We are increasingly aware of the importance of staying secure in a world where cyber threats increase day by day. Heightened awareness around the Ukraine-Russia geopolitical tensions has taken cybersecurity to the next level. There are alerts and notices coming across multiple sources from regulatory bodies to industry-specific regulators, government agencies, consulting firms, and more. Samples include White House Cybersecurity Briefing,  CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency), NYDFS, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Intelligence Warning, and Accenture’s Cyber Threat Intelligence group.

Alongside these continued tensions between Russia and Ukraine is the potential for increased cyber threat activity. With military attacks, we should assume there will be accompanying cyber attacks.

As we move past the first quarter of 2022 and look ahead to the next several months, the world of technology in our industry continues to rapidly evolve and expand before our eyes. In early March 2022, my company InsurTech Express exhibited at the iPipeline Connections Conference in Las Vegas where insurance technologies took center stage. Companies like Bestow, Ethos, and Covr Financial have grown rapidly with investor funding to offer robust life insurance-focused solutions to their consumers.

Technology is being used more than ever to make it easier for advisors to complete insurance transactions with their clients without the cumbersome pain points present in a currently antiquated process. Gone are the days of 45-page applications, two-month underwriting timelines, and intrusive health examinations for coverage. The industry is full of thriving start-ups and established companies helping insurance consumers buy coverage in minutes, not weeks. Like many industries driven by technology, there continues to be development and investment from well know firms in the market. 

If you take a look around, you will notice all of the noise in the Medicare space. Whether it be the technology platforms for quote and apply, the renewable income stream, or a plethora of prospects, you may think to yourself, where do I start?

Let’s start with the technology platforms. Being able to quote, save, and compare Medicare choices for your clients is imperative. When CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) removed your ability to save drug plans, this opened up innovation in the independent distribution. Now you have the ability and convenience with Search & Save options that allow you to load your clients' medications and then recall that list and simply update it instead of recreating it every year.

NAIFA's Limited and Extended Care Planning Center (LECP) Impact Week, November 1-5, was a unique virtual event including a one-hour session covering a different type of topic each day by speakers who are industry experts and industry leaders. On Thursday, November 4, the topic was “Technology Shark Tank: Taking the Robot Out of the Advisor/Agent.” You’ve got questions and these presenters have answers! How do I take the busy “robotic” tasks out of my practice to make it more profitable? How do I stay in contact with current clients while seeking new clients? Which technology fits my practice and budget? At what point do I invest in my practice so that I can expand my outreach and professionalism? This “shark tank” style session offers four rapid-fire presentations!

There are countless horror stories where people have had their identity stolen and their bank accounts wiped out. 80% of victims will continue to use the Internet despite the risks because that’s the world we live in today. I want to focus on giving you tips to protect your privacy and help you function every day securely for both personal and business.

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of “Client Relationship Management Systems” CRMs in the marketplace. I am selectively going to talk about some of the more popular or industry CRMs, yet not purposely excluding any specific vendor or CRM product. You can identify CRMs in 1 of 3 categories: Generic, Industry Specific, or Home Grown. The CRM companies that are Generic like the big names: SalesForce, Microsoft, and Oracle for example are powerful products. These Fortune 500 companies have figuratively unlimited resources to setup their software to fit your practice. Typically this can be a little more on the expensive side, but makes sense with a larger agency that has many advisors. I would be wary about a generic CRM solution from a small vendor because even though you can license it at a lower cost, you may find them to be problematic for a many reasons like incompatibility for integrating data and limited functionality. There are some new popular generic CRMs from middle size companies like like Zoho and HubSpot that are really easy to use and setup with a lot of functionality. It is easy to gravitate to Industry specific CRMs because they are practically ready to use right out of the box. See information on some industry specific CRMs below.

Selling Life Insurance using a digital platform on your website for consumer direct insurance tools is now the hottest trend! Now more than ever, consumers want to shop, compare, and apply for coverage online and on their terms. The goal is to make the experience of protecting loved ones with life insurance as simple and stress-free as possible. Here are some key reasons why digital life insurance sales has gained momentum: COVID requiring remote sales; 72 million Millennials (25–40-year olds) who would rather shop on their own; massive use of mobile devices averaging 3.8 hours per day; and social media usage 2.5 hours per day for adults in the USA.