Trends and Strategies in Policy Administration BPO (Strategic Focus)

To be competitive, insurers need to transform their legacy policy administration process so that they can get to market quicker and lower their costs. One strategy for addressing these issues is business process outsourcing (BPO) of the policy administration function.

Report Highlights
Insurers must match innovation and expansion with a policy administration platform that can cost-effectively improve time-to-market. Old, rigid systems do not suffice, highlighting the potential value of working with an outsourcer. The increasingly competitive marketplace along with the long-term deterioration of wage arbitrage elevates the importance of business transformation outsourcing (BTO). Only 4% of insurers with fewer than 1,000 employees currently outsource their policy administration; however, 22% are considering it.
[Studien Infos ausblenden]

Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Key Messages 2
Reducing costs and concentrating on core functions is driving policy administration BPO 2
A flexible policy administration process can improve time-to-market and enable growth 2
Transformative outsourcing will become increasingly important 2
Platform utility is an increasingly important way for BPO providers to protect margins 2
A balanced portfolio can afford BPO providers lower cost of sales and fewer market risks 2
3
Table of figures 4
Market Opportunity: Lean and Flexible - 21st Century Requirements 5
Increased competition highlights the importance of cost reduction 5
Maturing markets in the US and Europe drive the need for new products and new markets 6
Complex and disparate regulations call for a flexible policy administration system 8
Small and large insurers alike are interested in policy administration BPO 10
Full-scale market adoption has been hindered by real as well as unfounded concerns 11
Policy Administration BPO Evolution 13
BTO: Taking BPO to the next level 13
Historical evolution: Why the UK is a BPO hotbed 14
Customer Impact 17
Reducing cost and increasing flexibility 17
Enabling insurers to concentrate on core competencies 18
Making insurers over-dependent on one vendor 18
Potentially diminishing the customer and/or agent relationship 18
Go to Market 20
A balanced portfolio lowers cost of sales and mitigates market risk 20
Platform utility will become an increasingly important way for providers to protect margins 21
A global delivery network can help alleviate some fears among insurers 22
Recommendations 24
Gain a balanced portfolio of open and closed books 24
Gain a balanced portfolio of life and non-life policies 24
Develop / acquire / enhance platform IP 24
Build a global delivery network 24
APPENDIX 25
Methodology 25
Further reading 25
Ask the analyst 25
Datamonitor consulting 25
Disclaimer 25
[Inhaltsverzeichnis ausblenden]

Figure 1: Per capita premiums 7
Figure 2: Premium volume of US, UK Japan, BRIC and emerging markets (2002-2006) 8
Figure 3: Business drivers for retooling the policy administration function 9
Figure 4: Current and planned policy administration outsourcing 11
Figure 5: Current and planned BPO adoption rates by function 12
Figure 6: Levels of policy administration BPO 14
Figure 7: Current and planned policy administration BPO in UK, North America and Europe 15
Figure 8: Benefits / risks balance for policy administration BPO 19
Figure 9: Balanced portfolio of open and closed books 21
Figure 10: Delivery center country destinations, ranked 1-4 (4 being best) 23
[Tabellenverzeichnis ausblenden]