a computing device comprising a memory, a processor, and a non-volatile data storage device;

an insurance product template database stored on the non-volatile data storage device, the product template database comprising definitions for a plurality of pre-defined life insurance products;

an external system interface operating on the computing device comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs) which provide access to the functionality of a plurality of foundational microservices via API calls and to a plurality of product-specific microservices via API calls;

the plurality of foundational microservices accessible via the APIs of external system interface each of which implements functionality common to all of a plurality of insurance products supported by the cloud-based system;

the plurality of product-specific microservices accessible via the APIs of external system interface wherein each product-specific microservice implements product specific capabilities for one or more of the plurality of pre-defined life insurance products; and

a product factory module for defining new life insurance products based on the plurality of templates stored in the product template database, the definitions of which automatically assign a first set of foundational microservices of the plurality of foundational microservices and a first set of product-specific microservices of the plurality of product-specific microservices to each newly-defined life insurance product; and

a conversion model comprising a plurality of conversion microservices configured to transpose terms and conditions of group insurance policies terms onto equivalent terms of individual insurance policies and vice-versa, wherein a change made to the master policy is propagated to both dependent group insurance policies of the pre-defined life insurance products and dependent individual insurance policies of the pre-defined life insurance products by passing the changes through the conversion model;

wherein when a first life insurance product is defined using the product factory, management and administration of the first life insurance policy is automated by receipt of API calls via external system interface to the first set of foundational microservices and the first set of product-specific microservices;

wherein: