Insurance Insight Group (IIG) has released a new white paper that outlines how to dramatically drive down the costs involved in annuity and life insurance product development and bring a sustainable competitive advantage to companies who can successfully adopt the strategies. The paper can be downloaded at www.improvingproductdevelopment.com.

"Improving Product Development: How to Become the Speed to Market Leader" provides insurance companies with a revealing look at the strategies companies can adopt to put the development of new products and product enhancements on the fast track.

"The purpose of the white paper is to provide insurance companies in the life and annuity marketplace four key steps that they can use to quickly improve their product development process," said Chris Conklin, Principal and Actuary for Insurance Insight Group.

Conklin, who is the author of the white paper, says he is speaking from experience. "By following these strategies I've been able to move companies from consistently missing deadlines to consistently hitting deadlines. And, as a result, we dramatically drove down the cost of bringing a new product to market," he said.

Insurance Insight Group will be a platinum sponsor of the annuity track at the Retirement Industry Conference at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV on April 9-11, 2008. The conference is sponsored by the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA), LIMRA, LOMA and the Society of Actuaries. Copies of the white paper will be available at the conference. Learn more about the author and listen to an audio interview at www.improvingproductdevelopment.com or contact the author at 801.290.3320.

Conklin has extensive expertise in the product development arena. He developed new products that resulted in the company achieving sales growth over a ten-year period from nearly zero sales to over $100 million annually in life sales and $3 billion annually in annuity sales. He led a department that brought to market over 170 new products and significant product enhancements in a 5-year period. He has helped numerous carriers with the complete process from product strategy through implementation, including pricing and design, hedging and asset/liability management, policy forms, state filings, marketing materials, compliance issues, sales support, and in force administration.