A growing role for digital in HNW life insurance
Craig Ellis of Charles Monat Associates
Feb 15, 2018
Craig Ellis, CEO Singapore, Charles Monat Associates, talks about the potential reach of digital and technology in the life insurance space and how it may not adopt technology as wholeheartedly as other industries just yet.
Today, many industries boast of technology as the major growth driver or a disruptor. The degree of impact varies, but most in the industry would recognise the changes introduced in their regular workflow. Life insurance may not yet have adopted to the digital wave to the same degree, due to the nature of the product, but this is inevitably going to change at some point. “The business is very much related to relationship building which is still done on a face to face basis, but this is not to say they shouldn’t use other means in addition” says Ellis.
That said, technology can help in some areas of industry immensely. The long gestation period between the time a client is first introduced to the product and the time of inception of the policy is a great technology opportunity. For a firm like Charles Monat, which is an open architecture firm dealing with products from many different insurers (each with its own unique characteristics), technology can be used to streamline these processes.
The area where technology has made the most in-roads into the insurance space is communication. Social communication channels like WhatsApp or WeChat have added a layer of quick and easy communication, making clients more reachable. While face-to-face relationships continues to be the compelling route for life insurance organisations, we are starting to see challengers at the pure-technology end of the spectrum. One case in point is SingaporeLife which is a digital only life insurance solution. How they impact the HNW client remains to be seen, but firms like these certainly have the opportunity to change the rules of the game.
Global Head of Products at Charles Monat Associates
More from Craig Ellis, Charles Monat Associates
Latest Articles