The program space has grown 32.8% since 2018 and continues to be an important part of our industry. 

Thank you Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) and Advisen for providing such valuable program insight during this interesting time.

Click here to read the full report. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an undeniable impact on all sectors including the insurance industry. As the global health issue brought uncertainty and took toll on the economy, the program business demonstrated its resilience and maintained its growth mindset.

Despite reporting a slowdown in the growth of premiums administered and a decline in renewal rates, program administrators remained optimistic, according to The TMPAA State of Program Business Study 2021. “We remain bullish and optimistic on program business overall and are excited to get our production and revenue back on pre2020 footing and growth moving forward,” is a comment echoed by many administrator and carrier respondents in the commentary section.

Administrators and carriers powered through the pandemic, shifting easily to a work-from-home set-up, operating with very little interruption, and even improving productivity. The global lockdown did not deter program business from delivering clients’ needs virtually. This performance is seen as one of the major reasons why customer retention levels remained steady amid the challenging environment.

Members of the Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) who participated in the poll look to continue the tremendous growth of the program space. Administrators shared their plans of introducing new programs. An overwhelming percentage of carriers surveyed anticipate adding programs and increasing premiums written in the next three years.

Another key event that had a transformative impact on the insurance industry was the wave of social unrest and protests that erupted in 2020, which appeared to have a greater impact on carriers than their administrator peers.

In addition to these, the study also looked into other benchmarking areas aimed at providing key information for strategic planning in program business operations. The 2021 survey includes a comparative analysis of program administrators’ and carriers’ practices and views regarding work arrangements after the pandemic, social inflation, M&A, cyber coverage, and insurance technology. As with the previous surveys, respondents were also asked to provide comments about emerging risks that are suitable for program business, the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry, and the future of the program business.