Zane Heyl, Senior Actuary, Elevate Life
As an actuary, I’m usually immersed in numbers and risk models, but over the past few years, I’ve found myself increasingly drawn to the intersection of technology and life insurance. This shift has been both challenging and rewarding, and I’d like to share a bit of that journey.
The life insurance industry is steeped in tradition and, often to its detriment, slow to adopt technological innovations. But in our increasingly digital age, the old ways of doing things no longer provide the level of value and service that customers have come to expect. Applying for fully underwritten life insurance is still one of the most cumbersome processes among financial services, with lengthy forms, redundant information requests, and invasive medical testing. For the everyday consumer and their financial advisor, this experience is anything but seamless. Financial advisors spend most of their time administering complex underwriting processes on behalf of their clients instead of on their expertise of providing expert financial advice to support their clients financial needs.
At Elevate Life, we saw this shortcoming as an opportunity to streamline the process of onboarding and servicing fully underwritten risk cover offerings using digital tools and enhanced data on the customer. Our goal was not just to digitise the life insurance application but to revolutionise how it feels to interact with life insurance products—something that is traditionally viewed as dull and complex. We wanted to make the process intuitive and engaging.
One of our key early decisions was to incorporate advisors as vital partners rather than seeing technology as a replacement for them. There’s a lot of value in the personalised advice that advisors bring, especially in fulfilling the more comprehensive financial needs of many clients. Clients still appreciate this level of personalised, human attention, especially when making decisions as important and long-term as life insurance. By integrating digital tools that simplify administrative tasks, we free up advisors to do what they do best: offer tailored, expert advice and to be more active in responding to the client’s evolving needs and circumstances.
Our orientation in digital transformation is creating a seamless quoting and application process. This involves leveraging technology to reduce the back-and-forth that typically happens when applying for life insurance. For instance, instead of asking clients for the same information repeatedly or making them navigate confusing forms, our system intelligently pre-fills data, verifies disclosures against third-party healthcare data sources, and guides clients and their advisors through a more streamlined experience. Ultimately, this has allowed Elevate Life to provide real-time fully underwritten underwriting terms for approximately 75% of our clients in as little as 20 minutes – ready for advisors to activate their clients’ cover immediately.
Empowering a new generation of financial advisors.
Fully underwritten, comprehensive risk
cover – backed by market-leading technology. From application to policy in as little as 15 minutes!
For more information or to become accredited, get in touch with our Business Development Team at 084 777 9657 or visit elevate.co.za
Elevate Life is an authorised FSP 50555. Underwritten by Centriq Life Insurance, a licensed life insurer and authorised FSP 7370.
As an actuary, I find the design side of this work particularly rewarding. Traditional actuarial work revolves around managing risks and crunching numbers—crucial, of course—but there’s an exciting creativity in applying those principles to create something new and user-friendly. Being part of a team that’s merging actuarial precision with cutting-edge data, technology, and user experience design has allowed me to step out of the purely analytical space and engage more with innovative solutions.
It’s interesting because actuaries typically aren’t at the forefront of tech conversations. We’re usually seen as the people who sit behind spreadsheets and make financial forecasts. But to be involved in reimagining life insurance, from a product and onboarding process that’s often seen as unapproachable to something engaging and transparent, is a refreshing change. We are using technology not simply to improve an existing product but to transform the entire journey—from initial interest to policy purchase—into something much more intuitive and enjoyable.
We’re still pioneering new approaches and exploring what’s possible. The industry is evolving, and so are we. It’s not just about making life insurance easier to buy; it’s about making it relevant and accessible in a world where consumer expectations are shaped by the instant gratification they get from other sectors.
There’s something inherently rewarding in contributing to this change. At Elevate Life, we’re showing financial advisors and their clients that life insurance can be engaging, that it doesn’t have to be a daunting process where clients feel overwhelmed. Instead, it can be a collaborative, transparent, and even exciting journey—words not often associated with life insurance, but ones we’re proud to stand behind.
Ultimately, this is just the beginning. As technology continues to advance, so will the ways we can serve advisors and clients better, making life insurance not only something you buy but something you feel confident and positive about owning. And that’s what makes this journey one worth pursuing.