It is my pleasure to introduce a guest blogger for this latest post. Brad Whatley is senior vice president here at Jacobson, providing leadership and guidance to our life and disability subject matter experts team. His insights into the industry’s financial transformation are worth a read. Enjoy…
But why the financial transformation and why now? Unprecedented challenges and changes have dramatically raised the stakes for financial sectors within the industry.
Externally, ongoing merger and acquisition activities, increasing regulatory pressures following the global financial crisis, rising demand for personalized products and services, and the growing focus on digital experiences are driving financial transformation to the top of the strategic agenda. Internally, organizations are facing increasing demand for performance data within finance, ongoing pressure to reduce finance costs, and inflexible and siloed legacy systems that are difficult to use and exceedingly time-intensive.
As a result of these megatrends and growing industry pressures, finance leaders are focused on making advancements across several fronts. Driving the transformation is a need for better decision making and more accurate, real-time reporting.
A shift is being felt within the finance segment of the insurance industry. Emphasis is moving away from transaction processing toward more strategic activities. In truth, the financial transformations of the past have primarily focused on savings—cutting costs, gaining efficiencies and establishing controls and risk-management procedures. Now, following the recent economic downturn and resulting great recession, insurance organizations must take a deeper look at their financial situations and rethink their practices and strategies. A new focus on enabling corporate strategy, capital agenda and competitive advantage in the marketplace must be adopted. Organizations must act quickly and decisively to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their finance functions.