Episode 26 with David Levenson, President and CEO at LIMRA, LOMA & LLGlobal – A Perspective From the CEO of LIMRA

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Beyond the Challenge is a podcast where executives in the insurance and financial services industry share their insights and experiences. Hosts Kevin and Sandy Dougherty talk with today’s top business leaders about what keeps them up at night and the biggest opportunity organizations can capitalize on today. We encourage you to listen, share, and subscribe to our program.

Kevin and Sandy Dougherty each have over 20 years of experience in insurance and financial services, corporate leadership, and executive search. They’re the owners of Global Corporate Solutions and Global Corporate Leaders. Global Corporate Solutions partners with organizations to gain efficiencies and contain costs. Global Corporate Leaders partners with organizations to enhance and evaluate talent.

Beyond the Challenge podcast is sponsored by Exactuals, perfecting payments and the data driving them.

Welcome to Beyond the Challenge. Here are your hosts, Kevin and Sandy.

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Kevin: Today, we’re talking with David Levenson, President and CEO for LIMRA and LLGlobal. David is responsible for leading one of the world’s largest association of life insurance and financial services companies across 71 countries. David, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and LIMRA? 

David: Sure, Kevin, great to be with you this morning. So, let me certainly start with LIMRA and LLGlobal. LLGlobal is the parent company of LIMRA and LOMA. We trace our roots back to 1916 so we’ve got a history that goes back over 100 years. LIMRA and LOMA came together in a merger in 2007. LIMRA had been a research organization by and large, LOMA had been a professional development organization so those two organizations came together. Today, collectively, we have over 700 member companies in almost 70 countries so it truly is a global organization. We’ve become the largest trade association for the insurance and financial services — we’ve become the largest trade organization for the insurance and financial services industry. Our focus is not advocacy. A lot of trade associations zone in on advocacy and try to influence regulation. That’s not what we do. We really try to help our member companies become stronger at what they do. We focus on knowledge and insights and connections and solutions. That’s kind of how we do it. A little bit about me. I’ve been in this industry for over 30 years. Most of my background has been with The Hartford, where at the end, I ran the wealth management area before Hartford decided to focus in and become a pure PNC company but that’s where I spent most of my career. I led Wealth Management at the very end. And then I went over to Edward Jones, which is one of the larger broker dealers in the country, spent about six years in St. Louis, was part of their management committee, and then had the privilege to come over to LLGlobal at the end of 2018, beginning of 2019.

Sandy: Thanks, David. While many organizations seem to be struggling to stay relevant, others are embracing new technology, reimagining distribution channels, and developing strategic partnerships. Based on your experience, have you seen COVID-19 change the way organizations look at professional development for their employees?

David: Yes, Sandy. Thanks for that question. I do think it’s changed quite a bit and if you go back we’re two years into this pandemic, if you go back to the beginning, I think there was a pretty big scramble, right? Companies were trying to figure out how to go from their office to their home and try to do all that seamlessly. And then pretty soon, all employees were living on computers and people were getting tired and when the professional development delivery was also on computer, people had a they had to call timeout and they had to figure out where they could call timeout. They couldn’t call timeout on their work so they essentially called timeout on their development. So what we saw is probably the first 18 months or so into the pandemic, we started decline in the focus on professional development. But now there’s been a resurgence and I think there’s been a resurgence for one fundamental reason, which is our industry has hired so many new people in the last two years. A survey that we did recently tells us that about 20 percent of all employees in the insurance industry were hired since the start of the pandemic. So just step back and think about that for a second. And what do they know about insurance? What do they know about the industry? There is a significant demand for professional development and we think we’re positioned well to help our members with our FLMI program for insurance, with our FSRI program for retirement, and then we also streamlined if people don’t want designations, we have a complete insurance foundation course, which is about 10 or 15 hours and give all new people a really good technical understanding of insurance and the insurance industry. So, again, we’re doing a lot, I think, to support our members with professional development.

Sandy: Wonderful, thank you. I got my FLMI through LIMRA/LOMA a number of years ago and I thought it was a great experience.

David: Congratulations.

Sandy: What other ways have you seen COVID-19 affect the insurance industry?

David: Well, certainly there’s been a huge demand for our products. So, early in the pandemic, you could switch on any news channel and you could see the horrors of what was happening in our country with people getting sick and people dying and I think that just gave everyone a wakeup call with respect to their own mortality. So, an early study that we did suggested that demand for our products spiked by about 31 percent. So that’s pretty significant. And as we saw that number, we said, “Look, we’ve gotta get a little bit more active and help our member companies be out there and support so many Americans and emerging families,” we did that. We actually had a “Help Protect Our Families” campaign that we went out with with all the trade associations, about 76 of our member companies. And we showcased all of the needs that individuals had in the midst of the pandemic and the demand, etc., etc. Our industry, believe it or not, grew by the most it’s grown since 1983 to capture so much of that demand. So, double digit growth rates where historically we’ve been relatively flat. So, a lot of change from the pandemic but also it changed how people work, right? So the face-to-face meetings weren’t so prevalent advisors now leverage technology in a different way to talk to clients. The underwriters couldn’t come to the house and the paramedics couldn’t come to the houses so the underwriters couldn’t rely on traditional underwriting techniques so they relied on accelerated types of underwriting and, for the most part, that’s worked out really well. Our industry has adjusted super well during the pandemic and I think that’s really helped our industry capture so much of the demand and meet the needs of our members, our members as well as our customers, our end consumers. 

Kevin: David, from your perspective, what do carriers need to do to stay competitive? 

David: Yeah, Kevin, that’s a great question. I think about it a lot and I think it gets into change, right? And change management. If you go back 20 years, our industry was changing but it wasn’t changing that fast. Now, if you look at what’s going on, I mean, here we have a pandemic, here we have record low interest rates, here we have fintechs and insurtechs that came out of nowhere, here we have a regulatory environment that is changing so quickly, a technology environment that is changing so quickly, I think it is really important that companies understand the change wave and do whatever they can to try to get ahead of it. If they don’t, others will and they’re gonna be left behind. 

Kevin: David, from your experience, how can organizations embrace innovation and transformation to improve performance and drive long-term growth? 

David: Yeah, I love that question, Kevin. From my perspective, it’s focus. So you’re not going to innovate unless you focus on innovation. And what does that really mean? I think it means you need the skill set. I think it means you need senior management attention. I think it means you gotta look and think creatively around partnerships, right? Are fintechs and insurtechs competitors or are they truly potential collaborators and partners to help you do things in a different way? So, I think it really falls to the CEO of the organization to say, “Look, we understand, I understand that the world is changing so fast for us to keep up. We’re gonna have to move faster. We’re gonna have to become more innovative. We’re gonna have to become more creative,” and once he or she declares that, they’re gonna have to make sure that, again, they resource that part of the organization appropriately and they track progress through metrics and accountability. 

Kevin: David, what do you see as the main barriers to growth and innovation?

David: Yeah, Kevin, I don’t think I’ve got a different answer for you on that. So I really think it comes down to focus. I think it’s focus at the company level, focus at the C suite level, focus at the CEO level. And I think it’s making sure you have or the CEO has the right people, the right skill set, the right metrics, the right accountability. And I think if you put all that together, growth will happen and innovation will happen. There’s enough help and support out there to work with companies but the companies need that focus and that accountability. If you just want it to happen, if you just wish it to happen, it won’t happen.

Sandy: To build on that question a little bit, do you think that the problem with legacy systems, especially in the life and annuity area, as well as a lack of IT resources that seem to be prevalent right now in every organization, is also something that might be holding some carriers back?

David: Yeah, Sandy, I think so. Holding back but maybe a little bit, again, I think with the right focus and attention, companies can get around that, right? It will require capital, it will require money, right? But I think if the companies make the right investments, there’s so many solutions out there to deal with legacy systems today. We actually did some research on this and studied it quite a bit and it doesn’t seem like the companies that have the legacy systems are necessarily being held back. It’s true that they have to deal with their existing book of business a little bit differently than perhaps they did with their new business but I don’t think it’s a constraining factor. Certainly the sooner companies can make the investment and bring all of their systems together, the more efficient and effective and productive they will be.

Sandy: Thanks, David. So a little change here. What do you see is the future of insurance regulations and compliance as we see it? I know, you’re not an organization that lobbies —

David: Yeah.

Sandy: — on regulation, but just high level, what do you see happening?

David: Yes, Sandy, it’s become really complicated. I left the insurance industry in 2012 when I ran the wealth management business for The Hartford, and compliance and the regulatory regime was pretty complicated then. It’s two to three times more complicated today. I think one of the most fundamental challenges is that there’s so many things to focus on, right? From a regulatory perspective. So, there’s privacy, there’s cybersecurity, there’s many new things that are coming out so you still have all the old things, now you have all the new things, and the regulators have to catch up. They have to catch up to, wow, zero interest rate potentially, right? Do our regulations reflect zero interest rate? Or cybersecurity wasn’t a concern 10 years ago, now it’s a huge concern. And then you compound that with the fact that you’ve got state regulation and federal regulation and international regulation. And while you have wonderful organizations like the NAIC that try to bring so much of this together, there are still a lot of states that wanna do things their own and for companies that operate in 50 states, it can become really challenging. So, the punch line is I don’t see it becoming less complicated over the next several years. I see it as complicated or more complicated and I think that’s a challenge for companies, especially small companies.

Sandy: Okay, thank you. That doesn’t surprise me at all. Does the insurance industry need to do more to address diversity and inclusion or do you think carriers are doing a pretty good job of moving in the right direction?

David: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think certainly with the tragedy with George Floyd a couple years ago, I think there is a significant step up in our industry. I think the industry was focused on D&I. I think with the George Floyd situation that became even more significant, much more significant. So every company I speak with, D&I is a key part of their focus so I know there’s more attention on it today and I know our industry has come a long way. But I think everyone would admit that there’s a long way to go. 

Kevin: How are carriers addressing succession planning with so much disruption in the workforce, even in the C suite space?

David: Yeah, Kevin, that’s another great question. We actually did some recent research and we looked at the top 50 insurance companies and I think — it was a staggering number. I think it was maybe a third had just switched CEOs in the last two or three years. So there is a lot of change happening, not just with the environment but certainly with executives as well. So, I would say this has grown, this issue that you’re raising has grown to become the number one issue for insurance companies, talent, right? Whether it’s executive talent, entry level talent, skills talent, right? We’re all familiar with the great resignation and what’s going on there and we’re seeing significant changes in skilled positions, whether it’s data analysts, IT specialists. They’re changing jobs at a pace and a rate that we haven’t seen before. And when you have all of this going on and you have to think about succession you’re just trying to keep up right now. I do think solving this talent maze, again, is a top priority for the C suite, the CEO, for the boards of directors, and it’s one of the reasons that we are focused on a new campaign called the Talent Imperative — the People Imperative, and we are really focused on working with our member companies to help them understand best practices, to help them learn from some of the best experts out there, to help them learn from each other. And we’ve got a nine-month focus campaign to try to accomplish that beginning in April. 

Kevin: David, what do you see as the biggest opportunity for the insurance and financial services industry over the next three to five years? 

David: Yeah, I think the biggest opportunity is to find new and innovative and different ways to protect more people. We know that 52 percent of American adults have life insurance. We also know that a significant percentage of them don’t have enough life insurance. So in our country, over 100 million adults, one-third, either don’t have insurance or don’t have enough insurance. And when you poll that segment of the population, ask them why they don’t have insurance, they will say, primarily, “I don’t understand it well enough,” “I don’t understand how expensive it is.” I actually think it’s — I mean, the perception is that it’s three times more expensive than it really is so, “I think it’s too expensive so I don’t even wanna go there,” and then, “I’ve got other financial priorities,” like those are the three things that always come up. I think it is fairly — I’d like to say it’s fairly easy but I think we can figure out number one and number two, right? We can figure out how to help people understand the product. They don’t have to understand it, they just need to go to somebody who does. And we can help them understand that it’s much more cost effective than you think it is. But we’re gonna need new and different ways to get to them and educate them and I think this is one of the things that we’re seeing in the fintech/insurtech space. The disruption there really is not at the manufacturing level, it’s at the distribution and marketing level. And I shouldn’t even call it disruption, I should call it complementary solutions because I do think those companies that can partner with the fintechs and insurtechs to reach that 100 million segment will prosper and do quite well over the next several years. 

Kevin: I’m really curious to hear this next answer as well. David, what is the best decision or one of your best decisions that you’ve made that had a positive impact on your career? 

David: So, Kevin, I’m an actuary by background and for the first 5, 6, 7 years of my career, I spent a lot of my focus doing actuarial work. And while I could do it, it wasn’t my passion, right? I went through my exams and I’m a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and I think maybe the best decision I made is you gotta find what you really love to do and then you gotta do it. My passion is really around strategy and creativity and entrepreneurial things, turnarounds, right? That’s what I think I’m good at. The core actuarial work wasn’t giving me sufficient space to kind of do that and practice that so here I was in my late 20s having spent all of this time and effort going through the actuarial exams and I took a job to start up a mutual fund business with an insurance company and it relied on zero of my actuarial skills but it was something I was excited about, passionate about, and fairly good at. And I think I’ve grown my career because of that decision as opposed to leveraging and building off something that I started out with but I wasn’t as good as a lot of others were.

Sandy: What advice would you give to somebody looking to get into the insurance industry or would it be just that, follow your passion?

David: Well, follow your passion, Sandy, but I do think — look, one of the things I always talk about with respect to our industry is that we do good, right? When you really step back and think about it, we are protecting families, right? From things like premature death. We are helping people with respect to their retirement, with lifetime income type solutions and products. There is tremendous demand for what we do. And the more we do of it, the better off families are. And that feels good. What I would say is the insurance — there’s so much you can do within the insurance industry, like you can do within any industry. You can be a marketing person, you can be a finance person. But our industry itself is wired to protect people, to protect families, and that’s a good thing for America, that’s a good thing for people. And if that makes you feel good, then this is the industry you should come into. Because not all industries do that, right? You can — I don’t wanna talk poorly about any other industry but in other industries, if you sell more of it, I don’t know if it’s necessarily good for the country or good for all American families. If you sell more insurance, if you sell more annuities, generally I think it is good for America and good for American families. 

Sandy: Awesome. What is the next big thing for LIMRA and LLGlobal?

David: Yeah, look, we just mapped out our five-year plan a couple years ago and it’s an exciting roadmap. I would say there are two things that get me super excited. One is the international space. So when you think about LLGlobal from a revenue perspective, 80 percent of our revenue comes from the United States. When you think about the global insurance industry, 80 percent of the revenue of the global industry comes from outside the United States. So we have an opportunity to tap into other regions of the world, specifically Asia, and help insurance companies in Asia understand best practices from the US and help US insurance companies understand best practices in Asia. And I think the wiring that we’re so good at with respect to connecting executives and connected companies, again, our space has historically been within the US and Canada, now I think we’re looking at it more from a global perspective. That’s truly exciting. And we hired a wonderful executive who is based in region and, really, we’re starting to see some wonderful momentum there so that’s exciting. The other area, Sandy, that I’d say is we have so much data, right? When I think about the history of our organization, it goes back to 1960. When I think about our benchmarks, when I think about all of the information that we have, when I think about the partnership that we just inked last year with the Society of Actuaries to do experience studies for the industry together, we can bring all of that information together in a very usable way for our member companies and that’s where the world’s going, right? Is the data scientist and the analytics and the artificial intelligence and we’ve got the raw material to feed into that and we are gonna be spending a lot of time to figure out how do we bring all of our data together in a way that’s gonna help our member companies and I think that’s a very exciting year for us as well.

Sandy: I think that’s very exciting as well. Thank you.

David: You’re welcome. 

Kevin: David, thank you for your time today. It’s been great to hear your insights on how carriers can stay relevant and the opportunities you see for the industry in the next few years. 

David: Kevin, Sandy, great being with you and appreciate the opportunity. 

Kevin: Thank you

(outro)

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