Financial services executives express concern over distribution, regulation in 2016
January 7, 2016 by IFAWebNewsStaff
A majority of financial services executives who participated in a recent LIMRA survey say that the top challenges for the industry in 2016 involve distribution issues of attracting and retaining sales professionals and adapting to regulatory changes.
“When we look closer at the top challenges the executives chose, we see a common thread for their concerns,” said Scott Kallenbach, director of Strategic Research for LIMRA. “If the Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary standard is enacted as proposed, it will have a significant impact on the distribution and design of financial products well into the future.”
Scott Kallenbach
According to the Forecasting Change: 2016 LIMRA Predictions Report, the 44 financial executives survey during the last quarter of 2015 expressed concern about distribution challenges and how to attract and retain Millennials as sales professionals. Related to that, executives also worry about the marketing challenge of effectively reaching and retaining Millennial consumers.
Those who took part in the survey included professionals representing companies in asset management, insurance, banking and other areas of financial services.
Among their forecasts for 2016, two thirds of executives predict an increased focus on customer experience management (CEM) programs, up from 34 percent in 2013.
“Executive responses on CEM show how companies are thinking differently about how to best serve the end customer,” said Kallenbach. “Companies have shifted from listening only to professionals who sell their products to engaging the consumers who buy them.”
In order to compete in today’s market, nearly half of the executives believe the industry needs to replicate the customer engagement experience found on Amazon.com and other online shopping sites.
