Primerica taps FireLight for annuity application software

September 06, 2013 at 11:14 AM
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Primerica, Inc., a third-party distributor of financial products to middle-income households in North America, is the first distributor to use Insurance Technologies LLC's FireLight software for its e-application business fulfillment platform for its annuity business.

Offered under the name AnnuityPro, FireLight is accessible to Primerica advisors through the Primerica Advisor POL portal. The distributor will utilize FireLight to process annuity applications, including client onboarding documents, suitability forms and state-filed forms. All orders will be routed electronically to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. By using a HTML5 technology, FireLight can be viewed and operated on a tablet device.

Jim Ferrell, vice president of FireLight product management, says that the software is in use by several carriers, including Ameritas, Lincoln Financial, Ohio Financial, Phoenix Cos. (life and annuity business) and Sagicor. Primerica is its first direct distributor client.

Ferrell says Insurance Technologies will continue to pursue the distributor market. In terms of the adoption of technology in the insurance and annuity space, Ferrell sees two district markets: the captive agent market, in which the company the agent works for owns the hardware and software, and the other is the broad independent agent category. In the latter category, the agent would own his own software and desktop since it would not be provided by a distributor.

"For those firms to where the desktop is owned by their company, they've made some pretty big advances in technology the past nine years," Ferrell says. "But those firms where their desktops are not owned (by a company), that's where we're really making strides. That's 70 percent of the marketplace for annuities right now."

In other annuity news

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) recently announced two new appointments to its senior management team.

Caitlin Pincus was named Senior Vice President, Strategy & Guardian Labs. Pincus will be responsible for naming emerging trends and capitalizing on those trends by accelerating the introduction and diversification of Guardian's products and services into those market places. Under a new organization, Guardian Labs, Ms. Pincus will be responsible for incubating these ideas and seamlessly integrating them into the current business model. Ms. Pincus most recently served as a CFO at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Dean Del Vecchio was named Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer. Del Vecchio will be responsible for designing and implementing a technology plan that aligns with the company's long-term growth initiatives and business objectives. Technology, risk management and IT security will report to him. Del Vecchio most recently served as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Global Head of IT Shared Services at News Corp.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of America (Allianz Life) promoted Billy Voyles to sales director for the Fixed Annuity Sales Division. Voyles will be responsible for increasing sales of products in the fixed annuity product line. He will focus his efforts on building relationships with financial representatives in the western region of the U.S. Voyles has been with Allianz Life in various capacities since 2012. 

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