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An Underwriting Profile of Jackson National Life. Texas Wide Underwriting Conference April 4, 2011. Everett W Kunzelman Vice President & Chief Underwriter Jackson National Life. Jackson National. Jackson National founded in 1961 by Tony Pasant In the 1980’s: Very big in term insurance
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An Underwriting Profile of Jackson National Life Texas Wide Underwriting Conference April 4, 2011 • Everett W Kunzelman • Vice President & Chief Underwriter • Jackson National Life
Jackson National • Jackson National founded in 1961 by Tony Pasant • In the 1980’s: Very big in term insurance • Transition in the 1990’s to accumulation products • Added variable UL in 2000’s • Today, we do about 17,000 to 20,000 life applications per year • (Jackson also does fixed, indexed and variable annuity products, own broker dealers, provide investments services, sell other investment products.) • (Jackson has over 3,000 employees in eleven locations.)
Our Underwriters • Many of the underwriters at Jackson today have been here since the 1980’s • 15 underwriters, 12 are remote • They average almost 22 years of underwriting experience (least: three between 11 and 12 years underwriting) • Only one was trained elsewhere and two worked elsewhere as underwriters • Thirteen have life insurance experience other than underwriting
Degrees and Such • 5 FALU, 3 AALU, 4 within an exam of FALU • 9 college graduates • 13 ACS • 12 ECG certified • 1 FINRA licensed • Majors: • Business, Education, Biology, Physical Education, Communication, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Psychology, English, Medical Administration, History
Underwriter Selection • Decision maker • Communicator • Team player • Flexible • Student • Servant mentality • Future? Degree, ALU, more on communication
Operations • Review several aspects of what we do, including… • Philosophy • Organization • System • Education • Management • Team
Fish Philosophy • Make their day • Be present • Choose your attitude • Have fun
Underwriting Philosophy • Complete • Balanced • Fair • Honors commitments • Marketed • Appropriate • Risk-based
Organization & Structure • Two teams by distribution • Not much crossing between teams to maintain “relationships” with agents • Remote (12 of 15, all “local”) • One day a month inside for remote (optional) and reviews in person • Complicated vacation schedule
System • “Home-grown” NB desktop system now about 12 years old • Paperless for 12 years • No expert system (except some data scoring on labs and measurements) • Web use • Cyber mainframe • Interesting Citrix-based server environment
Education • Medical Director – 2010-2011 President of AAIM • Chief Underwriter – 2010-2011 President of AHOU • Seminars • Webinars • Meetings & networking • Topics created in Jackson library by Doc • Diabetes, Anemia, OSA, Chronic Pain • LVH, Diastolic Dysfunction, Prostate Cancer • Cognition, elderly Issues, Hepatitis A, B & C • Jackson “in-house” studies lead to changes • A1c, prostate cancer, preferred underwriting examples
More Learning and Interaction • Daily email (stats, FDA news, foreign travel updates, medicine in the news, other risk topics, competition news, grammar, IU news, more) • Monthly medical seminar • Monthly conference calls • Doc’s and Ev’s Notes • LUG • The Event • Next year: More nonmedical seminars
Management • Open Door • Earned trust • Challenges and Changes • “Forced” Referrals • Team • Family • Administrative Assistant
The Team • Words that define the team – over 50 submitted • Availability (to customers) • Experience • Teamwork • Professionalism • Nice work challenging each other • Nice work helping each other
Suggestions Made for the Chief Underwriter… • Write more simply and clearly • Be more specific • More one-on-one meetings • Make the vacation policy stricter • More communication on company projects • Taller, younger, better clothes, better hair, better musical taste