New Business and Underwriting Systems: Global Life Insurance Edition

COVID-19 and the underlying macroeconomic environment forced life insurers to deeply examine their product offerings and business processes because low interest rates and the industry’s reliance on fixed-income investments reduced profits. Insurers were also forced to meet the needs of consumers who were facing unexpected health concerns, lower pensions, and the general anxiety brought on by the global pandemic.

Even though the life industry has made some strong shifts in distribution, operating models, and products, insurers need to transform more. One area of transformation is the automation and digitization of the new business and underwriting processes to lower operating costs and improve the customer experience. Insurers purchase underwriting systems with the expectations that they will reduce unit costs and improve margins, an especially important goal if a global recession emerges.

This report is the second in a 2022 series of Celent reports on new business and automated underwriting (NBUW) systems. In this companion to the North American market report, Celent profiles NBUW systems available to life insurers in three other regions: EMEA, LATAM, and APAC. Celent believes this report is extremely timely as insurers reevaluate their underwriting processes post COVID-19 pandemic.

This report should help insurers as they refine their new business and underwriting technology strategies and, when needed, create a list of appropriate vendors for evaluation. Celent recommends also using VendorMatch to further your search and understanding of these systems.

This report profiles 15 systems in use by or being marketed for new business and underwriting functions in EMEA, LATAM, and APAC. For the purposes of this report, Mexico and the Caribbean are considered LATAM.