New Life and Annuity Deals Bring Wellness Into Fold

Life insurers could use mergers and acquisitions to expand into the life extension business.

Capgemini, a consulting firm, recently predicted in a trend forecast review that “wellness as a service” efforts could lead to M&A activity as well as alliances.

John Hancock has an established wellness program alliance with Vitality. Capgemini cited Prudential Financial’s recent move to use a Vitality-based wellness program in Latin America as an example of an interesting new life insurance company wellness effort.

Samantha Chow, Capgemini’s global leader for the life, annuity and benefits sector, said in a recent email interview that a wellness-based strategy is an example of an approach for supporting clients throughout their entire lives.

“Consumers are drawn towards bundling not just for savings, but rather for the convenience of having everything in one place,” Chow said. “Take the workplace as an example. Today, we see multiple providers for employee benefits, investments, insurance: auto, home and life. How can we consolidate these services?”

What it means: Pressure to offer cradle-to-grave solutions may intensify.

The wellness strategy: Chow said the wellness-based efforts are partly related to younger people’s interest in living longer and partly to carriers’ interest in promoting financial health.