Join this panel of thought leaders as they explore the advantages of defining a blueprint for success for process re-engineering. The conversation will touch on what is currently happening in the market today; focusing on the importance of and benefits provided by straight-through-processing (STP), rules engines, workflow and case management, and automated underwriting solutions. Including a case study, this session will outline the critical success factors of a leading carrier’s incremental implementation of these technologies; resulting in empowered agents and underwriters and accelerated growth.

In 2012, the Marketing & Distribution Section launched a multi-phase study to better understand the middle income market for life insurance and to identify segments, based on buyers' attitudes, that would allow the industry to better target customers. Specifically, this session will highlight the "Opportunist," "Planners" and "Protectionist” segments established in phase 1 of the research and give some insight into phase 2. The stage will also be set for further analysis regarding the middle income market potential for annuities. What are the biggest hurdles to penetrating this market? Has the middle market been left behind in the pursuit of high-net-worth clients, or has the middle market turned its back to annuities in the wake of the financial crisis?

Companies in all industries are seeking out new ways to gather, interpret and leverage the massive and ever-growing collection of personal information now available about consumers, thanks largely to smartphones, GPS and social media.

There are several trends which are affecting the distribution of life insurance products. Increasing number of agents are retiring, the remaining agents are reaching a smaller segment of the population, direct to consumer agencies and insurers continue to see growth, and cost containment continues to put pressure on insurers to cut costs. These and other factors are pushing the US life insurance industry to pursue new distribution channels. To date it is unclear what channels will emerge. Could social media, retail, or banking emerge?

The slides from Hank's presentation are posted at the CIHOUA website:

There’s not one of us who hasn’t feared that we are accelerating in the process of mental aging when we forget where we put our keys, that our eyeglasses are right in our pockets where we left them, or what we were trying to say after having been interrupted in mid-sentence. These are normal phenomena involved with the aging process.

Judging by the topics at industry conferences and in the trade press today, it is clear that innovation is all the rage. Another sign of this is the increasing number of individuals in companies with titles such as “Chief Innovation Officer” or “Head of Innovation,” on their business cards. Despite all the interest in this topic, however, innovation remains an elusive goal in many companies today.

Lee Oliphant of MIB Group says although a 1.4% increase in applications for individually underwritten life insurance in the US in 2012 wasn't "robust growth," it represents a second year of stability.

Carriers are using five ways to reach the mid-market for life insurance, according to new research from LIMRA and the LIFE Foundation.

Central banks have reacted to the last financial crisis worldwide with a massive increase in liquidity and the reduction of key interest rates to historically low levels. Expectations for an end of the low interest rate environment have regularly appeared over the last years, but rates have remained at low levels.

LIMRA and the LIFE Foundation are out with their latest Insurance Barometer Study, which new for this year "looked at perceptions about new distribution models for buying life insurance," the groups said.

Despite the fact that situations can be markedly similar, there isn’t always one rating applicable when considering a prospective insured who has had cancer—even when the same organ is involved.

Top insurance industry CIOs discuss change in the industry overall, emerging trends, top technology initiatives and challenges.

The long-term effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy means that many HIV-positive people should be eligible for affordable life insurance, European investigators write in the online edition of AIDS. Even though HIV-positive people doing well on treatment had a higher mortality risk compared to insured HIV-negative individuals, this excess was within acceptable limits for life insurance cover.

In this LIMRA podcast interview Carolyn Johnson discusses the challenges and opportunities facing life insurance companies and the future of the life market.

Fellow insurance blogger Jeff Root poses an interesting question about life insurance underwriting and e-cigarettes: is "vaping" (e-cig users' preferred term) the same as "smoking?"

I recently spoke with three top producers about how technology is changing, for better or worse, the way they do business. Here, they talk about whether they're using e-policies and tablets and what those products mean for life insurance sales today ... and down the road.

We received an informal inquiry in January 2012 for a male with a history of recurrent prostate cancer. Our underwriter knew this would be a difficult case.

Total individual life insurance new annualized premium grew six percent in 2012 — resulting in the third consecutive year of growth — according to LIMRA’s fourth quarter 2012 individual life insurance sales survey.

As one of a handful of consultants with extensive experience in crafting risk history questions and underwriting paradigms for these products, I have been closely tracking the resurgence of simplified life insurance.

Advances in product development, medical underwriting and automated underwriting have created a win-win climate for insurance companies and consumers.

SAD is considered a serious mental health problem by the American Psychiatric Foundation and may affect as many as one in ten people living in northern areas.

This month’s case study was developed by by Kevin Uryase, FLMI, FALU, ACS. Kevin is Second Vice President, and one of the Underwriting Managers in our Individual Products Division. This case demonstrates the value of the Underwriter and Medical Director relationship.

The Society of Actuaries’ Committee on Life Insurance Research, the Committee on Knowledge Extension Research, and the Product Development Section announce the release of a new report that provides an overview and analysis of the mortality models, theories and trends contained in the papers presented at the past four international Living to 100 symposia. Authored by Jennifer Haid, Michael Chan and Christopher Raham of Ernst & Young, this paper offers an overview of the technical materials related to data sources, validation techniques, and methodologies used by practitioners to develop mortality estimates for present and future periods. A summary of discussions regarding business, policy and social implications of increased longevity is also included.

From the 27th SCOR Global Life Medical Symposium, December 6, 2012 in Paris. This meeting was devoted to chronic anaemias and polycythaemias, thalassaemia and sickle cell disease.

This month’s case study demonstrates the challenge of matching an underwriting decision to a change in medical diagnosis.

The global financial crisis continues to shape life insurance business performance, challenging profitability for the foreseeable future. A lingering uncertain economic environment and prolonged low interest reates are dimming growth prospects throughout the world.

Pandemic risk is one of the most important tail risks for life (re)insurers and to a lesser degree, for non-life (re)insurers. Estimated losses from a 1-in-200 year pandemic event could be equal to or even greater than major property and casualty events such as a major earthquake or major tropical storm.

After decades of work by Academy volunteers, it looks like the era of principle-based reserving for life insurance products is finally upon us.

Strength in the first half of the year was sustained in the closing quarters of 2012 driving the MIB Life Index up +1.4% YTD as compared to last year, all ages combined.

Articles include:

- An Actuarial Viewpoint on Predictive Modeling
- Electronic Health Records - The Direct Project
- The Risk of Resurgence of Infectious Diseases Such as Tuberculosis
- Functional Impairments in South Africa

Resource asked insurance industry leaders to share their thoughts on what 2013 holds for sales and profitability, structural change, information technology, and customer service.

This month’s case study demonstrates the challenge of reading between the lines when assessing risk in applications for Life Insurance.

The Preferred Structures Survey Subcommittee of the Society's Committee on Life Insurance Mortality & Underwriting Surveys has completed its report on the results of a survey to capture the current state of preferred risk underwriting practices in the US life insurance market. This Survey was sent to Canadian and US life insurance companies that write preferred risk business in the US.

This case study involves aviation activity and home built aircrafts.

The US life insurance industry is confronting significant demographic, macroeconomic and regulatory challenges to business models and operations. In 2013, successful players are repositioning and reinventing their products, strategies and services, positioning their companies for growth and profitability in the competitive, lower-margin market.

At this time of year it seems like we are all tired; however chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating fatigue that is not helped with rest.

Analytics plays an increasingly important role in customer acquisition and competitive advantage in the life insurance industry, according to a new research report. The December issue of LOMA’s Resource magazine takes a look at the report, and interviews an SMA partner on the topic.

Total individual life insurance premium grew three percent both in the third quarter and for the first nine months of 2012, according to LIMRA's Third Quarter 2012 Life Insurance Sales Survey.

John Voelker's article was published in the November 2012 issue of Brokerworld.

Life insurers have understood for a long time that certain differences among the population lead some groups to exhibit more favorable mortality than others. All other things being equal, females outlive males; tobacco use is detrimental to health and adversely affects mortality. But formal preferred programs – life insurers selecting among standard risk applicants and offering premium discounts to the best risks – did not begin to develop until the HIV/AIDS scare in the 1980s.

Per unit costs for life insurers drop dramatically, as do errors and the business-cycle time.

With recent medical advances and increasingly sophisticated underwriting practices, a number of pre-existing health conditions that may have previously discouraged individuals from considering life insurance are no longer necessarily a barrier to obtaining preferred rates.

2012 has been a year of continued uncertainty in the US – for both the economy overall and the life insurance industry specifically. Regulatory developments surrounding hallmark financial-services laws (Dodd-Frank and the Affordable Care Act) are not yet clear. Life insurance sales in general remain flat, in part due to unfavorable economic conditions, and all indicators suggest that interest rates will remain low for the foreseeable future. National elections and regulatory evolution may (or may not) make a difference in economic direction and life insurance sales prospects in 2013.

While waiting in line at Walmart to pick up your next prescription, why not purchase a little life insurance to take home with it?

Application activity for U.S. individually underwritten life insurance continued to rise in October, up +2.8% year-over-year, all ages combined, according to the MIB Life Index.

Ownership of life insurance in the middle market is low compared to other markets. It has been suggested that one of the reasons for this is that many insurers think about the middle market as an undifferentiated whole. The Marketing and Distribution Section initiated a multi-phase research effort to better understand the middle market for life insurance and to identify segments that would allow the industry to better target customer needs.

Researchers at LIMRA have uncovered a trillion dollar opportunity in life insurance sales, and it’s in the middle-income households who do not currently own enough life insurance.

What do predictive modeling, preferred structures and mortality improvement have in common? While these are hot topics today, they are also the topics of three recent studies by the SOA Mortality and Underwriting Survey Committee. Gain valuable insight into the results of these recently completed surveys and use that information to evaluate and potentially update some of the assumptions and practices at your company.

In this session, experts will discuss the issues and trends seen in the life insurance market from a new business and product development perspective. A review of the market activity in the past year, as well as insights into what the future may hold, will be provided. Recent developments in term, traditional fixed universal life (UL), indexed UL, variable UL and whole life will be explored. Topics to be presented may include, but not be limited to, sales, economic and regulatory environments, product design, underwriting and risk management.

New technologies sometimes bring about new problems and concerns, which require new rules and regulations as recently demonstrated by GINA, the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act in the health Insurance industry. Genetic information will soon become ubiquitous—cheap, easy to get, and informative. Should the long-standing principle of equal access to information for the purpose of life underwriting be abandoned because of the Orwellian fear of “Big Brother”? What are the myths versus the reality of genetic information? Should underwriters be banned from having access to it? And, if so, what are the industry implications of that?

After a lackluster summer, the pace of U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance rose +1.5% in September, year-over-year, all ages combined, according to the MIB Life Index.

While wealthy consumers get plenty of attention from independent producers, the channel still can’t figure out how to meet the glaring needs of the middle market. It’s a disparity that’s risky for middle-income families, the tax-advantaged status of life insurance — and the independent distribution channel itself.

LIMRA talks with Scott Kallenbach, research director with Strategic Research at LIMRA, about his recently released report, Back to Business – Trends That Will Influence a Re-Emerging Industry. This is an updated report to LIMRA’s 2007 trends study, Memories of the Future: Four Scenarios of the Life Insurance Industry in the Year 2016

LIMRA talks with Scott Kallenbach, research director with Strategic Research at LIMRA, about his recently released report, Back to Business – Trends That Will Influence a Re-Emerging Industry. This is an updated report to LIMRA’s 2007 trends study, Memories of the Future: Four Scenarios of the Life Insurance Industry in the Year 2016.

Thanks to new technologies, today’s consumers are more connected than ever and want to interact with companies in new ways. It’s changing the delivery of service.

Articles include:

- Some Days Must Be Dark and Dreary - Medicalizing Normality
- Overweight Children and Adolescents - The Risks
- Consumer Attitudes Toward Insurance
- Financial Strength - Just How Strong is Strong?
- Inside Gen Re

Nearly half of life insurers polled in a new survey state they have re-priced universal life with secondary guarantee products during the year past.

This is the second in a series of blog posts by ExamOne president Troy Hartman on the state of the life insurance industry.

The insurance industry is undergoing drastic changes. Companies need to adapt to keep themselves viable with the help of technology. Here’s a report from the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum.

This article appears on page 6 of the July 2012 issue of Scor Global Life's The Messenger Newsletter. Other articles in this issue include:

- Velogica Analytics Minimize the Risks in Non-Medical Underwriting
- Alternative Medical Markers - Promising but More Research Needed
- Stakeholders Want Carriers Prepared for Next Pandemic
- Dodd-Frank Gives Home States Sole Authority for Solvency Regulation

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance increased +2.1% in June, all ages combined year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Index.

The Mortality Improvement Survey Subcommittee of the Society's Committee on Life Insurance Mortality & Underwriting Surveys has completed its report on the results of a survey to examine mortality improvement practices with respect to life insurance pricing in both the US and Canada. A few questions were asked about functions other than pricing.

Everyone immediately sees the obvious savings in reduce print and mail costs? But have we really look at the impact of no paper? How will it impact your sales and referrals or your case management flow? How will it impact your service delivery? Will your compliance procedures be changed? A panel of eDoc Delivery pioneers will discussed what they are finding.

There are several trends which are affecting the distribution of life insurance products. Increasing number of agents are retiring, the remaining agents are reaching a smaller segment of the population, direct to consumer agencies and insurers continue to see growth, and cost containment continues to put pressure on insurers to cut costs. These and other factors are pushing the US life insurance industry to pursue new distribution channels. To date it is unclear what channels will emerge. Could social media, retail, or banking emerge? Come to this session to discover the likely outcome of these distribution challenges.

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance remained positive in May, up +1.3% year-over-year, all ages combined according to the MIB Life Index.

"All normal tests are normal, but some normal tests are less normal than other normal tests."

Some of the slide presentations from this years seminar (May 23, 2012 at JW Marriott in Los Angeles, CA) have been posted at the Society of Actuaries event page.

Celent facilitated another Insurer Peer Networking Event at the headquarters of New York Life Insurance Company. The discussion was the liveliest yet, with every company contributing significant learnings about their experience in straight-through processing (STP) and product development in life and annuity insurance.

Predictive models and predictive analytics have recently begun to permeate the U.S. individual life insurance market. All direct writing companies and reinsurers need to develop an understanding of these models and their implications for risk selection, risk classification and mortality pricing.

I have just been through the annual pain of getting my car insurance reviewed and renewed and I looked on the aggregator sites to get an indication of costs and buy a policy. What struck me in relation to our business was the fundamental difference in the underwriting

In the past two decades, the life insurance industry has undergone multiple waves of change, each with their own influence on distribution and underwriting.

People who apply for life insurance coverage are normally required to answer a list of health questions and take a medical exam. Then they have to wait for the results in order to learn whether or not they are an acceptable risk for the insurance company. Simplified issue products optimize this process considerably.

This article aims to review the ongoing health risks of this group and provide the underwriter with evidence-based data to assist in decision making around insurance policies.

Also featured in this issue: E-cigarettes - A new frontier for smoking?

The latest issue of Risk Insights includes the following articles:
- The Value of Life Insurance
- Simplifying Income Protection for the Mass Market
- Hitting the Customer Sweet Spot for Life - Part 2
- Projecting Mortality Trends - Part 2 Volatility in Assumptions

Four lipids are measured on every screening blood profile.

No one wants to buy insurance until they can’t buy it. All too often, it takes the shock of a health problem for people to recognize the need for life insurance coverage. Unfortunately, this is the worst possible time to buy it, since the premiums are so much higher.

The life insurance industry will have to adapt to demographic and economic changes that will have a direct impact on the manner in which they market and sell their products in order for them to remain relevant when individuals and families contemplate their options for financial planning.

LIMRA talks with Bob Baranoff about the international reach of the life insurance industry today and its use of social media as a communications tool. Baranoff also discusses the Life Insurance Conference, coming to Orlando, Florida this April 23-25.

The Predictive Modeling Survey Subcommittee of the Society's Committee on Life Insurance Mortality & Underwriting Surveys has completed its report on the results of a survey that gathered information on behalf of the life insurance industry about the degree of the use of predictive modeling and the tools and methods used by life insurance companies to optimize results.

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance increased +5.5% in February year-over-year, all ages combined according to the MIB Life Index.

Total individual life insurance grew four percent in new annualized premium in 2011, resulting in the second consecutive year of growth.

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance increased +8.3% in January year-over-year, all ages combined according to the MIB Life Index.

Underwriting requirements are a necessary part of an insurance application even if they are sometimes inconvenient or trying for broker, agent and client. Getting as much favorable information as possible allows insurers to offer competitive and often preferred rates when good health is affirmed. However, in the world we live in today, when time is of the essence and competition rules, most companies have cut back on what is being routinely asked for as part of the underwriting process.

Life insurers need to focus on technologies that better enable product development, distribution or deployment of newer technologies, such as social media and mobility applications.

LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global President and CEO Bob Kerzner discusses industry predictions for 2012. Included in the podcast: How consumer sentiment, product trends and sales, and legislation and regulation will affect the industry, and how companies will change and adapt in the coming year.

Ark.-based marketing services company Acxiom recently surveyed more than 3,000 consumers about their perception of life insurance and how they approach shopping for it.

Milliman was engaged by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) to conduct research identifying laboratory tests that are not widely used in the life insurance industry but could have potential benefits for use in the life insurance underwriting process. This report presents the results of the research.

Industry leaders predicts what's ahead for sales and profits, structural change, information technology, customer service - and more.

There's a saying in professional sports: don't listen to the fans, or you'll be sitting with them. But that's not the case for insurers, for whom customer experience is the watchword.

The December 2011 issue of Gen Re's Risk Insights includes the following articles:

- Hitting the Customer Sweet Spot for Life
- Projecting Mortality Trends: Separating the Past from the Future
- Rate Increase Strategy and Anti-Selective Lapses in the U.S. Medicare Supplement Market: A Case Study
- Commission-Based Versus Fee-for-Advice Systems
- Inside Gen Re

Life insurers in the United States face a conundrum as they head into 2012—managing both capital and risk in an economically and politically uncertain year, while continuing to lay the groundwork for future growth. The uncertain economic climate, compounded by ongoing concerns over US debt, continues to put pressure on life insurer ratings and capital levels.

Consumer behavior and expectations, along with pressures to conduct business more efficiently, are making the shift toward mobile platforms more than just a fad.

Life expectancy takes on greater importance as Baby Boomers retire and we begin to realize the “risk” that a large group of long-lived beneficiaries may strain public and private retirement and medical plans.

The slides from this session covering life product trends & issues, (presented at the SOA 2011 Annual Meeting & Exhibit this past October), have been posted at the SOA website.

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance increased +1.6% in October year-over-year, all ages combined, according to the MIB Life Index.

This Automation Solutions whitepaper from Munich Re examines one of the greatest threats facing life insurers today: anti-selection (also called adverse selection or negative selection).

In a sea of specialized products with increasingly complex rules and fee structures, it might be surprising to know that industry leaders themselves favor a more streamlined approach.

Back in the September issue of Life Insurance Selling, Maria Umbach, M.B.A., CLU, authored an article that asked producers “to stretch our minds, so we can imagine a future state that doesn’t yet exist.”

After three consecutive months of expansion, U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance fell by-3.4% in September, year-over-year, all ages combined according to the MIB Life Index.

Just as a musician must keep in time with the music for the rhythm and melody of a song to come to life, so too must the insurance industry keep in time with the future, if it is to have one.

Total second-quarter 2011 sales of individual life insurance in the United States, measured by new annualized premium, rose just 1% from the same period a year ago as an increase in whole life sales overcame "stagnant" universal life and declining term life sales, says a senior analyst at LIMRA.

A new A.M. Best Co. Statistical Study shows the face amount of life insurance policies issued during 2010 declined 3.1% to $2.87 trillion compared with a year earlier, according to the latest issue of BestWeek U.S./Canada. Term life on a business issued basis marked a steeper descent, falling 11.7% to $1.13 trillion. The five A.M. Best Statistical Studies featured in BestWeek looked at total life issued; ordinary life issued; term life issued; group life issued and credit life issued.

While relative small in terms of policy numbers, such contracts tend to have relatively high sums assured.

Survey of C-level life insurance executives (covering CEOs, CFOs, Appointed Actuaries and Chief Actuaries) to gauge their views on some topical issues currently affecting the Indian life insurance industry.

State investigations of life insurers’ claim payment practices may do more damage to the insurers’ image than to their surplus.

Presentations for the 2011 Living to 100 Symposium, held January 5–7, in Orlando, FL.

The recession is bringing attention to an often-ignored policy feature in level term life policies—the conversion option.

This survey new sales and inforce premiums, volume, lives, and cases for Total Group Term Life (Basic and Voluntary), Voluntary Group Term Life and AD&D. In addition, data on lapse rates and renewals is provided for those companies that supplied information. Thirty-two companies participated in this year's survey.

Although the national and global economies still have the power to derail it, the financial health of the U.S. life and annuity sector is sound and should keep improving, a trio of A.M. Best ratings analysts said in an article in this week’s BestWeek U.S./Canada.

Dr. Himanshu Bhatia, OTR Asia Editor, Swiss Re Asia, Mumbai, India reviews this acute disease that affects the cardiovascular system, and is one of the causes of heart disease in children in Japan and the USA. The article discusses the epidemiology, pathophysiology and history of Kawasaki disease, provides a guide to current treatment, and concludes with underwriting considerations.

Lee Oliphant, president and chief executive officer of MIB Group Inc., discusses year-end 2010 application activity for individually underwritten life insurance in the United States, including key trends in the 60 and older age group.

Insurers and industry analysts are starting to think about how the earthquakes and tsunamis that struck northeastern Japan Friday might affect the life and health sectors.

Total annualized premium revenue from new sales of individual U.S. life insurance was 2% higher in the fourth quarter of 2010 than it was in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Competition and external factors such as product rating agencies can limit options for differentiation and growth. Looking beyond perceived market boundaries is important, as is close industry involvement in setting product standards.

Whole life insurance may be an old standby in insurance circles but it is no longer sitting on the sidelines of insurance promotions. It may even become a regularly brokered product.

A majority of U.S. insurance executives are predicting flat 2011 sales for individual and group life coverage.

LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., has published executive expectations data in a summary of results from a December 2010 survey of 70 industry participants.

Data collection underway to uncover the role technology plays in U.S. life insurers’ response to increased competition here and abroad.

Sales of universal life (UL) insurance increased 8% in the third quarter, and sales of whole life rose 6%, according to LIMRA, based on a summary of results from a survey of insurers in the U.S. individual life market.

We’ve all seen it—basic group life rates that look more like AD&D rates; rate guarantee periods that resemble a mortgage contract; liberal guarantee issue maximums; and more. In pursuit of a large case, the carrier that wins the race to the bottom often finds various and creative rationales for pricing below the credible claim cost.

U.S. life insurers received fewer requests for individual coverage in September than they did in September 2009, but activity for older applicants continued to be strong.

Topics include:

• Cancer Screening - Developments and Implications for Critical Illness
• Biometrical Trends and Their Effects on Long Term Care Insurance
• LTC Premium Increases - Survey Results
• Improvements in Traffic Accident Mortality - Spain

A recent study by LIMRA showed the number of individuals owning life insurance has hit a 50-year low.

As Robert Kerzner, president and CEO of LIMRA, said, “The numbers tell a grim story.”

After years of declining, US term insurance prices increased by about 5-6% in 2009. Last October Swiss Re argued that these price increases were due to market pressures stemming from the financial crisis, which were aggravated by Regulation XXX’s requirement to hold reserves roughly twice what is economically necessary.

But have prices risen enough?

LIMRA survey says that 30% of U.S. households have no life insurance whatsoever.

Less-than-stellar financial figures from the United States, coupled with ongoing concerns over sovereign debt limits in Western Europe, helped to fuel real concern that debt contagion and a global double-dip recession might end in a sovereign debt default crisis.

While that is bad enough on its own, it poses a special risk for the life insurance industry, which has billions invested in non-U.S. sovereign risk.

Or does it?

Earlier this week, less-than-stellar financial figures from the United States, coupled with ongoing concerns over sovereign debt limits in Western Europe, helped to fuel real concern that debt contagion and a global double-dip recession might end in a sovereign debt default crisis.
While that is bad enough on its own, it poses a special risk for the life insurance industry, which has billions invested in non-U.S. sovereign risk.

Or does it?

This report, summarizing results from Deloitte's latest Life Insurance Operations Benchmarking Study, provides insight in areas critical to insurance executives, including:

* Marketing, product and distribution
* New business
* Customer service
* Information technology
* Corporate overhead