SURVEY FINDS
INSURANCE INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES
NOT SURPRISED BY U.S. ALLEGATIONS
OF CORPORATE WRONGDOING
– Technology and Employee Training Cited as Key Remedies to Ensure Transparency & Visibility Going Forward –
RESTON, Va. – February 17, 2005 – Q.Know Technologies Inc., a global provider of information management software, today announced the findings of its information transparency survey, conducted jointly with Reactions/US Insurer magazine.
The survey responses were provided by more than 270 executives from the insurance and reinsurance industries. As allegations of bid-rigging and inappropriate contingency fees emanated from the New York Attorney General’s office, the survey was conducted to gauge industry perspective of senior executives, as well as the impact the U.S. crack down was having on their companies.
The root of the problem for many was the lack of transparency into electronic communication, mainly e-mail, which belied inappropriate practices in some cases. Forty-seven percent (47%) of respondents conveyed they were either "somewhat" or "not at all" confident that their organization had access and visibility to all electronic documentation required to meet full compliance.
At the same time, 70 percent revealed that they were aware of alleged practices of bidrigging, of which 21 percent "saw it coming." An overwhelming 82 percent believe that all fee and contingency arrangements should in the future be disclosed. Responses were divided as to how disruptive the investigations have been to their company overall – Not at All (50 %), Only Slightly (35%), Considerably (12%), Greatly (3%).
Respondents placed a high priority on the ability to access detailed information on quotes and offers, as well as creating a clear audit trail on all offers, bids and completed transactions.
Sixty-eight percent (68%) revealed that they are now in the process of changing their best practices policies. They disclosed that employee training and new technologies were the top two priorities currently either being considered or deployed to protect their company in this environment. Twenty-two percent (22%) said that new compliance and client demands would require new technologies.
"It is not that the industry has failed to employ new technologies to bring greater control to information management," said Vineet Kalucha, president and chief executive officer of Q.Know Technologies, Inc. "So often, new ‘technology solutions’ let the industry down with products that went over budget and over schedule. They still failed to address the root of the problem with a simplistic approach that users could easily adopt and internal IT departments could easily support."
The most important objectives when evaluating new information management technologies include:
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Automatic information filing – reducing the burden on the user
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Automatic organization of all related information – ensuring files are easily retrieved by all relevant parties, regardless of location
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Fully integrated workspaces – eliminating user need to launch a separate application for collaboration and sharing
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Version control for all file types – enabling the ability to track revisions and control audit trails for every file
"Once information and electronic communication is harnessed and leveraged as ongoing corporate knowledge, transparency, disclosure and compliance become natural by-products of enforceable and trackable best practices," said Mr. Kalucha.
Q.Know Technologies, Inc. develops software that solves the most challenging problem in business computing – the ability to automatically and accurately file, retrieve, manage and share unstructured electronic information. The result is instant access to enterprise-wide information, real-time deal visibility, ensured regulatory compliance and improved customer satisfaction. Q.Know works seamlessly across existing applications, such as Microsoft Outlook® and Office®, and is quickly implemented and easily learned. For more information, please visit www.qknow.com.
For complete survey results and downloadable survey graphics, please visit www.qknow.com/news/media_tools.mspx.
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