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In the News
July 2010: Survey: Insurers Dependent on Technology to Improve Agent Service, Discipline, Processing
FirstBest Systems, Inc., provider of insurance software solutions for property/casualty carriers, reports insurers are marching toward efficiencies across their underwriting organizations in order to meet business and operational goals in the next few years. FirstBest released highlights from its recent insurer survey.
July 2010: Agent Survey Reveals Wishes for Carrier Portals
A survey of senior insurance agents, conducted by FirstBest Systems, Inc., provider of software solutions for property/casualty carriers, found that many agents want real-time underwriter collaboration, upload/connectivity and processing, and ideally, a single system.
July 2010: Connect and evolve with new agency technology
California-based ICW Group, a midsize or "super regional carrier," realized a 92 percent lift in workers’ compensation submissions received from agents in 2009 compared with the previous year. This is due in part to its deploying the FirstBest UMS (underwriting management system), which ICW Group has branded "Snap." For the same period, ICW Group’s quote count was up 80 percent and policy count was up 41 percent.
July 2010: Old Dog, New Tricks
Workers' comp specialist Amerisafe achieves modernized agent service without retiring aging policy administration technology.
June 2010: Underwriting Processes and Disciplines for Stronger Profitability
Insurance innovation starts with solid underwriting. A panel of insurers, technologists and underwriting experts examine the best practices and cutting-edge techniquest insurers are suing to make their underwriting more accurate and tie those activites to claims, pricing and performance.
June 2010: ICW Group Named 'Company of the Year' By Agents Association
ICW Group, a super regional property and casualty insurance company based in San Diego, has been named the 2009-2010 "Company of the Year" by the Nevada Independent Insurance Agents (NIIA). The award was based upon ICW Group's unparalleled service and commitment to the association's members.
May 2010: Amerisafe Extends Legacy System Life With Help From FirstBest
Amerisafe ($256 million in 2009 gross written premium) chief operating officer Geoff Banta knows that his legacy policy administration system won't last forever, but with help from FirstBest Systems (Bedford, Mass.), the DeRidder, La.-based writer of workers' comp for hazardous industries, has been able to extend the life of the system while modernizing the way it does business with distributors.
May 2010: The Price is Right
Carriers continually search for ways to differentiate themselves in the competitive insurance marketplace. Can quoting systems be one of those tactics to help them stand among the pack?
May 2010: ServiceLogix & FirstBest Partner, Beacon Benefits
Beacon Mutual, a workers’ compensation provider chartered by the state of Rhode Island, opted to use software created through a partnership between ServiceLogix and FirstBest Systems Inc. The program Beacon has slated to implement combines ServiceLogix’s insurance applications for policy administration, StoneRiver Power Suite, with FirstBest’s Underwriting Management System, a program used in conjunction with its Agent Portal program.
May 2010: New Tech Increasingly Extends the Life of Legacy Policy Admin Systems
The call to modernize core insurance systems has become such a constant trope that one might think it hardly needs to be repeated anymore. And yet, recent events show that this need has actually intensified: for example, the service demands of distributors and policyholders have increased dramatically as the result of an explosion in popular adoption of handheld devices and the anytime/anywhere service they imply.
May 2010: ServiceLogix, FirstBest Align to Improve Operational Efficiencies
FirstBest Solutions, Inc., provider of software solutions for property/casualty insurers, has announced a partnership with ServiceLogix.
May 2010: Beacon Mutual To Implement FirstBest Agent Portal
FirstBest Agent will be an integral part of Beacon Mutual's BEACONNECT site, providing upload, supplemental questions, STP quoting, and real-time collaboration and visibility into the submission process for its 400 agents, according to the vendor.
March 2010: Insurers Fret Over Talent Drain, Survey Finds
Insurers facing a talent crisis cite worries about training and attracting a new generation of underwriters as top concerns, a survey has found.
March 2010: Survey Reveals Insurer Concerns With Talent Crisis
FirstBest Systems, Inc., provider of software solutions that help property/casualty carriers, conducted a survey about training and knowledge sharing during the 2010 NAMIC Commercial Lines Underwriting Seminar last month and the findings reveal few insurers have leveraged technologies that appeal to Gen Y, facilitate real-time training and collaboration for new hires and teams, and capture underwriting expertise for knowledge-sharing purposes.
March 2010: P&C Insurers Turn to Tech to Attract Underwriters
Much has been written in recent months and years about carriers coping with an older workforce retiring. Insurers must devise a plan to both market to and attract this latest generation of workers, all while devising a strategy to retain the knowledge and experience of its exiting employees.
March 2010: Knowledge-Sharing Technology Could Boost Insurance Underwriter Recruiting
The shortage of experienced property/casualty insurance underwriters is growing as senior underwriters retire and the issue is keeping carrier executives up at night, according to an industry software provider that thinks it has an asnwer.
March 2010: Survey uncovers insurers' top worries about attracting, training talent
Insurers' top concerns include training and attracting a new generation of underwriters, according to a recent survey conducted by insurance software provider First Best Systems.
March 2010: Underwriting 2.0
FirstBest Systems engances agent/carrier electronic collaboration for commercial lines.
March 2010: Easier Said Than Done
The internet age has agents demanding better technology capabilities from insurance companies, but creating a user-friendly online experience has not been among carriers's tradional strengths. to win agents' hearts and minds, insurers increasingly are targeting ease of use.
March 2010: Electronic exchange aims to enhance placement process
Proponents of a planned online insurance exchange say the platform isn't meant to be a new way of conducting insurance business, but rather an up-to-date tool to conduct insurance business more effectively.
February 2010: Carriers Target Ease of Use, STP to Win Agents' Hearts and Minds
Perhaps no carrier better understands the two extremes of the ease-of-use maturity model than ICW Group. The San Diego-based carrier undoubtedly was frustrating its independent agents as recently as a few years ago, admits VP of workers' compensation Paul Zamora. When he joined the company in 2006, it did not offer any online capabilities around the quoting or submission of new business for workers' comp, he concedes.
February 2010: Breaking News: Insurance Exchange Finalized
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has selected FirstBest Systems, Inc., as the core technology partner for its new insurance exchange. The FirstBest technology solution will automate insurer distribution workflow, enabling agents and brokers to submit insurance applications in a one-step, real-time process and provide access to key market information and analytics for better decision-making.
February 2010: LexisNexis Risk Solutions Selects FirstBest to Power Insurance Exchange
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has selected FirstBest Systems, Inc., as the core technology partner for its new insurance exchange. The FirstBest technology solution will automate insurer distribution workflow, enabling agents and brokers to submit insurance applications in a one-step, real-time process and provide access to key market information and analytics for better decision-making.
February 2010: LexisNexis Risk Solutions Selects FirstBest to Power Insurance Exchange
LexisNexis Risk Solutions has selected FirstBest Systems, Inc., as the core technology partner for its new insurance exchange. The FirstBest technology solution will automate insurer distribution workflow, enabling agents and brokers to submit insurance applications in a one-step, real-time process and provide access to key market information and analytics for better decision-making.
January 2010: Technology Unleashes Underwriters From Desks
Ask many P&C insurance experts about points of interest right now, and you'll likely hear the word "agents" somewhere in the answer. Even a session on IT strategies in a cost-cutting environment at ISOTECH 2009 in November turned into a lengthy discussion about agents. More sophisticated technologies have hit the market over the past few years. Forte points to underwriting workstations, specifically from Accenture and FirstBest, as technology that enables collaboration between underwriters and agents.
December 3, 2009: FirstBest to Streamline Premium Audit and Loss Control in the Underwriting Process
FirstBest® Systems, Inc., provider of insurance software solutions that help Property & Casualty insurance carriers write more business and write better business, and Overland Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of premium audit, loss control and inspection services, today announced a strategic partnership that will allow insurers to simplify their underwriting process by electronically incorporating premium audit, loss control and inspection reports and delivering them in real-time directly to the underwriter's desktop.
November 17, 2009: New Product Announcements
FirstBest launched a new Web site that provides access to its Agent-Carrier Connection, a collaborative underwriting forum, and offers a library of industry articles, calendar of events, blog and more. It is free to carriers, agents, press, analysts and other industry members.
November 16, 2009: Forever Young
In the current market, according to Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, carriers have done some retrenching, but new-product development still remains a priority at growth-focused insurers. Additionally, many carriers are concerned with their ability to better manage the product portfolio.
November 11, 2009: New FirstBest Web Site Offers Forum, News Portal
FirstBest Systems, Inc., a provider of software solutions for property/casualty insurers, has launched a new Web site in conjunction with a news portal and interactive forum for relevant and timely information about collaborative underwriting in insurance.
October 19, 2009: FirstBest and MajescoMastek Team to Improve P&C Underwriting
In an effort to enable insurers to improve underwriting operations and ease of doing business with agents and brokers, MajescoMastek and FirstBest Systems Inc. announced a business alliance.
October 10, 2009: FirstBest, MajescoMastek Establish Business Alliance
Technology solutions providers MajescoMastek and FirstBest Systems, Inc., have announced a strategic partnership that will enable insurers to improve underwriting operations and ease of doing business with their agents and brokers.
October 2009: Gaining a Strategic Edge with Technology
The co-founders of FirstBest Systems, John Belizaire, Julian Pelenur and Joe Pilkerton, explain how their software fills a collaborative gap in underwriting and streamlines the process.
September 21, 2009: Web 2.0 Systems Facilitate Collaboration Among Key Agency, Underwriting Players
A shared platform with real-time tools helps partners work together while far apart.
July 2009: ICW Group Now offers Workers' Compensation Insurance in Illinois
The carrier said it has recently achieved a series of transformative milestones that have greatly enhanced its agent-focused business strategy.
June 2009: FirstBest Announces App Forms Reader and Dashboard Features
The FirstBest Agent solution provides carriers with all Agency-facing capabilities and enables a quicker path to market-driven ROI, as well as easy upgrade to the complete FirstBest Underwriting Management System.
June 2009: ICW Group Selects Valen Technologies for Analytics Solution
Upon successful completion and evaluation of the model, the Valen UnderRight predictive analytics solution may be integrated with ICW Group's existing systems and technology, including FirstBest's Underwriting Management System (UMS), which ICW Group has successfully rolled out to the marketplace under its Snap brand name, the joint source reports.
June 2009: AQS Partners With FirstBest To Help P&C Insurers Speed Application Process And Deliver Products To Market More Quickly
"The advanced technology of FirstBest will complement the policy administration capabilities and tools-based flexibility of AQS Access and AQS Advantage. It also will expand the ease with which agents can collaborate with us. The UMS underwriting rules configuration and its clearance capabilities -- combined with the adaptable configurability of our policy administration systems -- will enable companies to write business more efficiently." Bruce Davis, CMO, AQS.
June 2009: News from 2009 IASA Conference: AMERISAFE Goes Live on FirstBest UMS for Workers’ Comp
"The AMERISAFE/FirstBest relationship is a true partnership; FirstBest has met and exceeded our expectations from day one." Geoff Banta, Chief Operating Officer, AMERISAFE.
May 2009: Insurers Embrace the Magic of the Dashboard
The weather for this year’s Orlando-based ACORD/LOMA Systems Forum was decidedly un-Disney-like, with nearly continuous rain forcing conference-goers and vacationers alike to find alternate means of amusement as their children literally climbed the walls. That didn’t stop those on the show floor, however, from embracing the magic.
May 2009: FirstBest Launches Standalone Agency-facing Solution
FirstBest (Bedford, Mass.) has announced that it will offer FirstBest Agent as a standalone solution, apart from its flagship Underwriting Management System (UMS) solution.
May 2009: FirstBest Wins Vanguards in Insurance Best Practices
The third annual Vanguards in Insurance Program (VIP) produced some results that echoed previous years, plua a few new twists.
May 2009: Business Upgrade
When it comes to underwriting, John Belizaire admits that his background in enterprise software makes him something of an outsider. But that hasn't stopped the chief executive and founder of FirstBest Systems, Inc. from pushing his company toward what he views as an insider track.
April 2009: Get in Touch with Gen Y
Today’s senior ranks of insurance professionals are retiring at the pace of approximately one every 10 minutes, taking a wealth of experience and knowledge out of the profession at a startling pace. Agencies and insurance carriers alike now face a major challenge to attract, hire, train and retain Generation Y replacements, all while continuing to service an increasingly complex and pressured marketplace.
April 2009: Buyer's market: VC firms demanding greater oversight
Two local firms accomplished a rare feat this year. They got venture funding at terms both said weren’t onerous. NKT Therapeutics Inc. in Newton landed $8 million in Series A funding, while FirstBest Systems Inc. in Bedford secured $6 million in a B round. In both cases, finding a venture firm willing to part with money was the hard part.
April 2009: Soft Landing
Some insurance agents look at doing business through a carrier Web site or portal as a giant leap of faith, but carriers are finiding their partners enjoy the ease of doing business and the improved underwriting relationships these new solutions offer.
April 2009: Startup brings underwriters into the Information Age
Stepping into the offices of a commercial insurance carrier's underwriting department is like stepping back in time. Such an environment doesn't lend itself to today's need to adjust business strategies around endless streams of data. So in 2006, Belizaire and two of his partners formed Bedford-based FirstBest to provide underwriters in commercial insurance with up-to-the-minute data and analytics.
March 2009: Managing Risk
For most insurers, business intelligence means point solutions at best. But those carriers that weave analytics into the fabric of their organizations are equipped to drive more precision in pricing and greater profitability to the bottom line.
March 2009: FirstBest Gets second round worth $6M
FirstBest’s success with early customers has proven market demand, scalability and value proposition for its product, a software that automates workflow and applies business intelligence analytics to the underwriting decision-making process.
March 2009: FirstBest Picks UP $6M For Underwriting Software
FirstBest Systems Inc., a provider of underwriting software for the property and casualty insurance industry, has secured $6 million in Series B financing from its existing investors.
FirstBest Closes Series B Funding
FirstBest Systems Inc. said it has secured $6 million in Series B funding.
FirstBest Systems Banks $6M Series B Financing, Looks to Help Insurers Overcome Economic Slump
Here’s a firm that may see demand for its products increase due to adverse economics in its target market. FirstBest Systems, a Bedford, MA, provider of underwriting software that could help property and casualty insurers expand their businesses, says it has wrapped up a $6 million second round of financing to ensure its own growth.
March 2009: FirstBest Systems Closes $6 Million in Series B Funding Led by Flybridge Partners
FirstBest® Systems, Inc., developer of advanced insurance Underwriting Management Systems™ (UMS) that enable property and casualty insurance carriers to profit from better underwriting, today announced it has secured $6 million in Series B funding. Flybridge Capital Partners and Brookstone Partners led the round with participation from existing investors. The new funds will be used to expand sales and internal staffing, fuel marketing to new lines and increase development of UMS—a next-generation automated underwriting workstation combined with a rich agent portal.
March 2009: Underwriting for All Seasons
The recent and ongoing soft makret has pressured carriers into defensive positions while some analysts are offering hope that hardening will occur in some segments at least in the next year. With those conflicting viewpoints in mind, many insurance companies are asking what the right strategy is for now.
March 2009: FirstBest Systems, RiskMeter Partner on Program
More-accurate technology is helping risk managers at property and casualty insurance companies like ICW Group to ramp up service and build business.
February 2009: FirstBest Systems, RiskMeter Partner on Program
FirstBest Systems announced a new alliance with RiskMeter Online to integrate its real-time natural hazard risk reports into the FirstBest Underwriting Management Systems. This partnership will enable insurers to streamline the underwriting process by eliminating duplicate data entry, as well as reduce the back and forth cycles between underwriter and agent.
February 2009: Q&A with John Belizaire, CEO, FirstBest
Carriers that want to quote and bind business faster, and to make it easier for agents to work with them, can implemnt front-end technologies that enhance, ranther than replace, thier core systems.
Solutions - Enhanced Underwriting Management Systems
UMS Version 2.0 now offers full, rules-driven straight-through processing, including flexible online quotes for agents. Agents can upload and receive complete, bindable online quotes in seconds, and agency-automated letters of authority now allow carriers to decide when and for whom onlines quoting is available.
February 2009: Business Intelligence Makes Insurers More-Competitive Risk Managers
Analytic capabilities are central to the tactics and strategy of San Diego-based ICW Group Insurance Companies… ICW Group declines to discuss its full range of vendor solutions relating to BI and predictive analytics, but it acknowledges the codevelopment of its SNAP workers' compensation front-end new-business application with FirstBest Systems (Lexington, Mass.). The application is built on Java server technology on the back end and Adobe Flex on the front end, and runs on a MySQL database. SNAP incorporates predictive analytics, including new technology from Denver-based Valen Technologies. Launched in late 2007 and upgraded the following year, SNAP speeds the processing of workers' comp applications and renewals.
For additional media information or to schedule a briefing, please contact Meira Primes, VP of Marketing at 781-863-6000 or mediacenter@firstbest.com.
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