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From spear phishing to hacked printers, “brokers have to stay sharp” on emerging risks

Insurance Business America | April 22, 2019

Phishing emails today look a lot different than they did a few years ago. The family of a prince in a faraway land might not be asking you for a large chunk of change if you help them transfer money out of the country as often anymore, but that doesn’t mean the cyber threat is gone for good. The practice of spear phishing is an emerging risk that targets the upper echelons of a company, like CEOs, CFOs, and CIOs, to gain access to the target network. Once they’re inside, hackers can sit in it for months. “They come in, [and] they might do something, like change the way that your email works. What they’ll do is often they’ll change forwarding rules, so they're forwarding emails to their account. They can then vet things or tell people to change where they’re going to be sending your money,” said Linda Hamilton, client operations manager and OFAC compliance officer at global data recovery firm Proven Data, and a panelist at the upcoming Emerging Risks & Innovation Summit in New York. “You don’t even know you got an email because it’s being forwarded to a different email address.” When it comes to cyber threats, even printers aren’t safe from hacking anymore because many are “smart” devices that are connected to networks.

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How Artificial Intelligence is making insurance work better for everyone

As a heavily regulated, intensively bureaucratic sector – a business founded on caution – insurance has always been slow to adapt. But a confluence of historic challenges is forcing the industry to undergo arguably the most radical change in its history. Fundamentally, insurance is a hedge against risk. Over the coming years, it will become a proactive exercise in preventing risk, moving from protection to prevention.

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Spotlight

How Artificial Intelligence is making insurance work better for everyone

As a heavily regulated, intensively bureaucratic sector – a business founded on caution – insurance has always been slow to adapt. But a confluence of historic challenges is forcing the industry to undergo arguably the most radical change in its history. Fundamentally, insurance is a hedge against risk. Over the coming years, it will become a proactive exercise in preventing risk, moving from protection to prevention.

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CORE INSURANCE

Integrity Expands Life Insurance Distribution by Partnering with Richman Insurance Agency

Integrity Marketing Group and Richman Insurance Agency | August 10, 2022

Integrity Marketing Group, LLC, a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of wealth management and retirement planning solutions, today announced it has acquired Richman Insurance Agency, an insurance marketing organization ("IMO") based in Dallas, Texas. As part of the acquisition, Rob Richman, President of Richman Insurance Agency, will become a Managing Partner in Integrity. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Richman Insurance Agency has quickly become an influential leader in the markets it serves. With more than a decade of experience in the insurance industry, Rob Richman understands how to provide fundamental agent training so his team can best meet client needs. He guides the company's fast-growing network of agents to success through a proven system of in-depth coaching and support. Richman Insurance Agency provides $15 million in mortgage protection, life insurance and final expense products to a wide range of consumers, serving more than 20,000 Americans annually. "A great business needs great leaders, and Rob has proven he has the attitude and passion to make an impact on this industry, His hard work and dedication have built his agency into the success it is today, and his well-trained team is now ready for the next step forward. Adding Integrity's resources and technology will accelerate Richman Insurance Agency's growth path, allowing them to reach more people while enhancing our efforts to serve the life, health and wealth needs of all Americans. We're proud to welcome Rob and his team to Integrity — I'm confident their biggest successes are ahead of them." -shared Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity At Richman Insurance Agency, we specialize in helping agents maximize their potential, Adding Integrity's world-class support and services to our team's commitment and work ethic creates the perfect combination to supercharge our business. Integrity is pioneering the future of life, health and wealth protection, and we want to be part of it. When we see the group of industry leaders Integrity has assembled, we can't help but be thrilled to join their ranks. We know we're just getting started with what we can achieve,explained Richman, President. Integrity helps Americans prepare for the good days ahead by partnering with industry leaders and icons who come together as peers to optimize insurance processes and financial services. Unified by their common goal of improving insurance and financial services experiences for everyone, members of Integrity's partner network learn from each other and collaborate to design strategies that better protect the life, health and wealth of consumers. Rob has always done his utmost to help his team fulfill their goals — it's what makes him the type of leader we're thrilled to partner with, Richman Insurance Agency is ready to take a big leap forward and grow faster and serve more people than ever before. Partnering with the best minds in the business and gaining access to Integrity's cutting-edge technology and resources will springboard their future success. Richman Insurance Agency will be a great addition to the Integrity family. We're grateful they've chosen to be part of our mission to help more Americans plan for the good days ahead,explained Shawn Meaike, President of Family First Life and Managing Partner at Integrity. To take full advantage of Integrity's partner benefits and agent resources, Richman Insurance Agency will utilize Integrity's vast infrastructure of business services. Partners can streamline administrative functions through centralized areas, such as People & Culture, Technology & Innovation, finance, legal and compliance, and world-class advertising and marketing. In addition, Integrity offers partners access to proprietary technology through its omnichannel insurtech platform. These comprehensive insurance and financial services offerings include valuable agent resources, such as product development, quoting and enrollment systems and customer relationship management software. All these benefits are further accentuated by Integrity's Employee Ownership Plan, which offers employees the exciting opportunity for meaningful company ownership. About Integrity Marketing Group Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their life, health and wealth with a commitment to meet them wherever they are — in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its nationwide distribution network. Integrity's nearly 6,000 employees work with approximately 500,000 agents and advisors who serve more than 11 million clients annually. In 2022, Integrity will help carriers place almost $20 billion in new sales and oversee more than $30 billion of assets under management and advisement through its RIA and broker-dealer platforms. About Richman Insurance Agency Richman Insurance Agency, founded in 2019, is based in Dallas, Texas and is a leader in the life insurance industry. The agency specializes in mortgage protection, final expense, and retirement planning. To provide the best products and services, Richman Insurance Agency partners with industry leading carriers, and develops agents and leaders to provide quality service in the senior market. In 2021, Richman Insurance Agency served over 20,000 Americans and provided over $15 million in annual paid premium.

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AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

Greater Than listed in AIFinTech100 list as one of world's most innovative AI solution providers

Greater Than | July 12, 2022

Greater Than the global provider of DriverDNA for real-time insurance and predictive risk insights, is listed in AIFinTech100, in recognition of its next-generation pattern AI technology providing real-time predictions of car crashes and CO2 emissions. The AIFinTech100 list, published today, highlights the world's most innovative solution providers developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies to solve challenges or improve efficiency in financial services. These are the companies every financial institution needs to know about as they consider and develop their digital transformation strategies and new customer propositions. "We're extremely proud that our unique patented AI technology has been recognized in the prestigious AIFinTech100 list. Thanks to the dedication and perseverance of our team, our AI can find micropatterns in people's behavior, enabling us to create a DriverDNA for every trip, with a crash probability, cost and CO2 impact attached to it. This is transforming the risk forecasting landscape for insurance, mobility providers and fleets, and incentivizing safer, cleaner driving behaviors for the benefit of the wider community," Sten Forseke, Founder of Greater Than The adoption of AI and data analytics solutions by financial institutions has exploded over the last two years accelerated by technological advancements, increased use of digital channels, and shifting regulatory frameworks. Additionally, the potential cost savings for banks from AI applications is estimated to reach $447bn over the next 12 months. As a result, the number of tech providers employing AI or data solutions to solve challenges in areas such as banking, insurance, customer experience, investment & trading and compliance has skyrocketed. This made the selection process for this year's AIFinTech100 list extremely competitive as the finalists were selected by a panel of industry experts and analysts based on research produced by FinTech Global on over 2,000 FinTech companies. "Now, more than ever, established financial institutions need to be aware of the latest AI and data analytics technology in the market to deliver competitive financial products and reach new customers. The AIFinTech100 list helps senior decision-makers in the industry filter through all the vendors in the market by identifying the market-leading AI innovators which will have lasting impact on the industry," - says Richard Sachar, Director of FinTech Global.

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CORE INSURANCE,LIFE INSURANCE

CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company Launches New MYGA Product to Market in Eight Weeks with FireLight®

CL Life & Annuity Insurance Company and Insurance Technologies | September 26, 2022

Insurance Technologies, LLC., a provider of sales and regulatory automation solutions for the life and annuities insurance industries, announces that CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company (“CL Life”), a provider of insurance products that offer policyholders stable growth, tax deferral and income planning, has launched FireLight® e-Application. CL Life implemented FireLight to get new products to market quickly and efficiently while providing a superior digital agent and customer experience. “We wanted a digital solution that enabled quick speed to market and supported our digital strategies to make submitting annuity business with CL Life an easy and friendly process for agents, FireLight is the industry leader in the annuity and life market and provides us with the features and integration capabilities to efficiently create modernized and accelerated sales processes.” -Gary Sorensen, Director of Marketing & Sales, CL Life CL Life now provides agents with an easy way to sell CL Life annuity products through FireLight’s dynamic wizard e-application experience. The streamlined experience CL Life created includes e-Signature built-in into the sales workflow. So, agents can collect required signatures quickly and submit complete in-good-order application packages direct to CL Life. At Insurance Technologies, we know the importance of having the resources and tools to get products to market quickly and efficiently, We are happy to be able to supply CL Life the innovation and team support to create new digital sales processes and experiences and introduce new products to the industry quickly,said Clint Moore, Chief Operating Officer, Insurance Technologies. CL Life implemented FireLight with its new MYGA product released this month. Insurance Technologies has been a great partner in meeting our business, integration, and workflow requirements, The team at Insurance Technologies was easy to work with and provided the consultative support we needed to meet our implementation goals. We were able to go from concept to implementation in just eight weeks, said Sorensen. By using the standardized templates and rules within FireLight, we were able to provide a quick and efficient implementation experience, meeting CL Life’s timeline of two months, We are proud of the partnership with CL Life and look forward to working with them as they offer new products and expand their digital journey,said Moore. About CL Life & Annuity Insurance Company Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company seeks to provide insurance products specially designed for retirement assets that offer stable growth, tax deferral, and income planning. Its mission is to provide competitive products that meet the financial goals of policy holders, investing in assets for the purpose of growing policy holder premiums aimed at generating strong returns with the flexibility to secure their future. CL Life is an affiliate of Crestline Investors, Inc., an institutional investment management firm with approximately $15.4 billion in assets under management. About Insurance Technologies Insurance Technologies provides innovative sales and regulatory automation solutions to the insurance industry. Offering a suite of integrated sales solutions, from pre-sale functions to quoting and illustrations through e-application and e-delivery to post-sale services, Insurance Technologies provides carriers and distributors the sales capabilities and tools to create automated and cohesive sales experiences for their advisors and clients across the life and annuities insurance industries. The unique architecture and flexibility of its solutions deliver front and back-office configurability and usability to support multiple business strategies, encourage cross-channel growth and evolve with regulatory changes.

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CORE INSURANCE

Integrity Expands Life Insurance Distribution by Partnering with Richman Insurance Agency

Integrity Marketing Group and Richman Insurance Agency | August 10, 2022

Integrity Marketing Group, LLC, a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of wealth management and retirement planning solutions, today announced it has acquired Richman Insurance Agency, an insurance marketing organization ("IMO") based in Dallas, Texas. As part of the acquisition, Rob Richman, President of Richman Insurance Agency, will become a Managing Partner in Integrity. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Richman Insurance Agency has quickly become an influential leader in the markets it serves. With more than a decade of experience in the insurance industry, Rob Richman understands how to provide fundamental agent training so his team can best meet client needs. He guides the company's fast-growing network of agents to success through a proven system of in-depth coaching and support. Richman Insurance Agency provides $15 million in mortgage protection, life insurance and final expense products to a wide range of consumers, serving more than 20,000 Americans annually. "A great business needs great leaders, and Rob has proven he has the attitude and passion to make an impact on this industry, His hard work and dedication have built his agency into the success it is today, and his well-trained team is now ready for the next step forward. Adding Integrity's resources and technology will accelerate Richman Insurance Agency's growth path, allowing them to reach more people while enhancing our efforts to serve the life, health and wealth needs of all Americans. We're proud to welcome Rob and his team to Integrity — I'm confident their biggest successes are ahead of them." -shared Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity At Richman Insurance Agency, we specialize in helping agents maximize their potential, Adding Integrity's world-class support and services to our team's commitment and work ethic creates the perfect combination to supercharge our business. Integrity is pioneering the future of life, health and wealth protection, and we want to be part of it. When we see the group of industry leaders Integrity has assembled, we can't help but be thrilled to join their ranks. We know we're just getting started with what we can achieve,explained Richman, President. Integrity helps Americans prepare for the good days ahead by partnering with industry leaders and icons who come together as peers to optimize insurance processes and financial services. Unified by their common goal of improving insurance and financial services experiences for everyone, members of Integrity's partner network learn from each other and collaborate to design strategies that better protect the life, health and wealth of consumers. Rob has always done his utmost to help his team fulfill their goals — it's what makes him the type of leader we're thrilled to partner with, Richman Insurance Agency is ready to take a big leap forward and grow faster and serve more people than ever before. Partnering with the best minds in the business and gaining access to Integrity's cutting-edge technology and resources will springboard their future success. Richman Insurance Agency will be a great addition to the Integrity family. We're grateful they've chosen to be part of our mission to help more Americans plan for the good days ahead,explained Shawn Meaike, President of Family First Life and Managing Partner at Integrity. To take full advantage of Integrity's partner benefits and agent resources, Richman Insurance Agency will utilize Integrity's vast infrastructure of business services. Partners can streamline administrative functions through centralized areas, such as People & Culture, Technology & Innovation, finance, legal and compliance, and world-class advertising and marketing. In addition, Integrity offers partners access to proprietary technology through its omnichannel insurtech platform. These comprehensive insurance and financial services offerings include valuable agent resources, such as product development, quoting and enrollment systems and customer relationship management software. All these benefits are further accentuated by Integrity's Employee Ownership Plan, which offers employees the exciting opportunity for meaningful company ownership. About Integrity Marketing Group Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their life, health and wealth with a commitment to meet them wherever they are — in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its nationwide distribution network. Integrity's nearly 6,000 employees work with approximately 500,000 agents and advisors who serve more than 11 million clients annually. In 2022, Integrity will help carriers place almost $20 billion in new sales and oversee more than $30 billion of assets under management and advisement through its RIA and broker-dealer platforms. About Richman Insurance Agency Richman Insurance Agency, founded in 2019, is based in Dallas, Texas and is a leader in the life insurance industry. The agency specializes in mortgage protection, final expense, and retirement planning. To provide the best products and services, Richman Insurance Agency partners with industry leading carriers, and develops agents and leaders to provide quality service in the senior market. In 2021, Richman Insurance Agency served over 20,000 Americans and provided over $15 million in annual paid premium.

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AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE

Greater Than listed in AIFinTech100 list as one of world's most innovative AI solution providers

Greater Than | July 12, 2022

Greater Than the global provider of DriverDNA for real-time insurance and predictive risk insights, is listed in AIFinTech100, in recognition of its next-generation pattern AI technology providing real-time predictions of car crashes and CO2 emissions. The AIFinTech100 list, published today, highlights the world's most innovative solution providers developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies to solve challenges or improve efficiency in financial services. These are the companies every financial institution needs to know about as they consider and develop their digital transformation strategies and new customer propositions. "We're extremely proud that our unique patented AI technology has been recognized in the prestigious AIFinTech100 list. Thanks to the dedication and perseverance of our team, our AI can find micropatterns in people's behavior, enabling us to create a DriverDNA for every trip, with a crash probability, cost and CO2 impact attached to it. This is transforming the risk forecasting landscape for insurance, mobility providers and fleets, and incentivizing safer, cleaner driving behaviors for the benefit of the wider community," Sten Forseke, Founder of Greater Than The adoption of AI and data analytics solutions by financial institutions has exploded over the last two years accelerated by technological advancements, increased use of digital channels, and shifting regulatory frameworks. Additionally, the potential cost savings for banks from AI applications is estimated to reach $447bn over the next 12 months. As a result, the number of tech providers employing AI or data solutions to solve challenges in areas such as banking, insurance, customer experience, investment & trading and compliance has skyrocketed. This made the selection process for this year's AIFinTech100 list extremely competitive as the finalists were selected by a panel of industry experts and analysts based on research produced by FinTech Global on over 2,000 FinTech companies. "Now, more than ever, established financial institutions need to be aware of the latest AI and data analytics technology in the market to deliver competitive financial products and reach new customers. The AIFinTech100 list helps senior decision-makers in the industry filter through all the vendors in the market by identifying the market-leading AI innovators which will have lasting impact on the industry," - says Richard Sachar, Director of FinTech Global.

Read More

CORE INSURANCE,LIFE INSURANCE

CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company Launches New MYGA Product to Market in Eight Weeks with FireLight®

CL Life & Annuity Insurance Company and Insurance Technologies | September 26, 2022

Insurance Technologies, LLC., a provider of sales and regulatory automation solutions for the life and annuities insurance industries, announces that CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company (“CL Life”), a provider of insurance products that offer policyholders stable growth, tax deferral and income planning, has launched FireLight® e-Application. CL Life implemented FireLight to get new products to market quickly and efficiently while providing a superior digital agent and customer experience. “We wanted a digital solution that enabled quick speed to market and supported our digital strategies to make submitting annuity business with CL Life an easy and friendly process for agents, FireLight is the industry leader in the annuity and life market and provides us with the features and integration capabilities to efficiently create modernized and accelerated sales processes.” -Gary Sorensen, Director of Marketing & Sales, CL Life CL Life now provides agents with an easy way to sell CL Life annuity products through FireLight’s dynamic wizard e-application experience. The streamlined experience CL Life created includes e-Signature built-in into the sales workflow. So, agents can collect required signatures quickly and submit complete in-good-order application packages direct to CL Life. At Insurance Technologies, we know the importance of having the resources and tools to get products to market quickly and efficiently, We are happy to be able to supply CL Life the innovation and team support to create new digital sales processes and experiences and introduce new products to the industry quickly,said Clint Moore, Chief Operating Officer, Insurance Technologies. CL Life implemented FireLight with its new MYGA product released this month. Insurance Technologies has been a great partner in meeting our business, integration, and workflow requirements, The team at Insurance Technologies was easy to work with and provided the consultative support we needed to meet our implementation goals. We were able to go from concept to implementation in just eight weeks, said Sorensen. By using the standardized templates and rules within FireLight, we were able to provide a quick and efficient implementation experience, meeting CL Life’s timeline of two months, We are proud of the partnership with CL Life and look forward to working with them as they offer new products and expand their digital journey,said Moore. About CL Life & Annuity Insurance Company Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, CL Life and Annuity Insurance Company seeks to provide insurance products specially designed for retirement assets that offer stable growth, tax deferral, and income planning. Its mission is to provide competitive products that meet the financial goals of policy holders, investing in assets for the purpose of growing policy holder premiums aimed at generating strong returns with the flexibility to secure their future. CL Life is an affiliate of Crestline Investors, Inc., an institutional investment management firm with approximately $15.4 billion in assets under management. About Insurance Technologies Insurance Technologies provides innovative sales and regulatory automation solutions to the insurance industry. Offering a suite of integrated sales solutions, from pre-sale functions to quoting and illustrations through e-application and e-delivery to post-sale services, Insurance Technologies provides carriers and distributors the sales capabilities and tools to create automated and cohesive sales experiences for their advisors and clients across the life and annuities insurance industries. The unique architecture and flexibility of its solutions deliver front and back-office configurability and usability to support multiple business strategies, encourage cross-channel growth and evolve with regulatory changes.

Read More

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