A concern shared by the major insurance-consulting firms'clients is the impact recent and ongoing regulatory actions willhave on the industry, including the move toward a moreinternational accounting standard; the work that is continuing as aresult of Dodd-Frank; and other changes that may be introduced bythe National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) or theFederal Insurance Office in the next few years.

Ernst & Young's clients are asking, “How will we meet whatwill be a lot more significant and timely demand for data and notkill ourselves from a profitability perspective?” says InsuranceAdvisory Practice Leader Dave Hollander.

As a result, Hollander says, clients want to create strategiesdesigned to make their information a lot more accessible andtransparent, regardless of what those future information demandsmay entail.

“We know that change is coming, but we still really don't have agood handle on what the changes will be,” says Rebecca Amoroso,Deloitte's U.S. insurance leader. “One change we do know is comingis that NAIC has actually pushed up the implementation date forORSA [Own Risk and Solvency Assessment].”

Deloitte has people who are very close to the NAIC, she says, aswell as former regulators who stay in touch with current regulatorsso it can provide clients regular insight, such as Howard Mills,the former superintendent of the New York Insurance Department andnow a director and chief advisor to Deloitte's Insurance IndustryPractice.