Financial & Insurance Services
Regulated industries don’t get a pass on change — they just have less room to get it wrong. Compliance is non-negotiable, operations can’t stop, and the margin for organizational failure is narrow.
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Financial and insurance services companies are investing aggressively in transformation. Personal lines P&C insurance premiums grew 9.5% to $1.1 trillion in 2022–23, outpacing nominal global GDP.[1] The protection gap — the difference between actual and insured losses — is projected to reach $1.86 trillion by 2025.[2] Seventy-five percent of financial institutions expect to increase investment in regulatory technology by the end of 2025.[3]
What those investment numbers don’t show:
- Financial services trust globally sits at 64% — a number that sounds adequate until you realize it ranks near the bottom among all 17 sectors Edelman measures.[4]
- Most technology modernization programs in financial services fail to deliver expected ROI. Core system migrations run over time and over budget.
- AI implementations produce pilots that never reach production. Data quality problems that prevented good analytics before the new platform persist after it.
Despite the unique times of tech evolution, geopolitical uncertainties, and he issue is not the technology. It is that the organization was not prepared for it — and in a regulated industry where compliance is non-negotiable and customer relationships are fragile, the cost of that gap is significant.
Why Financial & Insurance Services Organizations Buckle Under Pressure
Organizational complexity is structural
Financial services companies operate in an environment where regulatory requirements create compliance processes that cut across every function simultaneously. Legacy systems accumulate workarounds that only the people who built them fully understand. Customer relationships — in insurance, in banking, in advisory services — are held by individuals, not by systems or accounts. When those individuals leave or get reorganized, years of trust leave with them.
Cross-functional coordination fails under change
An underwriting change affects claims, actuarial, compliance, and customer service at the same time. A regulatory update requires synchronized changes across product, operations, legal, and technology. Most financial services organizations are structured and regulated by function — which works for steady-state operations and breaks when anything requires coordinated change across those boundaries.
Tech investments arrive before the organization is ready
New core systems launch with legacy data quality problems intact. AI-powered underwriting tools go live without redesigned workflows. Customer portals launch without the cross-functional operating model needed to keep the information in them accurate. The technology works. The organization around it doesn’t.
How Rooted can help
Most financial services organizations don’t have an execution problem on paper. They have one in practice — where compliance constraints are real, operations can’t pause, and the organizational preparation that transformation requires rarely happens before the go-live date.
Organizational Network Analysis (ONA)
ONA maps these networks before a reorganization, a system migration, or a leadership transition disrupts them. In financial services, where regulatory knowledge and client relationships are built over years, this visibility is the difference between a managed transition and a costly one.
Business Process Engineering (BPE)
We map how work actually flows — including the workarounds — and redesign the process for both operational efficiency and regulatory durability.
Organizational Change Management (OCM)
We design OCM programs built for regulated environments: phased rollouts that maintain compliance continuity, training approaches that fit frontline staff managing active caseloads, and adoption monitoring that distinguishes genuine behavioral change from checkbox compliance.
Organizational Development & Effectiveness (OD&E)
We help financial services companies close that gap through knowledge transfer systems that capture regulatory and product expertise before it retires, development programs that build digital capability inside the flow of work rather than in off-site training programs, and leadership development that prepares functional managers to lead cross-functional change without requiring them to become technologists.
Industry-Tailored Approaches
Financial & Insurance Services Sectors we Serve
Rooted works across the full range of financial and insurance services — from community banks and regional carriers to fintech platforms and reinsurance operations.
Banking
Credit & Lending
Securities & Investments
Fintech
Financial Advisory & Consulting
Life Insurance & Annuities
Health Insurance
Property & Casualty Insurance
Reinsurance
Insurance Brokerage & Agencies
Insurance Technology
Rooted vs. Big5 Corp.
Why Finance & Insurance Leaders Call On Rooted
Large consulting firms aren’t built for operational environments where compliance is non-negotiable and operations can’t stop for transformation.
| Big5’s Approach | Rooted’s Approach | |
|---|---|---|
| Who they serve |
Fortune 500 banks, insurers, and asset managers | Mid-market financial services and insurance firms navigating regulatory and growth pressure |
| Delivery model |
18–36 month transformation programs | Measurable results in months, not years |
| Operational Reality | Assumes you can slow compliance and client service for organizational change | Works inside regulated, client-facing operations — no pausing obligations |
| Industry experience | Consultants who have studied financial services from the outside | People who’ve worked inside financial and insurance organizations — not just modeled them |
| Engagement size |
Minimum retainers sized for enterprise budgets | Scoped for mid-market resource constraints |
| Post-engagement | Ongoing dependency on the consulting firm | Builds your internal capability to keep improving after we leave |
The Big5 Problem In Financial & Insurance Services
Large consulting firms show up in financial services in two specific patterns — and they underperform in both. Most mid-market financial services companies either can’t afford the large firm’s rate or they hire them and get the resources that weren’t placed on the enterprise engagements. Rooted is senior-led, scoped for mid-market complexity, and carries no technology vendor relationships that shape our recommendations.
Technology vendor alignment
Most large firms have developed practice areas around specific platforms — Guidewire, Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, core banking systems. Their transformation recommendations are shaped by those relationships in ways the client cannot see. When a large firm recommends a specific core system modernization, the recommendation reflects both the client’s organizational needs and the firm’s practice area economics. Those two things are not always the same.
Enterprise scale mismatch
Large advisory firms are built for JPMorgan, MetLife, and Bank of America. Their methodologies, governance requirements, and staffing models are calibrated for enterprise scale. A regional insurer, a community bank, or a mid-market fintech doesn’t need an enterprise transformation program. They need an organizational partner who understands that compliance constraints are absolute, that operations cannot stop, and that resource constraints are real — not obstacles to be scope-managed around.
At Rooted, we help mid-market financial and insurance services companies execute technology modernization plans, navigate regulatory change, and generate healthy growth – without the organizational gaps that derail transformation in regulated environments like yours.
Regulation changes. Your reputation doesn’t have to.
At Rooted, we help financial institutions adapt to new requirements without losing client trust. As compliance evolves and competition intensifies, we guide teams through transformation using strategies built for stability. We understand the stakes, then we help you protect what matters.
No sales pitch. No commitment required.
[1] McKinsey & Company. “McKinsey Global Insurance Report: Trends for 2025.” November 2024. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/global-insurance-report
[2] PwC. “Financial Services in 2025: Insurance in 2025.” https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/publications/financial-services-in-2025/insurance-in-2025.html
[3] Deloitte. “2025 Global Insurance Outlook.” https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/financial-services/financial-services-industry-outlooks/insurance-industry-outlook.html
[4] Edelman. “2025 Edelman Trust Barometer: Insights for Financial Services Sector.” 2025. https://www.edelmansmithfield.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer/report-financial-sector