Moving with the times

So intoned Bob Dylan in his famous protest song of the 1960s – and so it is here with the financial services industry and disruptive technology.

With Fidelity Life raising $100 million to fund development of their digital capability, it’s perhaps worth taking some time to consider the issues.

For years now, life companies have been plagued by the speed at which technology evolves. No sooner has the board of directors approved the capital expenditure for the new processing system, CRM system, or work-flow engine, than those pesky innovators render the approved project obsolete.

With luck, only minimal capital has been deployed before the technology direction has to change. More than likely, it is too late to change tack as resources have been hired, money has been spent, and the game is afoot.