For some time, life & annuities carriers have suffered from a multitude of legacy platforms, with each implemented to handle a particular style of product that was either not handled by its predecessor or was added through the acquisition of a set of blocks from another carrier. The resulting stable of platforms has always been expensive to maintain. In recent years, this has bee[...]

It is a decade since Thierry Breton assumed the mantle of CEO and Chairman at Atos, his arrival marking the end of a troubled period for the company. In that time, the company has improved its profitability (when he arrived, its operating margin was just 4.8% and all service lines were experiencing a deterioration in profitability, so his ambition of a double-digit margin seemed ambitious). Al[...]

  In 2016, Atos was awarded a 13-year life & pensions BPO contract by Aegon, taking over from the incumbent Serco and involving the transfer of ~300 people in a center in Lytham St Annes. The services provided by Atos within this contract include managing end-to-end operations, from initial underwriting through to claims processing, for Aegon's individual protection offering[...]

  Last week, I visited the recruitment and talent management vendor Alexander Mann Solutions’ Global Client Service Center (GCSC) in Cleveland. Here I take a quick look at the growth of the operation and at recent initiatives. Cleveland as a location Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) has seven GCSCs, the fourth of which opened in Cleveland in September 2012 to support AMS&rsqu[...]

  As 2017 comes to a close, it’s an ideal time to reflect on key developments and innovations within HR services, and what to expect in 2018 by HR service line. This week, I’ll discuss specifics around two aspects of talent management (recruiting and learning), and next week I’ll explore payroll and benefits administration in more detail. Overall, the level of 2017[...]

  NelsonHall recently attended the SE2 Partnership Forum, entitled ‘Future-proof: From Here to Digital’, in Washington D.C., where the main focal point of discussion was the challenge of digital transformation in the life insurance and annuity sector. Here I look at a number of developments in SE2’s offerings that are helping clients to address the challenge of dig[...]

  As H1 2017 comes to a close, it’s a good time to reflect on recent key activity and where the market is headed for the rest of the year and beyond. Here, I round up what’s trending now in payroll, benefits administration, recruitment, and learning. Payroll The most common theme in the payroll market is global and multi-country activity. NelsonHall estimates tha[...]

  The insurance outsourcing industry is moving at a fast pace in response to the need for rapid deployment of digital platforms and offerings, as well as advancements in new distribution models that are emerging via ‘insurtech’ start-ups. Here I take a look at some of the key trends driving the insurance BPS market in 2017, both in terms of delivery and transformation, and [...]

This is the third in a series of blogs looking at how business process outsourcing vendors are applying RPA in the insurance sector. HCL provides closed book life insurance outsourcing services, and is currently engaged in RPA initiatives with three insurance clients. In order to capture customer data in a smarter, more concise way, HCL is using ‘enhancers’ at the front end, prov[...]

This is the fourth in a series of blogs on vendors’ RPA initiatives in the insurance sector. We now turn our attention to Dell Services, which has adopted an automation focus across its life and healthcare insurance BPS processes. Focusing on healthcare payer & provider and life insurance process automation In 2016, life insurance accounts for around 30% of Dell Services’[...]

  At SE2’s Partnership Forum in Boston last week, the main theme was ‘FutureProof’, and specifically how to prepare and guard your company from regulatory and operational uncertainties. In effect, the life and annuities insurance BPS vendor is future proofing itself by investing heavily in its infrastructure, middleware, and platform capabilities to address its own fu[...]

  As earnings are released, it’s a good time to reflect on HR outsourcing trends by key service line. Here’s a brief round-up of market activity across payroll, RPO, and learning services in H1 2016. Payroll Payroll activity has been bustling in Europe YTD, with a strong emphasis on ramping up capabilities. SD Worx made two acquisitions to accelerate its growth across[...]

Last week, EXL announced its acquisition of LISS Systems (LISS), a London-headquartered provider of policy administration software for the life, annuities and pensions insurance sectors. LISS will be integrated with EXL's insurance business unit. EXL has made employment inducement equity awards vesting over four years to nine new non-executive employees (all of LISS’s[...]

This is the first in a series of blog articles looking at how business process outsourcing vendors are applying RPA and AI in the insurance sector. First up: Wipro.     Wipro started its automation journey in the late noughties and has since gone on to set up a dedicated RPA practice, and also developed its own AI platform, Wipro Holmes. Currently, Wipro is principally partn[...]

Chesnara plc, the life assurance consolidator, has awarded a life & pensions BPO contract renewal to HCL Insurance BPO Services Limited ('HCL') which consolidates the services provided in the existing arrangements and which extends the service for a further 11 years. The service scope across the various books remains unchanged, as do the broad service levels. HCL’s original co[...]