BOSTON, March 11, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SMA Inc. (SMA), a leading insurance industry analyst firm, is pleased to announce Karen Furtado has joined the company as a partner. The growth of SMA in the past year indicates the industry's need for the expertise offered by a consultative analyst model in today's dynamic marketplace.
"Karen is known in the industry as a thought leader," said Deb Smallwood, founder of SMA. "Her expertise provides significant benefits for our clients, both vendors and insurance companies alike, and further strengthens SMA's position as a top strategic advisory firm. We are very excited to bring her wealth of knowledge and depth of experience to our thriving practice."
Furtado has more than 25 years of technical and business experience within the insurance industry. While her specific areas of expertise include application development, complex system implementations, vendor selection processes, project management, and business process outsourcing and technical outsourcing, throughout her career she has focused on delivering high-value solutions for cores issues facing insurance carriers.
"I have always been driven by the same values held by SMA," said Furtado. "It was great to find that like me, SMA believes in strategies which result in actionable and concrete deliverables to meet definite business needs. SMA is positioned to assist both insurance companies and vendors gain clarity and focus on mission-critical decisions that are so needed in these difficult times. Our goal is to provide companies with a unique blend of management consulting deliverables that are business-driven and research-based which will impact both current and future business decisions."
About SMA Inc. (formerly Smallwood Maike & Associates)
Exclusively serving the insurance industry, SMA is a new breed of strategic advisory firm offering a unique blend of research, advisory and consulting services to both insurance companies and solution providers. By leveraging best practices from both the management consulting and research advisory disciplines, SMA's advisory service offerings are actionable business-driven and research-based. For companies eager and ready to embrace change and achieve business success taking strategies to meet action. Their suite of advisory offerings include: advice, consulting, research, and education. Additional information on SMA can be found at www.smallwoodmaike.com.