Executive Search Success Story: Building a Digital, Actuarial, and Product Leadership Team to Modernize a Life and Annuity Insurer

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American executive search strategy that equipped a mutual life and annuity insurer with the product, actuarial, digital, technology, and distribution leadership required to launch competitive annuity products, modernize policy administration, and grow sales through independent and institutional channels.

The Challenge

A mutual life and annuity insurer with a strong balance sheet had steadily lost market share as private-equity-backed and asset-manager-affiliated competitors launched more competitive annuity products, priced with sophisticated capital and reinsurance structures, and distributed through modern advisor platforms. The insurer’s product shelf was dated, its actuarial function focused on valuation rather than product innovation and capital optimization, its policy administration ran on multiple legacy systems, and advisors described its digital experience as the worst among the carriers they represented. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the strategy:

• Steady market share loss to competitors with more innovative annuity products
• An actuarial function not equipped for modern product pricing, hedging, and capital optimization
• Multiple legacy policy administration systems limiting product launches and service
• A digital advisor and customer experience ranked last by distribution partners
• Distribution concentrated in a captive channel while independent and institutional channels grew
• Rising expense ratios as premium declined on a fixed cost base

Recognizing that the growth strategy required new leadership across product, actuarial, digital, technology, and distribution, the CEO and board engaged JRG Partners to recruit a Chief Product Officer, Chief Actuary, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Distribution Officer. The insurer required an executive search partner with deep life and annuity expertise and access to leaders from the competitors reshaping the market.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Insurance Industry Focus

JRG Partners maintains a dedicated practice serving insurance companies, including life and annuity insurers, retirement providers, reinsurers, and insurance technology firms, with a clear understanding of product economics, capital management, policy administration, and distribution dynamics.

Transformation Leadership Experience

Our firm has extensive experience recruiting executives who have modernized established insurers, launching competitive products and digital capabilities while preserving financial strength.

Multi-Role Execution

Our team specializes in running coordinated product, actuarial, digital, technology, and distribution searches in parallel, ensuring leaders are selected as a complementary unit aligned to a single growth strategy.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Growth Strategy Alignment

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, board, and chief financial officer to review product competitiveness, capital and reinsurance structures, systems roadmap, advisor feedback, and channel economics, defining five executive profiles aligned with the growth strategy.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting product, actuarial, digital, technology, and distribution executives at life and annuity insurers, retirement and asset management firms, reinsurers, and insurance technology companies who had led documented product launches, modernizations, and channel expansions. Over 390 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of launching competitive annuity products, optimizing capital through reinsurance and hedging, modernizing policy administration, delivering advisor-preferred digital experiences, and building independent and institutional distribution. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented growth plans to the CEO and board, completed structured leadership assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified product, capital, digital, and distribution outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 390+ life, annuity, and retirement industry executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized leadership tier spanning product, actuarial, digital, technology, and distribution within eight months.
• Improved new business returns by 300 basis points.
• Launched three top-ten annuity products within twelve months.
• Reduced product launch time from eighteen months to five.
• Grew premium and deposits 40% and improved the expense ratio by 20%.