A new survey shows the European life insurance industry is making headway with systems consolidation while U.S. carriers work to catch up.

When Accenture took on a study of systems consolidation in the life insurance industry, Dave Hollander, managing director of the consultancy's life and annuity practice, would not have guessed the level of consolidation would be as significant as Accenture discovered. The number of business benefits insurers are achieving from these consolidations also was a surprise, he claims.

The Accenture study found 63 percent of life insurers polled have either consolidated some of their systems or are in the process of doing so. In addition, the study showed these insurers are reporting a 19 percent reduction in operational costs, a 25 percent savings in IT application and infrastructure costs, and a 35 percent improvement in speed to market. "The magnitude of the benefits, particularly in Europe, is significant," says Hollander. "The payoff is there."

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