It should come as no surprise insurers on both the life/health and property/casualty sides of the aisle believe growing the business is the top business issue for 2010. But growth's traditional counterpoint–cost reduction–seems to be more on the minds of life/health insurers, according to Celent's “2010 CIO Survey: Pressures, Priorities, and Strategies.”

Eighty-seven percent of property/casualty insurers list growth as the top business issue for this year, with 80 percent of the life/health side following suit. From there, though, the order of priorities veers off.

For property/casualty insurers, the second priority is ease of doing business with producers (74 percent) followed by increasing profitability (42 percent), cost reduction (39 percent), agility (35 percent), and ease of doing business with prospects and policyholders (23 percent).