The world is going through a fundamental transformation in the next 25 years and the foundations for many system changes will be laid throughout the 2020s. More than a dozen new technologies and massive trends will inexorably play out under almost any future scenario. These include technological revolutions in Infotech like artificial intelligence, in Biotech like genetic engineering, and in Energy Tech like electric transportation. But this also includes societal changes like a huge generational transition and corresponding shift in power. Many of these developments will have a direct impact on the life insurance industry — and could lead to many health breakthroughs and a substantial lengthening of life spans.

The tax law changes are really promulgated by the low interest rate environment and SNFL laws have changed for both life and annuity products. We will start off with interest rates, then take a deep dive into product/distribution changes caused by tax law, as well as what is happening in the annuity market due to low interest rates.

Prior to COVID, most sales involving an advisor were conducted primarily in a face-to-face environment.   That all changed in March of 2020. Advisors had to pivot to virtual sales quickly in order to keep selling.  Companies had to enable remote capabilities. Automated underwriting programs were ramped up; paramed exams were replaced with electronic health records. What will happen when COVID concerns subside?  Are the new interaction models here to stay?  This session will explore what the future might look like.

The session will discuss the progression of climate risk disclosure, where it is headed, and how the industry is moving toward the FSB Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Framework that several insurance commissioners have called on the industry to adopt. What are the top companies doing in order to implement new climate financial disclosures? What are the key regulatory developments around the world that are being considered by states, the NAIC, and rating agencies?

In the mission of improving life and protecting against death, life insurance companies and policyholders are truly well aligned partners. Within the context of life insurance, the aim of health and wellness offerings is to encourage policyholders to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and  advance the prevention and treatment of disease. Ultimately health and wellness programs not only improve the customer experience but also have the potential to enhance the long-term performance of the business. But there is a difference between understanding the potential benefits of health and wellness and being able to craft a viable business case that can move an organization to action.

As life insurers continue to embark on their digital transformation journeys, it’s important to ask, “what’s next for the industry as a whole?” 

To answer this, Sureify’s SVP, Bryan Padgette will host an open conversation with leading industry experts Jonathan Yoon, Head of Life Insurance Marketing at Nationwide and David Shively, Vice President of L&A Platforms at EXL.

During the conversation, the three panelists will respond to audience-led questions centered around this topic, discuss the most common pain points plaguing the life insurance space—such as difficulties with legacy systems that slow speed to market and finding the right technology that increases customer loyalty—and consider solutions that will better prepare insurers for the future.

Join us in the Learning Lounge located in the exhibitor hall during lunch for this discussion.

Sponsored by Sureify

As the market continues to evolve, the value of innovation by InsurTech digital providers is becoming clear. These companies drive change by meeting customer demands of delivering life insurance in a way that is quick and easy to access. Carriers and distributors can learn a lot from them as they continue on their path of digital transformation. Hear directly from this panel of digital providers about how they are innovating and bringing new ways of operating to capitalize on the changing needs of customers.

The essential purpose of financial services professionals is to help people achieve their financial goals. The insurance industry has long made a priority of attracting, retaining, and developing the best talent — and insurance businesses strive to reach this goal by making diversity and inclusion the centerpiece of their company culture. By making meaningful progress on diversity in insurance, we can win the critical war for talent, which will allow our companies and their employees to prosper financially and our industry to succeed. Join us for a discussion on tools that companies can utilize to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the insurance industry. Hear what success stories companies have related to D&I.

There have been few new products developed in the standalone long-term care (LTC) insurance market. Most of the recent developments in products designed to address the long-term care need have been in the LTC and chronic illness rider market. Hear how these carriers approach the market and keys to their success.

Recent years have seen a growing increase in the prominence of private equity firms involved in insurance merger and acquisition activity and reinsurance transactions. In addition, insurers are including more and more complex private equity among their asset holdings. Consumers are looking to maintain trust in the industry and regulators are paying closer attention to these types of activities. This session will highlight the recent trends, the impact and opportunities for legacy insurers, and reactions from consumers and regulators.

As carriers adapted to doing business during the pandemic and look to position themselves going forward, there has been considerable interest in how consumers’ expectations for customer experience (CX) have changed. In this session, results from LIMRA’s Customer Experience Benchmarking Program will be shown to illustrate how the drivers of CX have changed over time. A panel of company speakers will then reflect on how those changes are being demonstrated with their operations.

Term insurance, due to its product design and non-lifetime coverage period, is generally the least expensive life insurance product. For many carriers, it is just one of many offered in a suite of other products. However, in our efforts to provide financial security to the estimated 102 million underinsured Americans, perhaps term insurance needs a fresh look. Come hear from a panel of speakers from companies that successfully sell term insurance to get their perspectives on why term is so important, their secrets to sales success, challenges/opportunities they see in the market today, and how they believe term insurance can make a difference in closing the life insurance protection gap.

This session will explore how data analytics and AI are used in underwriting as well as how these tools may affect unfair discrimination. Over the last two years, regulators’ interest in these topics have increased and the NAIC has multiple workstreams devoted to them. In addition to how these tools are used, the panel will discuss regulatory concerns and the industry’s work in addressing those concerns.

The life insurance sector continues to evolve rapidly as insurers seek to bring new innovative products to market and engage with their customers in different ways. Increasingly, this involves leveraging the power of ecosystems to access new types of customers, engage and reward customers in new ways, and modernize the types of data insurers have access to. During this session we will unpack the most important components of getting ecosystem businesses right, share learnings from key global leaders, and share some perspectives on how to accelerate ecosystem builds in the U.S.

Magie Cook is a Latino businesswoman and author who transformed herself from an orphan from Mexico into CEO of Maggie’s All-Natural Fresh Salsas & Dips, a company that grew into a multi-million-dollar business within 4 years. At the height of her success in 2015, Maggie’s Salsa sold to Campbell’s Soup. Shortly after, Cook went back to Mexico and helped rescue 31 orphaned children from a drug cartel. Recipient of a Nobel Entrepreneurial Prize in Mexico, and the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Small Business Administration, Cook shares the unconventional and unique techniques that made her successful in life and in business. Learn how to spark your creative genius, embrace change, and find meaning while living up to your highest potential.

Our industry has only recently begun to invest heavily in digitization and transformation at scale. As we enter the third decade of the 21^st century, coming out of a global pandemic, this digital transformation is shaping up to be a digital reset. From an intense focus on providing customers with a frictionless and engaging experience, accelerated and automated underwriting using AI, a permanently hybrid employee base, data science and AI, this reset will fundamentally change our industry forever. What do carriers need to know and how can the entirety of the ecosystem support this digital reset? On this panel, we will hear from accomplished professionals from our industry who leaned into digital early on and established successful organizations that support the entire industry ecosystem. Sharing with us their knowledge on all things digital, and drawing from their experience in the industry, join our presenters for a riveting discussion on how we all have a part to play in this Great Digital Reset.

As insurance industry cybersecurity regulations mature and cybersecurity events continue to escalate, state and federal agencies have been enforcing cybersecurity events and preparedness. Panelists will examine the enforcement trends around cybersecurity assessments, cybersecurity events, and everything in between, and discuss how current activity might inform other regulators going forward.

With competition for talent at an all-time high and the Great Reshuffle permeating the industry, traditional employer/employee relationships are being redefined. To fully engage staff at all levels, insurance leaders must rethink their retention strategies. A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer an option. Savvy managers are revisiting contribution levels, identifying high potential employees, and creating individualized retention plans to build long-term loyalty and differentiate their companies in the national talent pool. The fully remote and hybrid environments that emerged amid the pandemic require leaders to refine their management styles and intentionally facilitate a sense of connection with their teams regardless of work location. “Stay interviews” and regular touchpoints are key to proactively uncovering what is important to individual employees throughout their tenures. This insight serves as the foundation for tailoring retention and development plans that align with individual values, needs, and career aspirations, ultimately increasing employee engagement and productivity.

As younger generations go through their next stage in life, and transfer of wealth continues, is our industry prepared to meet the unique demands and needs for the next generation of clients? Join our panelists for a conversation around the current wealth transfer opportunities, how we are successfully capturing those opportunities and, as we look forward, how do we excite and retain younger millennials and Zoomers after they inherit.

This session will cover multiple aspects of mortality experience, including the emerging experience from accelerated underwriting, the impact of covid on mortality, as well as the population causes of death. What are the learnings for insurers going forward?

The evolution of underwriting — how digital intake, third party data, risk scores, IOT (facial recognition software, wearables etc.), and modernization of the ecosystem will impact products and solutions of the future. Where are we in the journey? What has allowed for improvements in customer experience? Which changes have been most impactful? How do these innovations and improvements change everything from solutions of the future, talent strategy, risk management, product management and distribution? How far have we come, what have we learned, and how do we build toward the future?

With states busy adopting the NAIC’s revised best interest annuity suitability model, insurers and insurance producers are at work implementing the new requirements. They are also navigating the implications of the DOL’s guidance on the application of its fiduciary definition. As fiduciary advisors and their respective financial institutions get ready to comply with the DOL’s new Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02, the DOL has made clear it is committed to revisiting its definition and related exemptions, including PTE 84-24, which is widely used by producers who are unsure of their status under the DOL rule. This session will review the implications of the best interest model implementation, what we can expect in 2022 from the states and NAIC, and what the DOL may do.

How have life insurers leveraged data to create data and analytics strategies in their organizations? How have they used these strategies to help their digital acceleration roadmaps?  Hear from a panel of experts supported by data from a 2021 survey conducted by Celent, how insurers are leveraging data to create value. It will also provide insight into how companies improve their abilities to expose and use their data for more than administrative purposes.

What does professionalism mean in 2022? This session will cover the soon-to-be effective ASOP on non-guaranteed elements, treatment of reinsurance and statements of actuarial opinion, and will cover other professionalism aspects in an engaging way.