8/26/2021 – A data analysis by Xempus shows trends in the business with company pension schemes. The current financial year is developing positively for exclusivity and brokers, demand and deals are increasing. The driver is also the pandemic. In comparison, the company supplementary health insurance is still in its infancy.
The corona crisis had both positive and negative consequences for the company pension scheme. Break-ins in the first and second lockdown were part of it. But also an increasing accustoming of independent sales to the possibilities of digital instruments in life insurance.
This came to the conclusion Xempus AG (formerly XbAV). In midsummer, she evaluated her own data from the years 2020 and 2021 (VersicherungsJournal 2.8.2021). Similar trends, such as cuts in the company pension business, also had to cope with the large broker pools in the previous year (May 26, 2020).
Exclusivity and broker: 50 percent more deals
- Malte Dummel (Image: Xempus)
On the other hand, the online portal, which specializes in advising on and processing contracts for company pension schemes and occupational disability, is currently observing high growth rates.
“Compared to 2021 and 2020, we see that brokers’ sales have roughly doubled,” says Malte Dummel, COO and CFO of Xempus in an interview with VersicherungsJournal.
He gives three reasons for this: “Exclusivity and insurance brokers generate around 50 percent more deals when they switch to digital. Second, interested heads of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) used our platform themselves for the conclusion. And thirdly, we were also able to win new intermediaries. “
According to the manager, the Insurtech works with a total of 16,000 intermediaries, 9,000 are insurance brokers who specialize in SMEs. 7,000 belong to the insurers’ exclusivity organization. “Every year around 3,000 to 4,000 intermediaries are added,” says the Xempus boss.
Digitization in life is increasing
A look back at the pre-Corona period shows that at the end of 2019 not even 40 percent of independent brokers were using digital portal solutions in the company pension business (December 6, 2019). “In life insurance, digitization was still at a low level. This is also due to the complex products, ”says Dummel.
That changed after two lockdowns, in spring 2020 and autumn / winter with only limited contact options and hardly any personal consultation appointments. The demand from corporate customers is increasing and the sales department must and wants to cover the outstanding demand.
There is still a lack of knowledge and processes to really provide corporate customers with everything they want to inquire about and complete.
Malte Dummel, COO and CFO of Xempus
Pension advice is not at the top of the broker hit list
Younger people still find it easier to deal with digital business models, according to the COO, but since Corona and the Home Office Regulation, older brokers have also been successfully using digital advisory channels. Digital processes and instruments would make the life of sales a lot easier and at the end of the day bring more sales, the manager advertises.
To confirm his statement, Dummel cites a practical example. “Three years ago we equipped a broker specializing in company pension schemes with our technology and kept it updated. He tests the new applications for us. In 2017 he earned 200,000 euros in commission income, three years later it was 800,000 euros. “
The head of Insurtech sees untapped potential in the scope of independent sales. Of the roughly 200,000 brokers in Germany, only between ten and 15 percent were actively involved in providing advice on pensions.
“That means that the knowledge and processes are still missing to really provide corporate customers with everything they want to inquire about and complete. Technology offers added value here, ”says the COO.
The bKV is where the company was 20 years ago.
Malte Dummel, COO and CFO of Xempus
bKV: so far little standardized
In April, Xempus expanded its business activities to include company health insurance (bKV) as well as private pension and life insurance (8 April 2021). The bKV sees Dummel at the beginning of its development in 2021: “The division is today where the company pension was 20 years ago.”
The business area has so far been little standardized, the demand from corporate customers is still manageable, inventory management is mainly manual and there are so far few agents who are really competent in this business area.
“The main question for product providers and sales is currently: How do I manage to give interested employers the right information?”, Says Dummel.
There is a lack of well-structured offers
He speaks from his own experience: Xempus also wants to offer its employees a bKV, which was not easy because there was a lack of well-structured offers.
The aim of Insurtech is therefore to process the relevant information technologically and to make it digitally accessible to employers. An informed decision is only possible if interested parties can get a clear picture.
Incidentally, Dummel wants to introduce additional company health insurance for its own workforce by the end of 2021.
The bKV is also the subject of the next Insurance Journal extra sheet 3 | 2020, which will appear on August 30th. Anyone who has already subscribed to the special edition will receive this issue automatically. InsuranceJournal premium subscribers are given priority and can access the new edition in PDF format around a week earlier (July 30, 2021).
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