Scott Bales thrives on the intersection between cultural and behavioral changed in the face of technology innovations. Previously Chief Mobile Officer for Moven, the world's first-ever digital everyday bank, he has successfully meshed his fascination with people and what motivates them, with a raw enthusiasm for technology.

Scott has worked with insurance and reinsurance companies on their innovation agendas, and understands the challenges our industry faces — especially in distribution. He recognizes that an insurer’s dependency on agency and bancassurance means they have only a second-tier relationship with policy holders. He knows that Google’s and WeChat’s recent acquisition of broker licenses means they plan to further disrupt insurance distribution. But out of challenge comes opportunity! Scott is on a mobile technology mission to transform mainstream thought processing around conventional business practices and help companies reengineer their products to better suit the Consumer of 2023.

What is the most effective way to grow a new agency to generate expected revenue? What types of modifications must be made to existing models to work in other markets? Join this session to hear firsthand how Ageas Insurance International has successfully entered into new markets, inclusive of the process they follow, notable challenges and surprises they have encountered along the way, and the lessons learned once everything was complete and they were able to review and reflect on the results.

This session will present a field perspective on the challenges and opportunities of developing top agency managers. Marcus Wong, a Senior District Director with a force of over 300 agents, will explain how he has built up a successful infrastructure to manage and coach his team to become premier agents. He will also identify how AIA has supported him from the home office to ensure he had the skills and tools that were necessary to build up such a successful career.

Ian Watts will discuss key differences between today’s GA and Managerial distribution systems, then explore:
• Data trends for GA and Managerial systems
• Changing regulations for agents to become independent
• Elements of field management compensation
• GA company practices

This practical case study presentation will provide an inside look on how to successfully manage an omnichannel sales approach. Areas of discussion will include lead generation, revenue share models, and exactly how roboadvisors might fit into the future of sales. Attendees will leave with a better sense of how to manage a multi-channel approach, while still providing excellent customer service.

While bancassurance has steadily gained market share, challenges remain with sustaining productivity gains and deploying technology to help. As more customers prefer online and mobile, branch walk-in volume will continue to decline and banks must rethink their campaign design and execution strategies to ensure they are supplying the salesforce with enough quality leads to. Against this backdrop, banks must also deal with the continuous challenges of recruitment, training and exceeding customer expectation. Join this session to understand why all these items make it more important than ever for banks and insurers must collaborate for the “velocity” needed gain a competitive edge.

This panel presentation will be a multi-perspective showcase of what insurers and banks are doing to develop and grow their advisors. Discussion items will include how to develop an MDRT culture, trustworthy selling techniques, and various training initiatives that can help advisors add value to their sales approach and excel in the areas of productivity, retention, case size, and professionalism.

All registered participants are welcome to join us for a Dinner Cruise on Thursday evening, 17 November, following the conference sessions. Spend the evening discussing the sessions from earlier in the day, mingling with other attendees, and enjoying dinner and drinks as we cruise down the Chao Phraya River.

Terry Cummings will join us to discuss the impact of lifestyle trends on insurance risk and the opportunity to engage customers and create shared value through insurer wellness programmes. Terry will also discuss how insurers and distributors can leverage technology and data to provide superior value to customers.

Staying on top of new regulations and regulatory trends is critical in determining how an organization can develop business and innovate. This session will consider where regulatory trends on distribution have headed and provide insights on what the future focus of regulators and lawmakers could be.

Gone are the days when simply providing policies was enough. The world has gone digital, and social and mobile technology has changed consumer expectations as well as how advisors must deal with them. This group of executives will share what they are doing to help advisors respond to these marketplace changes, inclusive of modifications to product design, implementing big data and relationship building tools, and ways in which advisors can use these new digital disruptions to drive customer centricity.

How will cognitive automation, gamification and Robo-Advisors impact the way the advisor of the future does business, and what does that mean to you and your company? This discussion will cover how FinTech innovation can be used to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and risk assessment to speed up the sales process and increase customer satisfaction.

Our digital world continually changes the ways people connect with people, services, and things. The scope, speed, and depth of these changes are happening faster than most business leaders can react. What changes are reaching a tipping point and disrupting your online and offline business models? Eric will share his observations from China and around the world.