Future prospects of growth in this segment

Insurance As The Most Growing Industry Of Tomorrow

When it comes to choosing a growing industry of tomorrow, many individuals choose to enter the insurance industry due to the prospective growth of the field. When considering insurance as the most growing industry in the nation for the immediate future, many individuals have found that the opportunities in the industry are quite lucrative for the right individuals. If an individual is interested in becoming a part of the insurance industry, there is no better time than now to enter the market.

One of the reasons that the insurance industry has seen such tremendous growth over the last few years and is forecasted to increase even further in the near future is the number of different branches in the insurance industry. Insurance has come a long way from just covering healthcare and homes as it did twenty years ago. Now individuals can purchase insurance for a large number of items, from travel to pets to individual body parts.

Another reason that the insurance industry has grown so in recent years is that now insurance is required for many more things than it was in the past. In many states in the nation, it is now considered illegal to drive without car insurance and an individual could lose their driver’s license if they are caught by the authorities to be driving without car insurance or proof of financial responsibility. Today, it is also nearly impossible to obtain quality healthcare without proof of medical insurance to show to a physician or urgent care center.

As individuals become more concerned about being able to replace the items that are valuable to them in the event of loss or theft, more of them are purchasing insurance policies for those items, including electronics, art, alternate transportation devices, and pets. These insurance policies are generally purchased from and issued by companies that specialize in that specific area of the insurance industry. As these types of optional policies become more common, many individuals choose to open insurance firms catering to these niche markets in areas where these services are desired.

Because insurance is considered a growing industry of tomorrow, many individuals are jumping on the insurance bandwagon now. To become a broker in the insurance industry, an individual must obtain specialized schooling to learn the ins and outs of the insurance industry and obtain an insurance license. These insurance licenses are not specialized to a specific sector of the insurance industry, so individuals that obtain their insurance license can obtain employment in any sector of the industry that they choose.

The number of individuals employed in the insurance industry is projected to increase at an exponential rate as more types of insurance become available and individuals choose to insure more aspects of their life. Individuals that have learned to serve the niche markets will be in high demand and will be able to command a higher salary than the individuals with a basic knowledge of the insurance industry. Joining the fastest growing industry of tomorrow in the productive stages now will ensure that the individual reaps the rewards of insurance as the most growing industry in the nation.

SIGNIFICANT POINTS
While corporate downsizing, productivity increases due to new technology, and increasing use of direct mail, telephone, and Internet sales will limit job growth in this large industry, numerous job openings will arise from the need to replace those who leave or retire.
Growing areas of the insurance industry are medical services and health insurance, and expansion into other financial services such as securities and mutual funds.
Office and administrative occupations usually require a high school diploma, whereas employers prefer college graduates for sales, managerial, and professional jobs.

NATURE OF THE INDUSTRY

The insurance industry provides protection against financial losses resulting from a variety of perils. By purchasing insurance policies, individuals and businesses can receive reimbursement for losses due to car accidents, theft of property, and fire and storm damage; medical expenses; and loss of income due to disability or death.
The insurance industry consists mainly of insurance carriers (or insurers ) and insurance agencies and brokerages. In general, insurance carriers are large companies that provide insurance and assume the risks covered by the policy. Insurance agencies and brokerages sell insurance policies for the carriers. While some of these establishments are directly affiliated with a particular insurer and sell only that carrier’s policies, many are independent and are thus free to market the policies of a variety of insurance carriers. In addition to supporting these two primary components, the insurance industry includes establishments that provide other insurance-related services, such as claims adjustment or third-party administration of insurance and pension funds.
Insurance carriers assume the risk associated with annuities and insurance policies and assign premiums to be paid for the policies. In the policy, the carrier states the length and conditions of the agreement, exactly which losses it will provide compensation for, and how much will be awarded. The premium charged for the policy is based primarily on the amount to be awarded in case of loss, as well as the likelihood that the insurance carrier will actually have to pay. In order to be able to compensate policyholders for their losses, insurance companies invest the money they receive in premiums, building up a portfolio of financial assets and income-producing real estate which can then be used to pay off any future claims that may be brought. There are two basic types of insurance carriers: direct and reinsurance. Direct carriers are responsible for the initial underwriting of insurance policies and annuities, while reinsurance carriers assume all or part of the risk associated with the existing insurance policies originally underwritten by other insurance carriers.
Direct insurance carriers offer a variety of insurance policies. Life insurance provides financial protection to beneficiaries—usually spouses and dependent children—upon the death of the insured. Disability insurance supplies a preset income to an insured person who is unable to work due to injury or illness, and health insurance pays the expenses resulting from accidents and illness. An annuity (a contract or a group of contracts that furnishes a periodic income at regular intervals for a specified period) provides a steady income during retirement for the remainder of one’s life. Property-casualty insurance protects against loss or damage to property resulting from hazards such as fire, theft, and natural disasters. Liability insurance shields policyholders from financial responsibility for injuries to others or for damage to other people’s property. Most policies, such as automobile and homeowner’s insurance, combine both property-casualty and liability coverage. Companies that underwrite this kind of insurance are called property-casualty carriers.
Some insurance policies cover groups of people, ranging from a few to thousands of individuals. These policies usually are issued to employers for the benefit of their employees or to unions, professional associations, or other membership organizations for the benefit of their members. Among the most common policies of this nature are group life and health plans. Insurance carriers also underwrite a variety of specialized types of insurance, such as real-estate title insurance, employee surety and fidelity bonding, and medical malpractice insurance.
A relatively recent act of Congress allows insurance carriers and other financial institutions, such as banks and securities firms, to sell one another’s products. As a result, more insurance carriers now sell financial products such as securities, mutual funds, and various retirement plans. This approach is most common in life insurance companies that already sell annuities; however, property and casualty companies also are increasingly selling a wider range of financial products. In order to expand into one another’s markets, insurance carriers, banks, and securities firms have engaged in numerous mergers, allowing the merging companies access to each other’s client base and geographical markets.
Insurance carriers have discovered that the Internet can be a powerful tool for reaching potential and existing customers. Most carriers use the Internet simply to post company information, such as sales brochures and product information, financial statements, and a list of local agents. However, an increasing number of carriers are starting to expand their Web sites to enable customers to access online account and billing information, and a few carriers even allow claims to be submitted online. Some carriers also provide insurance quotes online based on the information submitted by customers on their Internet sites. In the future, carriers will allow customers to purchase policies through the Internet without ever speaking to a live agent.
In addition to individual carrier-sponsored Internet sites, several “lead-generating” sites have emerged. These sites allow potential customers to input information about their insurance policy needs. For a fee, the sites forward customer information to a number of insurance companies, which review the information and, if they decide to take on the policy, contact the customer with an offer. This practice gives consumers the freedom to accept the best rate.
The insurance industry also includes a number of independent organizations that provide a wide array of insurance-related services to carriers and their clients. One such service is the processing of claims forms for medical practitioners. Other services include loss prevention and risk management. Also, insurance companies sometimes hire independent claims adjusters to investigate accidents and claims for property damage and to assign a dollar estimate to the claim.
Other organizations in the industry are formed by groups of insurance companies, to perform functions that would result in a duplication of effort if each company carried them out individually. For example, service organizations are supported by insurance companies to provide loss statistics, which the companies use to set their rates.
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Wage and salary employment in the insurance industry is projected to grow about 10 percent between 2004 and 2014, compared to the 14 percent growth projected for wage and salary employment in all industries combined. While demand for insurance is expected to rise, corporate downsizing, productivity increases due to new technology, and increasing use of direct mail, telephone, and Internet sales will limit job growth. However, some job growth will result from the industry’s expansion into the broader financial services field, and employment in the medical service and health insurance areas is anticipated to grow. Also, thousands of openings are expected to arise in this large industry to replace workers who leave the industry, retire, or stop working for other reasons.
Medical service and health insurance is the fastest growing sector of the insurance industry. In recent years, increasing health insurance premiums and relatively high unemployment have left some unable to afford health insurance, but over the long term, significant growth is expected. As the share of the elderly population rises, more people are expected to buy health insurance and long-term-care insurance, as well as annuities and other types of pension products sold by insurance sales agents. If legislation is passed to make health insurance affordable to more people, demand should increase further for this type of insurance. Population growth will stimulate demand for auto insurance and homeowners insurance. Population growth also will create demand for businesses to service the needs of more people, and these businesses will need insurance as well. Moreover, large liability awards are motivating growing numbers of individuals and businesses to purchase liability policies to protect against lawsuits brought by people claiming injury or damage from a product.
Many successful insurance companies will recognize the Internet’s potential as a powerful marketing tool. Not only might this reduce costs for insurance companies, but it also could enable many clients to turn to the Internet first to get information on their policies, obtain quotes, or submit claims. As insurance companies begin to offer more information and services on the Internet, employment in some occupations, such as insurance sales agent, could be adversely affected.
Sales agents working in the property and casualty market, particularly in auto insurance, will be most affected by increasing reliance on the Internet. Auto policies are relatively straightforward and can be issued more easily without the involvement of a live agent. Also, auto premiums tend to cost more per year than do other types of policies, so people are more likely to shop around for the best price. The Internet makes it easier to compare rates among companies.
Insurance companies will continue to face increased competition from banks and securities firms entering the insurance markets. As more of these firms begin to sell insurance policies, increasing numbers of insurance sales agents will be employed in them, rather than in insurance companies. In order to stay competitive, insurance companies have begun to expand their financial service offerings or to establish partnerships with banks or brokerage firms.
Productivity gains caused by the greater use of computer software will continue to limit the growth of certain jobs within the insurance industry. For example, the use of underwriting software that automatically analyzes and rates insurance applications will limit the employment growth of underwriters. Also, computers linked directly to the databases of insurance carriers and other organizations have made communications easier among sales agents, adjusters, and insurance carriers, so that all have become much more productive. Furthermore, efforts to contain costs have led to an increasing reliance on customer service representatives to deal with the day-to-day processing of policies and claims. In addition, the Internet has made insurance investigators more productive by drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to perform background checks and by allowing investigators to handle an increasing number of cases, thus limiting their employment growth.
Sales agents and adjusters still are needed to meet face-to-face with clients, many of whom prefer to talk directly with an agent, especially regarding complicated policies. Opportunities will be best for sales agents who sell more than one type of insurance or financial service. Adjusters will still be needed to inspect damage and interview witnesses, and although the number of available jobs for actuaries will be limited due to the small size of the occupation, employment opportunities should be good as stringent qualifying requirements resulting from the examination system limit the number of new entrants.