Hansen Optimizes IT Assets

In his new role as VP and CIO of Horace Mann Educators Corp. (Springfield, Ill.; $56.3 million in 2004 net income), Mark Hansen plans to leverage his experience in applying IT assets to business problems. Hansen was a member of the Allstate (Northbrook, Ill.) team that put together the Good Hands insurer/agent network in support of the carrier's multichannel distribution strategy. He also held the CIO post at Kemper Insurance Cos.

"There are business opportunities that your systems already support well, and you want to identify those," Hansen says. "But there are also typically other opportunities that can only be realized after making adjustments to your existing application base."

Profitable growth in P&C lines is among the major business objectives Hansen will work to support for the multiline, educator market niche carrier, along with some concentrated work on product development, particularly in annuities, he relates. As part of the growth push, Hansen says, "We're also looking to expand our agent base. To do that, we're looking at standardization [of agent interaction mechanisms] and improvements along the lines of better desktop tools."

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio