Description: This article describes some of the traditional profit measurement standards for direct marketing and then presents a more comprehensive and up-to-date foundation for insurance direct marketers and actuaries to use when reviewing individual direct marketing campaigns or total marketing programs.

Description: This article presents the mathematics for evaluating direct marketing test programs.

Description: This 1978 session focused on persistency and agent retention. Questions addressed: 1. What are the current industry practices and experience with regard to the recruiting, training and retention of agents? 2. Are there ways of building the marketing system that can ease the cost impact of loss because of terminated agents? 3. To what extent are agents directed to markets that will allow them to survive ? 4. Are policy persistency studies valuable in helping general agents and managers identify poor markets? 5. Are persistency studies made that relate to the profile of the insured, in addition to relating to policy characteristics? 6. What uses are made of persistency data by agency to improve results? 7. How effective are persistency incentives in compensation plans for agents and home office field management?

Description: This panel discussion is about insurance organizations that combine Life and Casualty operations. It focused on: 1. Advantages and disadvantages of All-Lines Charters 2. Tax implications of adding the alternate line 3. Marketing implications 4. Capacity and surplus implications

Description: This is the second installment of an article about using microeconomics and the concepts of embedded value to better manage and understand the profitability of direct marketing programs.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 3. This article discusses how the advantages of the General Agency system which existed prior to the 1970s have diminished materially. Therefore, European companies should be very cautious with any attempts to emulate the North American-type agency distribution system of the late 1980s.

Description: This discussion at a Smaller Company Forum is about the challenges that smaller companies face in three areas - actuarial student recruiting and training, gross premium determination, and agency building.

Description: This discussion at the SOA 1968 Philadelphia Regional Meeting looks at research on agency operations and actuarial involvement.

Description: This paper uses operations research to develop the answer to a question concerning the optimal size of a debit, which is a defined geographical area for an agent to sell and service business as part of a 'combination company' operation. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1968, Vol. 20, Pt. 1, No. 57.

Description: This panel discussion lookas at various marketing distribution systems for life insurance including structure, compensation, and profitability.