About this event
It was LIMRA’s Asia Distribition Conference in Bangkok this week, with a great mix of presentations, discussions and networking opportunities involving industry players from across the region, and around the world. The theme of this years conference was “2020 Vision: The Future of CX”, and with LIMRA & LOMA being such highly professional oraganisations, as you would expect, the event didn’t disappoint. Being hosted at the Shangri-La, Bangkok, was the ‘iciing on the cake’ for everyone lucky enough to attend.
The conference began with encouraging messages from Dr. Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn (Secretary General and Insurance Commissioner OIC Thailand) and Ms Nusara (Assakul) Banyatpiyaphod (President, Thai Life Insurance Association) on the need for an ever-stronger, and relentless, focus on meeting the rapidly-evolving needs of consumers.
LIMRA data-insights were interspersed throughout the two days, reminding everyone just how deep their research is and, just how valuable their insights can be.TDI had the pleasure of participating in the panel discussion on “The Digital Consumer Experience” , alongside Samdarshi Sumit and Jayant Murty. Our discussion was moderated by Marc Baloch, who did a great job in extracting so much from the panelists in such little time. Discussion ranged from the hugely positive outlook for our sector across the region, to the opportunities, and challenges, that lie ahead. Needless to say, the latter will mean no insurer can take their future success for granted.
There was consensus amongst the panel on the importance of getting ever-closer to consumers, and embracing new technologies as a means to achieve this. TDI’s ‘Insurtech Framework’ made another appearance, and anchored some of the debate*.
There was also agreement amongst the panel on the on-going need for agents and other intermediaries looking ahead – increasingly supported by digital tools and techniques yes; increasingly working alongside other channels to offer consumers a blended OMNI experience across both sales and servicing yes; operating in an increasingly transparent world in which the focus of their role will be on higher-value services yes; being totally replaced by digital anytime soon…er, no!
John Brisco reinforced the importance of intermediaries, and the enabling role that new technologies can play, in his opening session on day 2.
Reflecting on audience questions, as well as the many networking discussions over the course of the two days, I was reminded of just how important a role agency has played in shaping our industry into what it is today, and also just how many people have a vested interested in the channels on-going success. What’s key to everyone involved in agency I feel, is to look at the future ‘glass half full’, and positively seek and embrace new technologies that can enable better & better products and services to be delivered to more & more people, in increasingly efficient & effective ways. This doesn’t mean the demise of agency, but it does require an open mind and, some inevitable changes in the way things get done, for the channel to survive and thrive as the world around it changes. Looking at agency and digital ‘glass half empty’ is to fail to see what a bright future lies ahead, for those that are able to embrace the change.
On a final note, a quick acknowledgement is much-deserved for the LIMRA team, including Megan Schwartz, who put all the hard yards into making the event such a great success – thanks one and all!
*ITR Connect is a new Company launching shortly that will be focusing on helping insurers, insurtechs and investors make better partnering / investment decisions, quicker and more efficiently, through quantitative and qualitative analysis that will include a proprietary comparative rating engine. For more details of this subscription service, which will be soft-launched soon, please contact [email protected]