September 20, 2017

Are You Staying Ahead of Cyber Threats

As the sophistication of technology used by the insurance and financial services industry is constantly evolving, so too are the cyber threats that we face. Regulators see cyber and data security as some of the biggest threats to consumer protection, and they are increasing cyber regulations to protect those consumers - New York's new cybersecurity standard is just the beginning...

By: Chris Gillespie

March 21, 2017

Q1, 2017 Regulatory Recap

We have a short list of updates from the first quarter of 2017 that you should be aware of!

February 10, 2017

7 Ways the Vertafore User Group Will Benefit You

NetVU is the Network of Vertafore Users— a volunteer driven organization whose purpose is to connect Vertafore product users. Whether you're using your technology often or only a few times per month, there is a way to improve not only your compliance practices, but drive innovation in the industry...

January 10, 2017

Sircon Blog 2016: A Year in Review

Compliance and keeping up with regulatory change isn't easy. That's why this year, the Sircon blog features several posts on best practices for specific areas of the industry to ensure we're sharing our knowledge for all areas of the market! Here are just a few of our favorites.

By: Sydney Beaudreault

January 12, 2017

Q4, 2016 Regulatory Round Up

In closing 2016, we have a short list of updates from Q4 that you should be aware of!

By: Holli Bratt and Leslie Kosal

December 13, 2016

ACORD2016 Conference Recap: What's to come on L&A automation

As many of you may be aware, members of the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, more simply known as ACORD, work tirelessly to improve data exchange and workflows within the insurance industry. By developing electronic standards and standardized forms, ACORD aims to assist carriers and distributors alike in streamlining their business processes, including those related to compliance...

By: Tim Owen

October 20, 2016

Best Practices for Secure Agency – Carrier Communications Pt. 2

In Part 1 of our series on secure agency – carrier communications, Sydney outlined the security concerns in the industry for both agencies and carriers. Carriers are requesting additional steps in collecting producer information to ensure protected data, which can hold up the onboarding process. It's no surprise that the industry...

By: Kevin Horgan

October 18, 2016

10 Questions with the NAIC's Chief Technology Officer, Scott Morris

October 7, 2016

Q3 Regulatory Recap: What's New and What's to Come

State by state changes you should know, and updates on NARAB II, the CLAIM Act, Fiduciary Rule, and more!

By: Holli Bratt and Leslie Kosal

September 28, 2016

Best Practices for Secure Agency – Carrier Communications Pt. 1

Here at Vertafore, we're always discussing industry concerns followed by ways to automate, and improve overall compliance processes whether that be through uniformity and involving ourselves in industry groups, sharing expertise and best practices, or by providing technology solutions. Recently we have had agencies voice concern with issues submitting producer onboarding forms to carriers. The concern is...

By: Sydney Beaudreault

August 10, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change Pt. 6: Concluding Thoughts

We hope this series provided you some valuable takeaways that you can take back to your business. We have, however, thrown a lot of information for you at once, so here's a compiled checklist from our posts to make sure that you're crossing your t's and dotting your i's...

By: Tim Owen

July 14, 2016

Mid-2016 Regulatory Round Up

As usual around the middle of the year, we're seeing a LOT of upcoming law changes, so we've compiled a quick state-by-state list of some things you may want to be ready for or be aware of...

By: Holli Bratt and Leslie Kosal

June 1, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.5: Communication is Key

Earlier we mentioned that "communication is key", but we described the Vertafore communications loop only. What about you? When a regulatory change occurs, who do you need to inform? There are several key players that you should make sure you are working with so that things don't go wrong...

By: Patrick Masi

June 21, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.4: Data Impacts and Process Changes

So we've proactively monitored industry sources to see a regulatory change coming, and we've updated our operational practices so that our team knows how to deal with the changes to compliance procedures. We've done a lot to get this far, but things are about to get really technical, really fast...

By: Patrick Masi

May 17, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.3: Compliance Best Practices

As Leslie mentioned in the previous post, there are several existing resources and groups that can help you monitor change. However, once you're aware of a potential change or know that a law, statute, rule, or regulation will require change in your business processes, then it is time to act/react. In being responsive, there are three stages including pre, during, and post-change that may have several steps and action items that you should be ready for...

By: Holli Bratt

May 10, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.2: How to Be Proactive

In Pt. 1: Understanding the Regulatory Change Process, Tim Owen introduced the complex web of interactions associated with regulatory change. In this installment, we're going to examine the beginning of that web. Whether a change is legislative, operational (rules and regs), or technical, the process starts well before the change goes into effect. Proactive monitoring is the first step towards...

By: Leslie Kosal

April 19, 2016

Anatomy of a Regulatory Change – Pt.1: Understanding the regulatory change process

I talk to our customers all the time about the importance and difficulties of effectively and efficiently adapting to regulatory changes. Whether it's a regulator, agency, education provider, securities firm, or carrier customer, the same question often seems to surface: What's so hard about it? Here's the short answer. A regulatory change generates an extensive web of dependent and inter-connected changes across all the...

By: Tim Owen

March 25, 2016

NetVU 2016

I was blown away at my first ever NetVU Conference. And from my conversations with other first-time attendees, they were just as impressed. Over 200 customers of Sircon solutions attended including agencies and carriers. In mainly attending Sircon-focused sessions, I had the opportunity to speak directly with Sircon users to discuss their business pain points along with how our solutions help address them...

By: Sydney Beaudreault

February 11, 2016

The NetVU16 countdown has begun!

March 3rd is approaching fast which means we're getting closer and closer to the 2016 NetVU Conference. As of DATE, we have 128 carriers and 979 agencies with a grand total of 1676 registered to attend! For those of you that don't know what NetVU is, NetVU is the Network of Vertafore Users that come together to advocate innovation in the insurance industry...

By: Dane Sprecher

January 29, 2016

Master Compliance with Connections

Whether you're an agent or you work in an agency, you're probably familiar with the processes necessary to keep your licensing and continuing education (CE) information up to date. In last year's "Are You Managing Your Producer Credentials Efficiently?" post, I discussed how people today are trying to make this process as efficient as possible; however, we found that the most common practices...

By: Scott Gillahan

November 17, 2015

4 Things You Missed at ACORD2015

In our recent guest post with Sandy Hampel, we discussed our relationship with ACORD and the importance of getting involved with the organization. ACORD plays a crucial role in improving the industry's communication through creation of forms and data standards. A key challenge in the industry is that ACORD standards, forms, and best practices aren't as widely adopted as they could be...

By: Patrick Masi

July 29, 2015

Part 2: 10 Questions with ACORD's Director of Life & Annuity Implementations, Sandy Hampel

In last week's blog, Sandy Hampel discussed ACORD's objective in providing professional and technical help for the insurance industry. In partnership with Vertafore, ACORD has made numerous strides to improve day to day business processes in the insurance industry. Now that you've got a little more background on ACORD, read more as Sandy Hampel continues to discuss business best practices and reveals new initiatives. 1. ACORD recently did a webinar in conjunction with SILA on ...

By: Sandy Hampel

June 24, 2015

Producer Licensing Law Changes in Texas and NARAB II

As many legislative sessions wrap up, one of the more significant changes that you should be aware of is Texas' advance towards producer licensing uniformity. If you got a chance to check out our most recent post, A Call for Continuing Education Uniformity, you may already be aware of the difficulties caused by non-uniformity and the importance of driving change. This law, which just passed in legislature, will move Texas producer licensing closer to national uniform standards. The specif...

By: Leslie Kosal

July 21, 2015

Part 1: 10 Questions with ACORD's Director of Life & Annuity Implementations, Sandy Hampel

Not only is it important for Vertafore to participate in ACORD to bring the value and benefits to our customer base, but it's equally important for you, the customer, to be engaged and involved with ACORD so your feedback and needs can be met by Vertafore. It takes collaboration between ACORD, Vertafore, and Vertafore customers to offer solutions that meet your most important needs! Read below for exclusive information from ACORD's Sandy Hampel to learn how getting involved can...

By: Sandy Hampel

June 16, 2015

NetVU Leaders' Summit: Help Shape the Future

Did you know that by being a customer of Vertafore, you're already a member of NetVU? What is NetVU? NetVU, or Network of Vertafore Users, brings Vertafore customers together to share innovative ideas on how to better leverage their Vertafore solutions. Through online forums, Chapter meetings, and Conferences, NetVU offers Vertafore customers a unique opportunity to collaborate with their peers and shape the future of the insurance industry. It is crucial to have a user network so our cus...

By: Dane Sprecher

May 26, 2015

Save Time and Get to Market Faster Than Ever with the New ACORD 821 Form

Is onboarding and appointing agents a source of friction between you and your agency or carrier partners? Perhaps you're already aware of, and possibly using, the ACORD standard form for producer information, which has promoted much-needed uniformity and easier business for a few years now. If you're already using the ACORD 821 Producer Information form, we have great news for you. And if you're not, the news we have for you is even better. In the name of standardized (and j...

By: Tim Owen

May 31, 2016

IRI Ops & Tech Conference Recap featuring IRI's Jim Young

Connect, collaborate, execute. These were the three themes of the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) Operations & Technology Conference?a forum for operations and technology members within the annuity community. Attendance was up over 35% from last year, with increased coordination and momentum for industry automation initiatives, coupled with the release of the final DOL Fiduciary Rule in April 2016. Engagement is at an all-time high...

By: Tim Owen

April 28, 2015

Agencies: Take Your Licensing Practices from Sufficient to Efficient

By: Dane Sprecher

April 27, 2015

Are You Managing Your Producer Credentials Efficiently?

In today's digital world, it sometimes surprises me to see how insurance agencies are maintaining and managing producer credentials. Stuck in the Past Agencies are always looking for new ideas to improve processes and become more efficient. But there's a problem: many seem to be stuck in the pre-computing 1960s. However, there have not been many cost-effective options for agencies to easily manage not only their own agency credentials, but also those of their produc...

By: Scott Gillahan