Money Talk: Regional Federal Reserve Executive in Little Rock promoted

Money Talk is a weekly roundup of finance, banking and investment-related news.

REGIONAL FEDERAL RESERVE EXECUTIVE IN LITTLE ROCK PROMOTED TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has promoted Robert Hopkins to the position of regional executive and senior vice president of the Little Rock branch of the expansive Eighth District.

The St. Louis Federal Reserve, led by President and Federal Open Market Committee member James Bullard, includes Arkansas and portions of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, the eastern half of Missouri and West Tennessee. The Little Rock Branch serves the majority of Arkansas, except northeast Arkansas. Hopkins’ staff supervises banks, offers cash services for such institutions, participates in community development efforts and provides economic education, among other duties.

NEW D.C. WEBSITE TO FOCUS ON FEDERAL SPENDING, FISCAL POLICY
The Washington, D.C.-based Federal Budget Group has launched a new website dedicated to providing policymakers, the media, and the public, reliable and nonpartisan information on federal spending, taxes and fiscal policy.

The new site, FedWeb.com, includes a timeline of key developments in spending and tax policy; real-time-numbers on the economy; the budget of the United States; plain English explanations of Federal programs; tax reform explanations and developments; projections of deficits and public debt; fact-checking on spending, tax and budget issues; an explanation of the congressional budget process in plain English; and weekly FedWeb.com blogs that drill-down on key issues.

“We live in turbulent times when a multitude of consequential and important fiscal policy decisions will be made on our nation’s $4 trillion budget,” said Federal Budget Group President Charles S. Konigsberg. “It is our hope that FedWeb.com will contribute to good decisions by providing in one place, a reliable source of nonpartisan, factual and plain English information.”

DATA ANALYTICS USAGE AMONG VOLUNTARY INSURANCE CARRIERS IS ON THE RISE
Over two-thirds of the voluntary benefits carriers participating in a recent Eastbridge study indicated they currently use data analytics for at least some portion of their voluntary business or are working towards implementing the process. Of the carriers not currently using or researching a data analytics process, nearly half have plans to begin researching and/or using the capability in the next three to five years. For the majority of these carriers, the ability to better understand and meet customer needs, provide better customer service, and increase persistency are the primary objectives for integrating data analytics into their voluntary business.

When asked about the primary obstacles they have already faced or expect to face while implementing a data analytics process, the top two mentioned were data quality issues and difficulty in gaining quick access to data that is spread across multiple internal systems. To overcome these obstacles, some carriers have developed better query processes or have created standard definitions to improve data quality. Others mentioned using outside vendors or partnering with third parties to improve upon their existing internal data. For more information, go to www.eastbridge.com.