Economic recession has led many insurance carriers to retrench, jettisoning lines of business in which risk is excessive or they lack expertise. Risk management is high on everyone's "to-do" list. Innovation seems a dirty word, but carriers should not ignore an area that holds great promise: microinsurance. The sheer population size of the emerging nations calls for a new view of markets. This TowerGroup Research Note explores this unique market segment, and since innovation is the cornerstone of all successful microinsurance ventures, it concludes with a list of lessons carrier can learn from microinsurers, even if they do not wish to offer microinsurance themselves.

Although most life and annuity carriers may be in recovery mode, lower product margins and shifting requirements will force enterprises to overhaul or replace their existing policy administration systems. For this Research Note, TowerGroup interviewed life policy administration vendors about the details of their products, implementations, and geographic coverage. The Note provides analysis of the leading vendors, their life policy administration products, and the products' market share and scope of functionality.

Consumer advocates have long played a role in the running of the insurance business, usually with a contentious relationship with the insurance industry. Occurrences at the recent Winter Meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, held in December 2009, signal a potential change in the landscape of private employed consumer advocates. Two trends are merging that suggest such advocates may become obsolete. This TowerGroup ViewPoint examines the expanding role of Web communications in consumers advocating for themselves as well as the increasing amount of collaboration among insurers to address specific problems with fundamental impact on consumers.

The independent agent and broker distribution channel is vitally important to the overall health of the insurance industry. Hallmarked by one-on-one personal service, the model holds the key to overcoming consumer distrust stemming from the financial industry crisis. However, standing in the way are several critical issues that independent distributors and the insurers that partner with them have been wrestling with for many years. This Research Note evaluates progress the independent insurance agent and brokers have made with regard to these business issues since 2007 and provides insight into what agents, brokers, and carriers must do to thrive and grow in 2010 and beyond.

This Top 10 Research Note is based TowerGroup's extensive executive interview process in the property and casualty and life and annuity insurance industries. Trends specific to these two sectors are addressed, as are some important global issues. The report also compares the top 10 business drivers for 2009 and 2010 as well as the strategic responses and technology initiatives, discussing some that carry over, the evolution or refinement in others, and some new components. Profitable growth and competitive advantage are assumed to be business drivers for all businesses. The current environment demands the greater specificity and depth expressed in the top 10s identified here.

Traversing the rocky road to a sustainable economic recovery will require collaboration between governments, regulators, technology vendors, and most important, financial services institutions on a few bold steps. This TowerGroup Research Note analyzes the strategic business framework and proposes steps that each of these stakeholders must take in helping the global financial services industry recover from its long and obscure night of crisis and recession.

For most insurers, the emergence of large-scale, defined new market segments is an infrequent occurrence. Globally, the demographics of Muslim population size and the wealth growth in developing Muslim geographies strongly indicate an opportunity for insurance organizations to invest in the development of Shariah-compliant Takaful products and distributors. This TowerGroup Research Note covers the fundamentals of a Takaful operating model, the economic drivers that compel investment in the Takaful market segment, the challenges to be overcome, and the technology implications for success in penetrating these critical new lines of business.

Customer value means different things across the insurance industry. This lack of a shared understanding of customer value leads many carriers to conduct customer initiatives that generate minimal value. Or, they apply the same amount of attention to all customers and this is expensive. Carriers must develop a focus on customer value to win back the trust and confidence of consumers who have had their positive view of financial services shattered by recent economic events. This View Point will address the internal financial reasons to focus on customer value, the external demand to repair relationships, and provide guidance on how to implement customer value initiatives.

Insurance carriers are under unprecedented financial pressure emanating from the economic crisis, and as a result, they are intensely scrutinizing their IT budgets. Choosing the appropriate technology to address pressing business issues is a challenge for all carriers. This TowerGroup Research Note looks at five leading technologies that carriers must consider to succeed. However, because the greater challenge for carriers is organizational change, the Note also addresses this critical success factor and explains why it should come before technology adoption.

This TowerGroup ViewPoint highlights the actions that US President Obama's administration has directed primarily to large financial services institutions in its first 100 days in power and discusses the implications of those actions for the overall health of the financial services industry. Most important, it shows that excesses of emergency financial assistance to financial services institutions are hindering the recovery of the consumers and businesses they are meant to serve and asserts that the government should instead champion structural transformation across the financial sector.