Modest Gains for 2017, says LOMA Life Industry Forecast

ATLANTA, Jan. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- What's the outlook for the life insurance industry in 2017?  Executives surveyed by LOMA's Resource magazine think the new year will continue the trends set in recent years, with small to modest gains in most product lines.

Fourteen senior executives from life insurers and consulting firms took part in the magazine's 2017 Forecast for the Life Insurance Industry, giving their views on sales expectations, technology, customer service, human capital and other issues.

"We believe that 2017 will continue the very modest growth trends of 2016," said Tom Scales, Research Director, Celent and a Forecast participant.   "We would expect under two percent growth in North America, with larger single-digit growth in the developing world…we also see the industry continuing to struggle with low interest rates," but he added there may be a very gradual move to modestly higher rates.

Here are some other insights from the forecast:

• Technology will continue to transform the industry, and there is particular interest in intelligent underwriting, which can shorten the new business cycle. Big data and predictive analytics also offer potential, and mobile and social media will play an increasing role in communicating with customers.
• Companies are beginning to embrace 24/7 customer service, via the customer's preferred channel and device of choice. There is recognition that companies need to be focusing on the customer experience, not just a service transaction.
• There are varied opinions as to what may happen with the DOL fiduciary rule, due to the new administration.

The 2017 Forecast for Life Insurance is featured in the January issue of Resource. Read the entire article  at www.loma.org/Resource.

About LOMA:

Established in 1924, with 1,200 plus member companies in over 80 countries, LOMA is committed to a business partnership with its world-wide members in the insurance and financial services industry to improve their management and operations through quality employee development, research, information sharing, and related products and services. To find out more about LOMA and the learning opportunities it offers, visit LOMA's Web site at www.loma.org.

SOURCE LOMA

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