LIMRA Annual brings together executives from across life insurance, annuities, retirement, distribution, marketing, and financial services to look at the trends and challenges shaping the industry. For Empathy, it's one of the most important events to attend all year. The carriers who attend are the partners we build alongside, and the people they serve are the families we exist to support.
Many in the room expect a record year in sales, yet the focus has already shifted to what comes next: keeping hard-won policyholders in the middle market, and growing the number of families served, not just premiums, at the high end. With all this firepower in the room, we wanted to focus on one question: what keeps a family connected to a carrier after the policy has done its job?
The moment that decides loyalty
Our research with LIMRA offers a clear answer. The strongest predictor of whether a beneficiary would become a customer wasn't how quickly the claim was processed or how seamless the paperwork was. It was post-claim perception: the overall impression the carrier left behind.
That finding reveals a growth opportunity: if every payout reaches a family at one of the hardest points in their lives, then how a carrier shows up in that moment shapes whether the relationship ends there or continues for another generation. LIMRA recently featured the findings, too.
From a single claim to a lifetime relationship
At Empathy, we know that life rarely moves in a straight line, and families don't experience hard moments one at a time. A leave can turn into caregiving, and caregiving can end in loss. Each transition raises new questions about finances, legacy, and what comes next. And as we heard throughout the week, the need for support beyond financial protection spans every kind of household.
So for carriers and financial institutions, that creates a pathway to lifetime value; for agents and advisors, it's a scalable way to stay connected to clients when they need support most. Today, we work with 8 of the top 10 U.S. life carriers and support more than 50 million people through loss, leave, legacy planning, and caregiving. It's that impact at scale that's inspired us to pair technology with care built for people. Together, they give carriers a way to show up with real support at the moment their brand matters most.
Why this moment mattered
In addition to some moments of levity (we hosted a Texas-themed custom hat bar for attendees to stop by, personalize a hat of their own, and stick around for conversations about the families behind every policy!), we had the opportunity to do some future thinking.
We closed the week with a private Industry Leaders Dinner, where Ohad Gutman, Chief Business Officer; Seth Miller, Chief Distribution Officer; and Megan Gallagher, Strategic Account Executive, joined prospects and longtime industry partners for a candid conversation about the year ahead. The leaders we met at LIMRA understand that showing up for families after a claim is also how carriers earn loyalty that lasts. We're proud to help them do it.
To everyone who waited in line, sat down for a meeting, or joined us for dinner: thank you. We'll see you next year.