Posted on

Hate To Be Critical Of One’s Hosts, But …

I was still not convinced 100% by the end of the day. But now lets fill in the information I took away from a day with peers.

Being outside the decision making spectrum of the insurance world it is less likely that I would be invited to an industry leader’s (who services the risk selection domain) infomercial masked behind meals and golf. When asked I said yes not because of the meals or the golf (my golf game needs much remedial effort) but because the infomercial that was to be laid out was intriguing and could perhaps represent the next great turning point in the life and living benefit insurance world. I honestly and without fingers crossed attended even without the two meals and golf. The only down side to the event was that it would take up the whole day from 8:00 Am to 9:00 PM. I also wondered who from the decision making ranks of insurance would give up a whole day away from countless and meaningless meetings to attend an infomercial.

I could write a short thank you and say I enjoyed the day with the usual plaudits embellished with great thanks for the food, camaraderie, golf prices (not for longest drive or nearest pin so lets leave it at that), and anything else that came to mind when writing the Hallmark type thank you. Instead I decided to write an opinion paper on the day. I felt an urge deep within to be constructively critical knowing some would applaud the opinions while others would feel chastised for what was said or not said during the 13 hours. The following is written to constructive and yet it may end any chance of future invites to infomercials regardless of how they are dressed up.

Continue reading Hate To Be Critical Of One’s Hosts, But …

Posted on

Financial Underwriting, Why Bother?

When an underwriting historian looks at the subject of financial underwriting, they quickly come to the realization that the conflict/confusion/befuddlement in the different perspectives between underwriter and advisor has existed since days when we could not agree on the value of the inventor of the wheel as a key man! History being so out of vogue today I will skip the horse and buggy, the two great wars, the moon landing and the Cold War so I can jump to 1956. Reading the Transactions of the Society of Actuaries 1956 Volume 8 Number 21 the conclusion by many at the time was “large case mortality was excellent” but still there was conversation about financial underwriting interspersed with concerns of too much accidental death benefit riders, pressure on nonmedical insurance and the creeping concern of antiselection on cheap term products as they entered the product arsenal. Typical concerns of legendary actuaries who ran underwriting and where all real decision making was left to medical doctors. The lay underwriter was yet to be hatched although in the 1950’s there emerged an experiment to try using trained clerks to make risk selection decisions!

Continue reading Financial Underwriting, Why Bother?