Description: When annuity products became prevalent in the U.S., they all looked more or less the same. It was where folks put their safe retirement money, yielding modest guaranteed returns with a menu of payout options to help secure their retirement. Over time, this commoditization lead to a pricing squeeze and an exhaustive set of product options and features, exposing carriers to market and policyholder behavior risk over the past decade or so.

Description: In an age of accelerating transformation—technological, financial, and regulatory —reinsurance continues to be an important component of capital management strategy across the insurance industry. This is true in spite of, and sometimes because of, the evolving ecosystems of ceding companies and reinsurers. Direct writers and reinsurance carriers are coping with a number of critical challenges that are undermining growth potential and threatening profitability. Waning demand and increased capacity for traditional products have, in some instances, led companies to struggle to achieve traditional profit targets. An increase in commoditized pricing, internal expenses related to increased regulation, inefficiencies in internal infrastructure, and the sustained low interest rate environment are additional factors impacting the top and bottom lines of reinsurers and primary carriers alike. In this session we will explore these critical challenges and highlight prevailing practices that organizations are using to deal with the changing landscape.