 Press Releases
Byron W. Smith Joins Quadrant Research and Development Team
Union City, California, October 12, 2009 - Quadrant Information Services Inc., announced today that Byron W. Smith,
ACAS, MAAA, has recently joined its Research and Development department as an actuarial consultant. In his new position,
Mr. Smith will be responsible for designing new modules, custom reports and key features for Quadrant's best-in-class
pricing Analytics tool, MapPro7. He will also play a key role in the design of new product offerings.
"One of our driving forces is ensuring our products provide meaningful information and reports to our customers", said
Michael Macauley, Quadrant's CEO. "With Byron on our team, we gain the in-house client perspective that will help us take
our tools to the next level."
Byron W. Smith brings with him 37 years of insurance experience, the last 24 of which as the head of the actuarial department
at three mid-sized personal lines insurance groups. Mr. Smith has extensive, well-rounded experience in the pricing and
regulation of personal lines insurance. He gives Quadrant an experienced home office perspective, having been in a decision-making
senior management position for so many years. Byron also served on the Board of Directors of the Highway Loss Data Institute.
About Quadrant:
For almost 20 years, Quadrant has been the foremost provider of enterprise-wide insurance solutions – from product analytics and
massive data solutions to a wide array of .NET based products. Quadrant’s reliable resources also provide fast and accurate
comparative rating for pricing analytics and Web services for a culture seeking tools to enable effective decision making based
on powerful insights and market intelligence. To learn more about MapPro7 or any of Quadrant’s Insurance Rating products, or to
schedule a personalized demo, please visit www.quadinfo.com or call (800) 499-4627.
We show you the way!
Press Contacts:
Shannon Clark Birdsong
Quadrant
(615) 452-8520
Quadrant Announces the Release of MapPro7, the Next Generation of Actuarial & Competitive Analytics Tools
MapPro7, the latest version of Quadrant’s best-in-class pricing analytics tools for Personal Lines Property and
Casualty Insurance, offers powerful new features including custom reports and a brand-new interface for a far superior
user experience
UNION CITY, CA, June 29, 2009 - Quadrant has announced the release of MapPro7, the latest version of the leading
actuarial and pricing analytics tools for the Personal Lines marketplace. Key enhancements provide superior decision
making tools and reports, a more intuitive user experience and upgraded performance.
"This major release includes unique features and modules, such as powerful custom reports, improved exporting capabilities
and a brand-new user interface. This was possible thanks not only our extensive research and commitment to innovation, but
also to the valuable feedback we receive from our growing customer base," said Michael Macauley, Quadrant's CEO.
MapPro7 allows users to access and analyze over 20,000 rate sets for Automobile and Homeowners Insurance in all 50 states
and D.C. It also delivers information on a granular level by incorporating all aspects of a quoting scenario, including
underwriting, tier, credit, rate factors, surcharges, discounts, pay plans and symbols.
Other features exclusive to this latest version of MapPro include:
- Pay plan analysis beyond premium and term analysis
- Census data filtering
- Automated credit and tier alignment
- Packaged rating
Ultimately, this technology enables customers to significantly decrease their market analysis costs, while quickly allowing
actuaries, as well as marketing and pricing departments, to competitively price business, generate impact studies and maximize
revenues and overall profitability.
"MapPro7 was developed using state of the art technologies," said Lawrence Koa, Quadrant’s CTO. "We utilized the Microsoft .NET
framework to ensure maximum compatibility with future Windows versions. This also enabled us to have this new version include
multithreaded processing, and optimal performance."
About Quadrant:
For almost 20 years, Quadrant has been the foremost provider of enterprise-wide insurance solutions – from product analytics and
massive data solutions to a wide array of .NET based products. Quadrant’s reliable resources also provide fast and accurate comparative
rating for pricing analytics and Web services for a culture seeking tools to enable effective decision making based on powerful
insights and market intelligence. To learn more about MapPro7 or any of Quadrant’s Insurance Rating products, or to schedule a
personalized demo, please visit www.quadinfo.com or call (800) 499-4627.
We show you the way!
Press Contacts:
Shannon Clark Birdsong
Quadrant
(615) 452-8520
(view full story)
"PROGRESSIVE IN-A-BOX" TRY IT FOR NO CHARGE! (07/30/08)
With Quadrant, you'll be providing competitive quote information in almost no time!! Quadrant has an extensive list of over 20,000 insurance carriers in our 50 state
library (auto and home) together with an established web services toolkit of the latest .NET framework. You'll be quoting and comparing to YOUR ADVANTAGE in no time!
And, there's relatively NO USER INTERFACE CHANGES required!! Send us the quote and we'll send back the competitive quote data! In a less than a second, the
shopper has their quote and you'll stop them from shopping any further!
Industry leaders are telling you that the comparison is KEY for the shopper. Isn't it time to get in the game!?
We show you the way!
Press Contacts:
Shannon Clark Birdsong
Quadrant
(615) 452-8520
RealRate ToolKit - Insurance-in-a-Box (08/17/08)
Quadrant can help you solve your product implementation, growth and change issues by enabling you to quickly define the rates, rules, tables, screens, and documentation for all your property and casualty products now and in the future.
Our RealRate technologies platform is a complete rules-based, object driven rating mega-resource that lets internal users, consumers, agents, call centers, and analysts work together collaboratively to make, market, modify, distribute, underwrite and purchase most any type of insurance. With the power of the engine and its C++, COM and ASP based resources and a standard platform using SQL and XML, we provide the robust environment needed for today’s insurer. Our product line is also Internet/Intranet capable for regional support and to fulfill your research directives.
As a core technology platform, one based on flexibility, accuracy and fast policy issuance, both single carrier granularity along with the capacity for comparative analysis and presentation are functions that can be called upon in most any Web environment. This toolkit enables users to visually edit the data elements (rules, algorithms, tables, screens, and documentation) of a product with speed, detail and efficiencies not found in other platforms. With associated editing tools, the RealRate toolkit is built with the non-programmer in mind. It is easy to use, but more importantly it has the horsepower to handle most any variable both current and in the future.
Quadrant gives you the flexibility to determine if you want to control your own product with your own staff, or have Quadrant help create and maintain the files for you. So, whether you need to bring your current systems to the Web or have the flexibility to create, implement and deliver new insurance products to an ever emerging potential market, Quadrant is your truest choice.
These flexible solutions enable you to manage your portfolio of insurance products, and solve your company’s product definition and delivery challenges.
With RealRate technologies platform, you can:
• Reduce the cost and time required to develop, Web-enable, and manage complex product services such as rating, underwriting, and policy administration.
• Increase the quality of your product services without the encumbrances of a "black-box" legacy rating and underwriting engine.
• Grow your products through existing and emerging markets with a wide array of flexible implementations.
• Demonstrate speed to market, power of choice comparison rating.
• Enable greater profitability and policy volume by providing quote to bind online technologies with integrated 3rd Party Validation.
• Complete rules-based engine for ‘virtual’ online accurate and flexible underwriting, submission and processing services to an ever expanding point of sale opportunity basket.
We would like to demonstrate our "RealRate Model". The Model is not just "rating" but a compilation of automation tools, rating tools, rules-based tools and data warehouse of granular and competitive available immediately and currently on a national basis that can be used to help manage information, pricing and point-of-sale on a national basis.
We show you the way!
Press Contacts:
Shannon Clark Birdsong
Quadrant
(615) 452-8520
(view full story)
 News
InsWeb Launches Industry-First Auto Insurance Quote Tool (12/16/2008)
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec 16, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- InsWeb Corporation (INSW : insweb corp com new INSW
2.15, 0.00, 0.0%) announced today that it has launched a new online car insurance quoting tool that allows consumers to instantly view car insurance estimates based on up-to-date industry rate data. Consumers are required to provide only seven pieces of information -- zip code, age, gender, marital status and vehicle year, make and model -- and they are instantly provided with an estimate of the best available car insurance rate, as well as the median rate returned from the list of providers included in the rating database. Unlike other online car insurance estimation tools, InsWeb's tool is updated weekly with the latest car insurance rate data from the nation's leading insurers.
Once consumers have viewed their car insurance estimates, they then have the option to complete a more detailed form in order to receive multiple personalized quotes from an average of four top-rated insurance providers. Consumers can also view a list of local car insurance agents, as well as a list of national car insurance providers serving their area.
"Consumers who shop online for car insurance are looking for helpful tools, money-saving tips and fast quotes," says Brad Cooper, Senior Vice President of Marketing at InsWeb. "With the launch of our new instant quoting tool, InsWeb now provides the most complete car insurance shopping solution on the Internet."
About InsWeb
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Sacramento, CA, InsWeb (INSW : INSW 2.15, 0.00, 0.0%) Corporation operates a top-rated online insurance marketplace. InsWeb's primary Web properties include InsWeb.com, where consumers can view independent research and quickly compare actionable insurance quotes from multiple providers, and AgentInsider.com, a leading online marketing source for insurance agents. For more information about InsWeb, visit www.insweb.com.
To view InsWeb's new instant quoting tool, visit
http://www.insweb.com/quickquote/quickquote.html.
Source:
InsWeb Corporation (view full story)
Auto Insurers Fail to Catch Most New Shoppers: J.D. Power (09/16/08 )
On average, auto insurance companies quote and successfully sign only two percent of all auto insurance shoppers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Insurance Escaped Shopper Study.
The study finds that 36 percent of auto insurance customers have actively shopped for a new insurer in the past year but these shoppers ignored key insurance brands when they shopped.
The study examines the behaviors of auto insurance customers who recently shopped for a new insurance company. The study, which aims to better understand why shoppers either avoided, ignored or considered but did not purchase from insurance companies, also profiles 26 of the largest personal auto insurers in the United States.
"While it is surprising to learn that most auto insurance companies only capture two percent of shoppers, the reality is that the majority of shoppers in the market are either unaware of a particular insurance company or choose to ignore them for one reason or another," said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of the insurance practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "Unwillingness to consider a brand is generally caused by a previous experience with a company, a lack of bundled or desired options, or feedback from friends and family. In particular, the impact of recommendations and referrals is critical to whether or not a prospective customer will even consider an insurance company."
On average, 38 percent of shoppers do not recognize various insurance companies examined in the study, while an additional 39 percent of shoppers ignore certain companies during their shopping process, completely excluding them from their consideration set. Additionally, 6 percent of shoppers avoid the average insurance company and indicate that they would never consider them for their insurance needs. Overall, only 18 percent of prospective customers consider any given insurance company when they shop.
"What's most significant is that less than one-half of all shoppers who investigate or research an insurance company never ask for a quote," said Bowler. "Since most insurance companies only gather personal information as part of the quote process, they have a very narrow view of the marketplace. Insurers have no way to measure how many more prospects escaped earlier in the shopping process -- whether they were driven away by a cumbersome quote process, a non-responsive agent or misconceptions about price or service quality."
The study also finds that most prospective customers who consider an insurance company but do not request a quote gather information via the Internet, with more than 60 percent visiting the insurance company's Web site or responding to an Internet advertisement or blog posting. Insurance companies lose more prospective customers, on average, through the Web channel compared with telephone and in-person sales channels. In fact, traditional phone and in-person sales channels achieve a 52 percent close rate, on average, while online channels successfully close sales less than 20 percent of the time.
"One interesting competitive tactic being implemented in the industry is for one insurer to offer quotes for multiple competitors," said Bowler. "One in three shoppers who receive a competitor quote from the company they are currently investigating don't bother to call or visit that competing company directly to obtain a real quote from them. This suggests that those insurance companies who implement this strategy are successfully directing shoppers away from their competition before these competitors even know they were being considered by a consumer."
The 2008 Insurance Escaped Shopper Study is based on responses from more than 8,400 auto insurance shoppers. The study was fielded in April 2008.
Sources:
J.D. Power and Associates
www.JDPower.com
The McGraw-Hill Companies (view full story)
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