Aviva increases new business referrals by more than 40 percent

Since its founding in 2002, Aviva has become one of the largest insurers in the world. Headquartered in London, the company provides retirement investment, fund management and insurance products. It employs approximately 36,000 people and serves nearly 50 million customers in more than 25 countries.

Challenge
Aviva conducts approximately 60 percent of its business through independent financial advisors (IFAs). These IFAs offer independent advice on financial matters to their customers and recommend suitable financial instruments from a range of companies.

In 2013, a new financial regulation is scheduled for implementation in the United Kingdom. Called Retail Distribution Review (RDR), it will change the way that IFAs do business. They will no longer be allowed to receive commissions from the businesses they represent. To continue attracting accounts through IFAs, Aviva recognized it had to offer other compelling incentives.

The company wanted to make it as easy as possible for IFAs to sell Aviva financial and insurance products by offering an exceptional, engaging web experience. It sought an attractive, easy-to-use solution that would better support how individual IFAs conduct business and encourage return visits to the site with enhanced access to post-sales services.

Solution
Already an IBM WebSphere^® platform client, Aviva turned to IBM Business Partner Ascendant Technology Europe AG (Atech) to provide a solution built on IBM software. The company wanted an IBM solution because IBM products for social business are based largely on cross-platform, open industry standards, facilitating successful integration with both existing Aviva systems and those acquired through mergers and acquisitions

Atech helped Aviva launch a new IFA site, which centralizes and consolidates content and dramatically simplifies navigation. At the heart of the solution is IBM WebSphere Portal Server technology, providing user interaction with applications, processes and information. IBM Web Experience Factory Designer software was used to develop the core screens accessible by the IFAs.

To support the company’s stated brand objective, “No one recognizes you like Aviva,” the advisor portal was designed to allow each IFA to personalize the site to support the way he or she conducts business. The portal also enables user recognition for dynamic, targeted content and displays an interactive dashboard for an up-to-date view of recent activity with flagging to indicate where action is required.

IFAs can quote and apply for Aviva products online and track the progress of new business they have submitted for their customers. Using “My Clients” functionality, IFAs can search across their customer base and review individual customer portfolios for policy information, transaction history, valuations and other key content. Upgraded reporting functionality even allows IFAs to customize reports for individual customers or customer groups.

Benefits
• Increased registered users by more than 60 percent in the two years following launch of the portal
• Elevated the number of visits to the site by 52 percent, with policy valuations more than doubling
• Raised overall new business submissions from IFAs by approximately 40 percent

For more information
To learn more about IBM software for portals and mashups, contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit:
ibm.com/software/lotus/category/portals.