Open Insurance 101: From SE2 to Zinnia
You may have seen the news that SE2 has become Zinnia, a new business that encompasses the full range of technology and services we offer, including our vision for Open Insurance. Zinnia will, of course, continue to offer the TPA services that SE2 was known for. This unique combination of our rich history in the insurance industry and the leading technology we have been building internally and acquiring will enable Zinnia to deliver a new, Open Insurance experience for life and annuities.
What is Zinnia Open Insurance?
Open Insurance describes Zinnia’s approach to helping our clients reimagine how life and annuities are bought, sold, serviced, and experienced. It will enable carriers to innovate and launch products faster; buy, sell, manage, and service products more effectively; and better serve key stakeholders, including end consumers.
Open Insurance means different things to different people based on their perspective. At Zinnia, we talk about Open Insurance in terms of outcomes – what does Open Insurance enable? The “how” is also important, but let’s start with a simple description:
Zinnia Open Insurance will bring together real-time data sharing and transparency to make the business of life & annuities work better for consumers, advisors, insurers, and reinsurers.
The business of life and annuities isn’t broken, but there is a timely opportunity to improve the experience. At the same time, Zinnia Open Insurance will enable our clients to innovate faster, accelerate speed-to-market, enhance distribution support, and transform fund management processes.
How does Zinnia Open Insurance work?
At a high level, Zinnia Open Insurance will connect people-, carrier-, and third-party data and advanced technology to generate better outcomes. We’re building an end-to-end, cloud-native, data-centric architecture where data exists independently of any application. By enabling data to flow seamlessly to the stakeholders that need it, when they need it, we’ll remove a lot of the complexity that exists in the industry today.
Data is at the core of the Zinnia Open Insurance approach, and we understand the unique risks that carriers must address. To address these risks and help our clients realize the potential of Open Insurance, we’re developing an immutable system of record that connects with distributors for front-end development and with carriers and third parties for back-end support. As a result, we’ll be powering exceptional outcomes for all stakeholders from lead to claim.
The key components of Zinnia Open Insurance include:
Zahara™ – The immutable source of truth. Zahara uses digital ledger technology to efficiently gather, store, and secure data.
Hybrid Origination – An exceptional buying experience. Zinnia Hybrid Origination gives carriers access to powerful data analytics, offers advisors a flexible and unified selling experience, and engages consumers when, where, and how they want to engage.
Engagement & Loyalty – Driving long-term relationships and results. Zinnia Engagement & Loyalty educates and motivates customers to improve their financial, physical, and emotional well-being while driving key metrics: persistency, cross/up sell, and lead generation.
Fund Management – A modern platform for pricing and trading. Zinnia Fund Management® is the insurance and retirement industry’s only cloud-native variable product and separate account asset management pricing and trading platform.
TPA Services – Best-in-class administration services. Zinnia TPA services improve productivity, deliver cost efficiencies, and reduce operating risk by integrating advanced technology with standardized processes and supporting regulatory compliance.
In combination, these products will deliver an Open Insurance experience for life and annuities that is focused on better outcomes and experiences for stakeholders.
In conclusion
Open Insurance does not call for a ‘rip and replace’ approach to modernization, rather it serves as an accelerant. The insurance industry has made tremendous progress modernizing operations, progress that will help in the transition to an Open Insurance model. Embracing Open Insurance demonstrates a commitment to delivering exceptional experiences and outcomes, more fully realizing the benefits of modernization efforts, and an opportunity to leapfrog the competition.