Each year, leading compliance and distribution experts from both Vertafore and SILA share their industry outlook in a panel discussion designed to offer practical guidance for competitive insurance professionals. Summarized below are some of the top trends they see driving the industry forward, as well as recent regulatory changes worth keeping in mind.
Based on producer data from states that leverage Vertafore’s Sircon, license applications are up 20% from 2020 to 2023, with a corresponding 24% increase in license renewals. Changes in the broader job market during the pandemic drove some new entrants into the insurance sector, but that increase in licensees has been sustained for multiple years. Overall, there’s been an 8% increase in individual appointments, which shows that the industry is continuing to grow steadily. However, this growth adds pressure on the systems that support licensing applications and processing, with greater need for automated credentialing services.
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In the next six years, 50% of the current insurance workforce will become eligible for retirement, and within the next ten years or so at least half of them will have retired. The long-awaited “silver tsunami” is now plainly on the horizon. This imminent shift creates a greater imperative for insurers and brokers to prioritize acquiring, educating, and retaining new talent, with the necessary investments in training and agent experience. To remain competitive over the next decade, companies must prepare to facilitate a large-scale knowledge transfer from one generation to the next. Proactive organizations already bracing for this significant demographic transformation are focusing on developing pipeline partnerships with universities so that new graduates can learn about available careers in insurance they might not have considered otherwise.
As businesses define their strategies to attract top talent from tech-dependent younger generations, a solutions provider such as Vertafore can deliver the seamless integration necessary to deliver a consistently excellent digital experience for agents.
Given the growing focus on automation to reduce manual data input and ensure better agent experience, carriers and agencies are working closely together to increase connectivity within integrated platforms. Similarly, it is now common for licensing and commissions to be managed together, versus in standalone systems. Less time spent navigating separate portals translates to better efficiency. However, from an agency perspective, appointments and other processes are not yet fully uniform across carriers, which is why it is important for carriers to take a comprehensive approach to distribution management that includes streamlined onboarding.
2024 insurance regulatory updates to follow:
For additional information on these and other regulatory topics—and for a more thorough industry outlook from our experts—watch the 2024 Running Start panel discussion in its entirety.