They Know They Need It. They Just Aren't Being Asked: Ameritas CEO Bob Jurgensmeier on Why the Gap Persists

Paul Tyler (00:04) Hi, I'm Paul Tyler, and welcome to another episode, a very special episode, of the L&A Hub podcast. We're here from the floor of the LIMRA Annual Conference, and we're talking about the life protection gap with some of the top leaders in the industry. And here to my right, to introduce our next guest, is Tina Beckwith, Chief Marketing Officer for LIMRA. Tina.

Tina Beckwith (00:33) Thank you so much. And to talk to us about why this gap exists, we're here with Bob Jurgensmeier, CEO at Ameritas. So Bob, thank you so much for being here.

Bob Jurgensmeier (00:43) My pleasure. Great, you know, love the topic, and definitely part of our conversation at Ameritas as well.

Tina Beckwith (00:48) So I can only imagine, because you've spent most of your career on the actuarial side before becoming CEO, and you now serve on LL Global's board of directors. Taking into account your actuarial experience and all the research, why do you think this gap exists?

Bob Jurgensmeier (01:08) Well, you know, as I kind of put those two things together, first of all, the actuarial side of it, actually Dave talked about it this morning in the opening session: it's demographics. That's the reality for us. We've got an aging population, we've got the marriage trends, we've got delayed parenthood, and all those things are not exactly super positive for the life business. But what I like is the research side, which tells a more uplifting story for us: there's this massive need there. And what I also like is not just that there's a need, but the research says the people know they need it. They believe they need it. And so I think that's the exciting part.

And so even though they know they need it, why do we still have the gap? I don't think it's about a lack of messaging. Life Insurance Awareness Month has been around. So many great messages, so many powerful personal stories, but they're just not reaching the right ears in the end, or at least enough of them. And so for me, too many people that have the need, they know it, they just aren't being asked. And some of that is about not showing up where they're at, whether that's showing up in their digital life, with social media, now AI, those kinds of things, whether it's their workplace, whether it's in their local communities. And so I think when we show up where they're at, we've got a chance to deliver those great messages, and then maybe make taking action a little bit easier than it has been for them.

James Caparosa (02:45) So yeah, that's a great answer, a good perspective on the coverage gap and how you're thinking about it. I've always been curious, from a carrier perspective: when you're thinking about the next investable dollar in the business, how does that translate to how you're thinking about your investments back into the product, back into the business, to help cover that gap that exists in the market?

Bob Jurgensmeier (03:08) Well, you know, to that, I am a finance guy at heart. But I think we are like most companies: we are looking to grow our business.

James Caparosa (03:16) True.

Bob Jurgensmeier (03:17) And to do that, you're looking for needs in the marketplace. So I don't see any kind of conflict between where we want to invest our dollars and this huge need that's out there. They line up really well. I think you ask any entrepreneur, the whole secret sauce is finding a need and then having a business that can deliver value to that customer who has a need and deliver value to your business at the same time. And that is the formula across any of our businesses. We are a diversified company. Across those businesses, we're just trying to meet needs. We're a mutual company. Delivering value to the policyholders in one way or another is what we're trying to do. It's how we live our purpose. And so we look at the life insurance business and this need that we talked about. The gap is huge. So there is a growth opportunity. If we see an opportunity to make investments toward that, that's appealing. Also appealing, obviously, to meet some of the other needs that are out there: retirement income, income protection, and more on the health side, dental and vision benefits. So all those are needs, and maybe sometimes competing. But I'd also say when we're meeting some of those other needs, it does open some doors for us to ultimately meet that life insurance need as well.

James Caparosa (04:40) I think anytime you take that focus on a customer and put the dollars back there, it's a recipe for success.

Paul Tyler (04:45) Well, Bob, you mentioned, and I really like that: meet the customer, meet the individual where they are. And obviously you have a huge presence in the workplace. It's an opportunity, but it's also challenging, because people who are doing workplace benefits aren't necessarily talking about individual life insurance. What's the recipe to drive more individual sales?

Bob Jurgensmeier (05:09) Well, first of all, there is opportunity there, and I'd say it's largely untapped as well. And so for us, I look at that opportunity as kind of a combination of a theme around trust and a theme about being where our customers are at, and that's in the workplace relationship. I do think there's great trust with the employer, the workplace. People are used to getting benefit advice and decisions through that relationship. So there is a natural extension. And for us, as not necessarily a national household brand, this introduction to, like you said, millions of households is a door opener for us.

And it's not as simple as it seems sometimes. I think there are actually some regulatory aspects that make it harder than it probably should be, as well as some distribution aspects. On the regulatory side, especially when you talk about the health part of our workplace business, which is dental and vision, there are limitations, privacy, that kind of thing, where we really can't market to our own customers on some of these other things. So those are kind of initial limitations, but ultimately it is where the customers are at. We're not necessarily in direct worksite marketing of life products, but I know that is an opportunity to meet customers where they're at. And for us, step one: build some great trust with these customers through the relationship, whether it's through the retirement plan, whether it's through dental and vision. And if we earn that trust, we do hope there's a door that's open down the road for the life insurance opportunity.

Paul Tyler (06:55) Yeah, yeah. It all starts with trust: the employer trusts the provider. But as you say, we all want to make life insurance simple, and there are a lot of reasons why it's not.

Bob Jurgensmeier (07:05) I agree.

Paul Tyler (07:06) Tina?

Tina Beckwith (07:07) Yeah. And you know, LIMRA's Barometer research has identified that some of the top reasons people don't buy are that they sometimes don't think they need it or it's not for them, they may not have a clear path to buy it, or they think it's too expensive. Where do you think the industry needs to focus, and maybe has underinvested in the past, in terms of how people can access coverage from carriers?

Bob Jurgensmeier (07:42) Yeah. What I would say is I think all three of those reasons are real, at least on the perception side. And I'd start with the one that's probably the biggest myth, which is the affordability side, at least for this huge part of the coverage gap that is the younger customer and the healthy customer. I think the research would tell us sometimes they estimate what it would cost to be like 10x what it really costs. So I think the affordability part is ultimately a myth for a lot of the people that need this coverage. And so I think we do need to work on getting them introduced to the real story there.

The need? I mean, there are certainly some demographics that may need it more or less than others, but again, the research tells us there are so many people that already believe they need it. I don't even need to convince them. So those are the easy majority of that group, and I'll start there. For them, it's really just having the convenient opportunity to buy. And so it's meeting them where they're at, again, whether it's the workplace, whether it's digital, whether it's just investing, like we are investing in agents and investing in tools that show up where they're at. So to me, it's more the opportunity to buy.

Paul Tyler (09:10) Yeah. Bob, thanks so much for taking a few minutes out of an important event like this. From your perspective as a board member, any pieces of advice or recommendations you'd give the industry as we head into 2027?

Bob Jurgensmeier (09:22) You know, I think it's just taking advantage of this opportunity. When you have a market where there is a need, and most of the consumers actually know they have it and believe they need it, it is on us to go meet them where they're at and find a way to serve that.

Paul Tyler (09:40) Yeah. And Tina, from a research standpoint, where should people go? How do they leverage LIMRA?

Tina Beckwith (09:46) Yeah, absolutely. All the research that we've talked about and that you were referencing is available on LIMRA.com.

Paul Tyler (09:52) All right. Well, thanks so much. Thanks for listening to the show. And be sure to watch for all the podcasts we'll be releasing over the next few weeks with great leaders like Bob.

Bob Jurgensmeier (10:01) Thanks. All right, thanks for having me.

Tina Beckwith (10:03) Thank you.