Work At Home Vintage Employees (WAHVE) Earns Entrepreneurship Award

Work At Home Vintage Employees LLC (WAHVE), a new company formed in 2010 that offers domestic outsourcing for insurance firms, was named winner of the “Insurance Entrepreneurial Award” by the Insurance Innovation Alliance.

WAHVE was recognized for its service offering—providing insurance agencies, wholesale brokers, and carriers with skilled insurance retirees who work from home. The company was tops among 11 finalists in the insurance distribution category in the award program run by MarketScout in concert with Microsoft and the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research. Winners also were honored in the categories of underwriting and technology.

“WAHVE gives hiring managers an option to outsource domestically to retirees who have insurance experience,” explained Sharon Emek, WAHVE’s president and CEO. “We serve as matchmaker for insurance firms that need people who can be up, running and productive quickly.”

WAHVE taps into two demographic trends. First, the insurance workforce is retiring in droves as part of the larger baby-boom retirement trend. Second, due to the economic pressures and improvements in longevity, many insurance workers nearing retirement want to continue working but more flexibly than in a traditional office job.

Research conducted by the National Alliance Research Academy found that six of 10 insurance workers surveyed want to continue working on a part-time basis after retiring from full-time employment, the research showed.

“Many insurance workers approaching retirement are seeking a ‘phased retirement,’” Emek stated. “This is a distinct change from just a few years ago. Many pending retirees want to stop working full-time in an office. But they are interested in working full-time or part-time from home or taking on a consulting role. We call them ‘wahves’—Work At Home Vintage Employees.”

Founded by insurance leaders with more than 30 years of insurance agency, technology and service-center experience, WAHVE provides back-office and customer service support. Using a work-at-home model, WAHVE employs skilled insurance retirees who understand the industry, technology, culture and language. By outsourcing domestically to WAHVE, insurance firms can leverage a pool of qualified, experienced and technologically savvy retirees and save staffing and overhead costs.

Published on January 21, 2011

Wahves can help with a range of process tasks—such as preparation of applications and submissions, rating/quoting, proposals, policy checking, certificate issuance, loss-runs requests and analysis, and claims—to support an account manager, customer service representative, underwriter and/or producer. Wahves also can fill regular positions such as customer service representative, account executive, underwriter, or claims representative. Wahves can help with a wide variety of project and consulting spanning the gamut of the insurance industry.

Richard Kerr, CEO of MarketScout, noted that the entrepreneurship competition was created to support and recognize entrepreneurship and innovation in the insurance industry. “Clearly, the old-line insurance world is changing, and those companies focusing on innovation will gain market share,” he commented.

WAHVE is on a mission to assemble the insurance industry’s largest database of retiring baby-boomer talent. Such a database will allow insurance agents, brokers, carriers and other companies to tap into talent for full-time, part-time or project work. Retired or retiring insurance professionals can submit their information on a confidential basis at www.WAHVE.com <http://www.wahve.com/> . Firms considering hiring can submit a request through the website.

About WAHVE

Based in New York, Work At Home Vintage Employees LLC (WAHVE) offers domestic remote staffing for insurance firms. Founded by insurance executives, each with more than 30 years of insurance agency, technology and service center experience, WAHVE is the only domestic alternative to offshore remote staffing for insurance firms, providing full back-office and customer services on a full-time, part-time, temporary or project basis. Using an innovative work-at-home model, WAHVE employs skilled insurance retirees located in the United States who understand the industry, technology, culture and language. By outsourcing to WAHVE, insurance firms can leverage these qualified, experienced, and technologically savvy retirees to significantly lower costs and improve profitability.

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