As you get older, you tend to get more reflective and become a better judge of yourself, knowing who you are, what you’re good at and what you’re not.
Warren Buffet once reportedly said: “I’m no genius at technology. I don’t understand it. What I do understand is consumer behaviour, and that’s where I stick. The key to investing is knowing what you’re good at and staying inside your circle of competence.”
In contrast to Warren Buffet, when drawn to a spot of introspection, one thing is clear: I unashamedly class myself as a technologist. Surprise, you say! I’m in the right business.
I’ve been around financial technology almost my entire career. I’ve seen the way it’s transformed processes, products and markets. Most of this has been for the better and has delivered improved outcomes to customers, which has helped the market.
Projects to improve technology and processes are notoriously difficult to execute, but easy to call out once you see their impact.
Within the protection market, the advent of quote portals, reflexive and dynamic underwriting and multi-benefit applications are just a few examples of where tech has changed the way the market operates for the better.
There are many reasons why protection technology projects can fail or succeed. Firstly, it must address a real and specific need in the market.
Secondly, those working on that change must understand the market. In other words, they need to have the knowledge of current processes and understand what alterations will work in practice. Thirdly, sufficient budget is needed to build it.
In protection, the most important aspect is the involvement and engagement of the adviser community
However, in protection, I believe the most important aspect is the involvement and engagement of the adviser community.
Advisers in the protection market often wear several different hats. Far from being ‘order takers’ who respond to active demand, their first – and some would say most important – role is to create and stimulate demand for, and engagement with, protection.
As the old saying goes, you don’t just wake up wanting to buy life insurance. How advisers introduce the topic to clients and demonstrate the benefits is crucial.
I would argue they also have a vital role in shaping the market. As the stakeholder closest to customers (i.e. their clients) they are closest to the opinions, sentiment, frustrations and fears of the people who matter most.
As such, they are the people who can best shape products, service and processes that work for them and their customers.
At a superficial level, advisers may say ‘yes’ to a new idea – but that doesn’t mean it will fly off the shelves if built
This has been brought into focus for me in recent months, working on a large, market-spanning project that we’ve recently delivered. It was ambitious and complex, requiring substantial time, resources and dedication.
Getting early engagement and buy-in from advisers was hugely important. Working together to test our thinking and the proposed solution to ensure it remained focused on their needs was crucial.
It sounds simple, but this engagement can too often be overlooked by financial institutions that expect advisers to use their products without first understanding whether they actually want it.
At a superficial level, advisers may say ‘yes’ to a new idea – but that doesn’t mean it will fly off the shelves if built.
No business, especially in a market as interconnected as ours, can thrive in isolation. Success depends on collaboration: internally, with partners, and across the wider ecosystem.
Too often, problems are tackled in silos. Solutions are developed in isolation
Collaboration is not optional – it’s essential. Insurers depend on reinsurers for pricing and risk. Distributors rely on insurers for products and service. Advisers count on distributors to build world-class panels. The value chain is long, intricate and interdependent.
With this complexity comes risk. Too often, problems are tackled in silos. Solutions are developed in isolation.
While they may solve one issue, this can inadvertently create others downstream. That’s why the spirit of openness and collaboration is so powerful. It’s what enables us to tackle the hardest challenges – the ones that have lingered for years, even decades.
So, the rallying call from this article for my friends and colleagues in the protection market is to remember the vital role advisers play in connecting you to your customers. Involve them in your product design and solutions.
And for advisers: embrace your wider role, not just in giving crucial advice, but in shaping the market, defining direction and delivering better outcomes for your clients.
Paul Yates is product strategy director at iPipeline
