Keating Wilson Co. is the independent practice of Steven K. Wilson — founder of VERTEX, Incorporated (acquired by Ebix, Inc. in 2014). The practice provides senior advisory on life and annuity platform programmes, primarily through engagements arranged via Tier-1 insurance software providers working with their carrier and reinsurer clients.
Independent senior advisory on life and annuity platform programmes — conversions, consolidations, reinsurance block migrations, and the product-configuration work that sits underneath all of them.
Most engagements are arranged through Tier-1 insurance software providers — the firms that run policy administration platforms for major carriers and reinsurers. Some engagements are arranged with carriers or reinsurers directly.
Engagements are typically multi-year, sole-practitioner arrangements at the senior advisory level. The practice does not staff teams, run RFPs, or compete on scale of consulting headcount.
Four facts that describe what working with the practice actually looks like.
Senior advisory support on an on-going programme of acquired closed-book conversions onto a single policy administration platform.
The mandate covers insurance product definition, target-system configuration, and conversion sequencing across a portfolio of long-tail life and pensions liabilities. The programme is structured as a multi-year sequence of staged conversions, with each acquisition benefiting from a refined target-state configuration.
Senior advisory support on the conversion of inwards in-force blocks onto the reinsurer's administration platform.
The work covers product translation between U.S. ceding carriers and the reinsurer's balance sheet, treaty-to-policy mapping, and conversion governance across multiple ceding-company operational cadences.
Senior advisory support on the consolidation of life, annuity, and group-business administration onto a strategic platform.
The mandate covers insurance product definition across a broad portfolio — traditional life, annuity, group risk, and savings products — operating across multiple currencies, regulatory regimes, and distribution channels.
Six areas, all within the life and annuity domain.
Steven founded VERTEX, Incorporated in New Britain, Connecticut in 1991. Over the next twenty-three years, the firm grew to 190 employees, with the majority of its revenue from life and annuity insurers and nearly half from tier-one carriers.
VERTEX's VTXml Product Suite was the most widely used tool in the industry for the definition and publication of insurance product information using ACORD's PPfA, PPfL, and related data models. The product was recognised by ACORD for ten consecutive years and received the 2012 RAVE Award.
In November 2014, VERTEX was acquired by Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX). Steven completed the integration as Senior Vice President of Ebix Consulting and departed in 2015. He returned to active client work in 2024 through Keating Wilson Co.
For enquiries about engagements, write directly to Steven Wilson.
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