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A publication of the Insurance Accounting & Systems Association
theInterpreter ®
FALL 2014
Vol. LXXXVIssue III
®
Moving From a Technical Role to a Leadership Rolep. 22
IT and Finance: Partners in Driving Analytic Valuep. 24
Executive CornerAn Interview with Liz Haar, President & Chief Executive Officer – Accident Fund Holdings, Inc.p. 8
FOCUS ON Executive Educationp. 13
Presents
SPECIAL REPORT
Find out more about IASA’s Executive Education Program events and opportunities inside
this special section, or visit IASA online at www.iasa.org
Around the industry, the country, and your own backyard,
IASA is empowering insurance executives through education.
&Executive Education
Roundtable Series
I
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FALL 2014 x Vol. LXXXV x Issue III
Fall 2014 3
25 Association News• Committee Spotlight • National Member Spotlight • National Volunteer Profile
departments
®
cover story p. 13Focus on Executive Educationin this special section we highlight events from the 2014 IASA Executive Education Program and discuss upcoming events and trends in the industry.
CONTENTS INCLUDE:
• Keynote Recap
• IASA’s Executive Education Program Overview
• Executive EDGE Conference Recap
• Chief Investment Officer Roundtable Recap
• Chief Operating Officer Roundtable Recap
• Chief Financial Officer Roundtable Recap
• Chief Information-Technology Officer Roundtable Recap
contentsPUBLISHED BYINSURANCE ACCOUNTING & SYSTEMS ASSOCIATION, INC. (IASA)3511 Shannon Road, Suite 160P.O. Box 51340Durham, NC 27717-3409Phone: (919) 489-0991Fax: (919) 489-1994Email: [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENTMARKETING & COMMUNICATIONSRod TraversThe Nolan [email protected]
EDITORKen Zieden-WeberXchange Benefits, [email protected]
ART DIRECTORMichael MolanphyVaradero Communications, [email protected]
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATIONTricia StillmanDirector – Member & Volunteer ServicesIASA International Office(919) 489-0991 [email protected]
PUBLICATION INFORMATIONIASA’s Interpreter is published quarterly, plus one additional special conference issue, and is available at the general subscription rate of $35.00 per year for members and $45.00 per year for non-members.
REPRINT INFORMATIONNo part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. Reprints of Interpreter articles are available from the publisher and may be coordinated through the editor of this publication.
Copyright 2014 by IASA. All right reserved.Note: The news expressed in Interpreter articles and columns reflect the opinions of individual authors and should not be construed as carrying the endorsement of the Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA) or its staff. Additionally, use of this publication, the name “IASA,” or the name “Insurance Accounting & Systems As-sociation,” for personal promotion or recruiting purposes is strictly forbidden. Violations will be prosecuted or reported to the National Association of Personnel Consultants and appropriate licensing authorities as deemed warranted by IASA. Violations will be published for the information of our member companies.
A publication of®
®
Presents
SPECIAL REPORT
Find out more about IASA’s Executive Education Program events and opportunities inside this special section, or visit IASA online at www.iasa.org
Around the industry, the country, and your own backyard, IASA is empowering insurance executives through education.
&Executive Education
Roundtable Series
columns6 President’s MessageDeveloping Leaders
7 From the Executive DirectorGetting in Touch with the Rich Legacy of the IASA
8 Executive CornerAn Interview with Liz Haar, President & Chief Executive Officer– Accident Fund Holdings, Inc.
feature story21 The Art of Delegation
by Meg Dixon
22 Moving From a Technical Role to a Leadership Role – Making the Essential Transition to Leadership
by Paul Heacock
24 IT and Finance: Partners in Driving Analytic Value
by Pat Saporito
2014-2015 IASA VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT TEAMPRESIDENTForrest E. Mills, Jr.Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company
PRESIDENT-ELECTTim Morgan The Republic Group
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERTom EwbankThe Ewbank Group P.C.
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Mary Ellen FreyermuthCatholic Relief Mutual Insurance Company
VICE PRESIDENT – BUSINESS SHOWMargaret HornEverest Reinsurance Company
VICE PRESIDENT – CHAPTERSChuck GunkelSwift Print Communications of St. Louis LLC
VICE PRESIDENT – DISTANCE LEARNINGCeleska FredianelliQBE
VICE PRESIDENT – EDUCATIONBeech TurnerAssurant Specialty Property
VICE PRESIDENT – INDUSTRY RELATIONSLaurie MackloskyThe Travelers Companies
VICE PRESIDENT – MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONSRod TraversThe Nolan Company
VICE PRESIDENT – MEMBERSHIPDottie AugustineAON Benfield, Inc.
VICE PRESIDENT – SEMINARSCarlos CorreaLiberty International Underwriters
VICE PRESIDENT – VOLUNTEER DEVELOPMENTKaryn SpaudePrimeOne Insurance Company
IASA GOVERNING BOARDPRESIDENTForrest E. Mills, Jr.
PRESIDENT-ELECTTim MorganThe Republic Group
BOARD CHAIRBeth MercierThe Travelers Companies
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERTom EwbankThe Ewbank Group P.C.
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERMary Ellen FreyermuthCatholic Relief Mutual Insurance Company
AT-LARGE BOARD MEMBERSSonia Cliffel Miguel EdwardsFirst American Allstate Insurance Equipment Finance Company
Darby O’Neill Brian OllechPrinceton Insurance The Warranty Group
Linda PaolucciTIAA-CREF
ASSOCIATION STAFFEXECUTIVE DIRECTORJoseph P. Pomilia
VICE PRESIDENT – CONFERENCES & EVENTSMargaret M. McKeon
DIRECTOR OF EXHIBITSKim Morris
DIRECTOR OF MEMBER & VOLUNTEER SERVICESTricia Stillman
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONSGina H. Jolly
MANAGER, MEMBER SERVICESSheila White-Smith
RECEPTIONIST/SECRETARYAngie Gurganus
The insurance industry’s most prominent conference offers educational, industry relations and career development opportunities for new and experienced professionals across all lines of business and critical functional areas, including: accounting, finance, investments, operations, risk, and systems/technology.
u More than 80 educational sessions
u 200+ product and service exhibitors
u Three discipline-specific super sessions
u Exclusive executive roundtable events
u Inclusive networking opportunities
Plan now to join IASA in Las Vegas next June!
GO TO IASA.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION!
SAVE THE DATE u JUNE 7-10, 2015 u LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Keynote Address by PEYTON MANNING on Monday, June 8
About IASA
and one of the insurance industry’s largest, and most well-represented
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GET INVOLVED AS A MEMBER AND START RECEIVING BENEFITS TODAY! Contact Sheila Whi te-Smith, Manager of Member Services for IASA at 919-489-0991 x 206
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The insurance industry’s most prominent conference offers educational, industry relations and career development opportunities for new and experienced professionals across all lines of business and critical functional areas, including: accounting, finance, investments, operations, risk, and systems/technology.
u More than 80 educational sessions
u 200+ product and service exhibitors
u Three discipline-specific super sessions
u Exclusive executive roundtable events
u Inclusive networking opportunities
Plan now to join IASA in Las Vegas next June!
GO TO IASA.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION!
SAVE THE DATE u JUNE 7-10, 2015 u LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Keynote Address by PEYTON MANNING on Monday, June 8
As I thought about writing this article, I kept coming back to a theme
of “leadership”. Of course, I had to ask myself, “Why?” It wasn’t hard to realize leadership is a huge part of the IASA experience. I am not talking about leadership from my humble position as the current President. I am referring to all sorts of opportunities for an individual to grow in their person and their career through volunteer participation in the IASA.
In order to better understand my feelings around this, I found myself asking what sets my involvement in the IASA apart from other organizations in which I have participated. After all, most organizations ask for your involvement for a few years and then they rotate to others. The IASA is different; the IASA provides an arena for a lifetime of learning. And in reality, in various forms, we have an environment where we all can “learn to be leaders”. Let me share my thoughts.
First, we need to think about some of the qualities or characteristics of “leadership” one might include in career development. For instance, I would include; accountability, communication, coordination, courage, creativity, encouragement, honesty, integrity, negotiation, organization, persuasion, planning, responsibility, and team building to name a few. You get the idea. All of these
are just “words” but, can be turned in to action with your involvement with the IASA.
While we are all presented with advancements in our career path as insurance professionals in finance, investments, and technology the opportunities to enhance our “career skills” can be limited. The IASA opens those doors to career growth opportunities.
For me, we can start the list
of opportunities with Chapters. My volunteer relationship began while developing the Mid-South Chapter. Starting a chapter or planning a chapter event or conference will engage many of the “words” on the above list. A chapter is an organization, in and of itself, that must be managed by leaders to be successful and grow. As such, the officers become responsible for the continuity and viability of the chapter and have accountability to one another if they are to succeed. Learning about the nuances that go into planning an agenda, coordinating a program, negotiating with a hotel, communicating with your fellow officers, reaching out to sponsors
and speakers are just a few of the many areas needed to put on a meeting. Visiting our chapters, I am constantly amazed at the quality of events, and even more impressed with the volunteers that are leading them.
In addition, we can participate and grow as a National volunteer. The National IASA provides many of the same opportunities to develop your skills as a chapter, only
on a larger and more diverse scale. Over 175 volunteers are organized through a Board of Directors and Management Team. Comprised of a small staff along with our Executive Director, the Management Team is aligned with committees that direct everything from our national office, annual conference — including all of the education, exhibits, roundtables, etc., to chapter advisory, e-learning, industry relations, marketing, membership, executive seminars, and yes, volunteer development. Each of these areas maintain various sub-committees that cover areas such as social media, the Interpreter, Textbooks, the Industry Pulse
and the Scholarship Program to name a few.
Our Board of Directors is active with volunteer groups to assist with our finances, compensation and benefits, policy, strategic development, and technology as well as formulating our next slate of officers.
As you can see, each of these touch points, most of them being very different from our day jobs, allows us to take the
“words” surrounding our own interpretation of leadership and put them into action. Our chapter and national volunteers are given the opportunity to take active roles and grow with the organization at a pace that is comfortable to their individual situation.
As a complement to our normal CPE that we need for the technical aspects of our job, the IASA began a Career Skills Development (CSD) education track in 2007. This track has been an overwhelming success over the years and continues to grow. The CSD builds on the real life aspects you obtain from volunteering and provides another element for us to learn and grow in our careers.
I sincerely believe that volunteering with the IASA is a great way to develop your leadership skills! I hope you will join us. The networking, peer relationships and friendships that come along with it are perhaps the best part, and are simply “lagniappe”!
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Developing Leadersby FORREST E. MILLS, JR
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Forrest E. Mills, Jr. is the Chief Financial Officer of Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company and this year’s IASA President. He can be reached for further information or comment via email at [email protected].
The IASA is different; the IASA provides an arena for a lifetime
of learning. We have an environment where we all can
“learn to be leaders.”
‘‘’’
Joe Pomilia is the Executive Director of IASA. He can be reached for further comment or information via email at [email protected].
I recently spoke at the IASA Central States Regional Conference, which was held
on September 28-30. It was a wonderful event and like most IASA programs it brought a contingent of professionals with common interests together focused on making a difference in our industry. One of the special reasons for me personally in attending this program was the location itself; Peoria, Illinois. I hadn’t been to Peoria since joining the IASA and was drawn to the legacy that the city of Peoria has played as the birthplace of the IASA.
Let’s take a little stroll down (the IASA) memory lane….
On Satuday April 14, 1928 the first Round Table Assembly of Life Insurance Users of Hollerith Methods was called to order. This round table assembly was the precursor to the IASA organization that we know today. The meeting was held at the offices of the Peoria Life Insurance Company and called to order by Paul F. Bourscheidt, Assistant Secretary for Peoria Life. He opened the meeting with the following statement, “Personally, I am a radical on small meetings and organizations such as this. The participants are not only benefited from a business viewpoint but from the fact that at a meeting of this sort they come in direct personal contact
with members of their own line and consequently from these associations they feel free to ask for, give and exchange ideas. This is the true result of such a meeting as this and subsequent meetings”.
I don’t know anything more about Mr. Bourscheidt than are recorded in the historical records of the IASA, but he appears to either have had a clear vision of where this group should be headed or he was simply a prophet of some sort because within his words I see the framework for the creation of an Association founded on the interchange of professionals
with common responsibilities who genuinely want to achieve
“Progress Through Sharing Knowledge”.
What’s further interesting is that the tabulating machine and the Hollerith methods, in its day, presented a huge step forward in technological advancement. Sometimes called the first data processing system it was used to count the 1890 U.S. census and it was named after its creator Herman Hollerith. The system used hand punch to record data as holes on cards that ran through the tabulating machine. Today we still stay true to this early purpose of IASA by
bringing together some of the best and brightest individuals with leading edge solutions to the most vexing issues that the industry faces.
In so many ways it is deeply comforting and profoundly fitting to think about so much time passing and yet so much staying the same. Even after 86 years the IASA remains closely aligned with its founding mission born out of a bygone era by people as like-minded about the value of collaboration and shared-purpose to each other and the industry as the IASA leaders of today.
Getting in Touch With the Rich Legacy of the IASAby JOE POMILIA
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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8 Fall 2014 theInterpreter x www.iasa.org
“Editor’s Note: The Executive Corner column is a regular feature in IASA’s Interpreter. The column focuses on interviews of industry leaders and company executives in an attempt to gain insights into successful business practices, views on the future, and much more. This interview highlights the experience and leadership of Liz Haar of Accident Fund Holdings.”
SULLIVAN: It is nice for the readers to first understand a little bit about the company, so this is your opportunity to provide the promo pitch—the history or some of the key points—for Accident Fund Holdings.
HAAR: Accident Fund is a 100-year-old-plus company and we celebrated our centennial anniversary in 2012. We are also celebrating another milestone this year, the 20th anniversary of privatization. Up through the mid-‘90s, we were the original state fund in Michigan until our purchase by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Since this privatization, our company has undergone significant transformation. We learned how to operate effectively in the competitive marketplace as a privately held company—which, as you can imagine, was markedly different than as a state fund. We also became very focused on diversification and growth.
In 2000, our company started expanding outside the state
of Michigan. While we are now licensed in all 50 states, we are focused primarily on 20 core states. Our
first acquisition was United Heartland, a specialty writer of larger accounts, in 2005. We then acquired CompWest Insurance in California in 2007, and in 2010, we created a start-up division, Third Coast Underwriters, which specializes in larger, more complex risks.
Today our organization looks very different than 20 years ago. We have a holding company, Accident Fund Holdings, which provides corporate services, and four brands that execute our field operations. Each brand has its own unique market focus, which allows us to benefit from their individual focus in their respective markets. At the same time, we benefit from our collective strength as one of the largest writers of work comp in the country. As an enterprise, we gain the scale, efficiencies and innovations that smaller companies cannot achieve.
SULLIVAN: From when you started in the industry at Michigan Millers to where you are now, what are some of the big things that have changed and transformed the insurance industry?
HAAR: One of the biggest transformations reaches beyond
our industry—namely the change in investment income and what that means for insurance carriers from an underwriting perspective. If you go back 15 years and look at what was good underwriting for a work comp writer, it’s very different than what good underwriting is today. In addition to underwriting targets being more aggressive, data analytics, tools, processes and technology have all transformed the underwriting process.
I also think changes on the medical side are significant. Even a decade ago, work comp medical did not drive anything in a physician’s office or in a hospital system. Today there has been a huge shift—both in our organization and in the industry—focusing on ensuring the best medical outcomes for injured workers. This is very different from ensuring the best medical outcomes on a group health side. It requires a different relationship with physicians and with the injured workers. It utilizes different tools. It is a different way to look at things and it has been a huge advancement in our industry.
DISCHER: Can you talk about the organization and what makes things different—from a culture, results, and long-term perspective? What is it like going from being a state fund to a private, very diverse, nationally known entity?
HAAR: We have made Business Insurance’s Best Places
to Work in Insurance, for six years for a reason. We do things differently here, and we hear it frequently when people join our organization--they can feel a difference in the culture. We focus on attracting top talent from across the country and we emphasize having a work environment that is collaborative, because the bottom line is we want our team to be engaged. We know if our employees are happy at work, they’ll provide a better product and a better service to our customers.
We also have a strong focus on our agency partnerships and we have earned a number of awards recognizing this. As an example, this year we were named as one of the Top 10 P/C Carriers in “ease of doing business” by Deep Customer Connections in their nationwide survey of more than 7,000 agents. We are very proud of this, particularly because we were the only monoline company to be recognized by this prestigious group—who represent specialists in insurance carrier/agent research and consulting.
We understand that we cannot sell our products if we do not have agencies who want to do business with us. To accomplish this, we build collaboration into everything we do with our agent partners. We listen to them when they have suggestions to learn ways we can do something different or better. We work toward their success, because if they are not successful, we are not going to be successful.
We also focus on innovation. We try to ignore the way things
EXECUTIVE CORNER
An Interview With Liz HaarPresident & Chief Executive Officer Accident Fund Holdings, Inc.by DENNIS B. SULLIVAN AND STEVE DISCHER
Liz Haar
Following is the 33rd in a series of interviews conducted for The Interpreter by Dennis Sullivan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Steve Discher, Executive Vice President, of The Nolan Company, a management consulting firm specialized in operations improvement and IT effectiveness for insurance carriers.
continued on page 10
EXECUTIVE CORNER
have been done for the last 30 years and ask, “If we were starting a company from scratch, what would be the best way to do it?” When you think about many of the changes that have occurred in our industry in the last two decades, many of them have focused on changing the way things were done 40 or 50 years ago.
For example, when we created our first online system in 2000, it wasn’t just a system that we were creating, it was a process. And most of the processes that existed were created in the ’50s before computers, with everyone using big yellow sheets of paper and pencils and doing things a certain way.
Then computers came along, and what did people do? They used them to automate the manual processes that previously existed. So one of the things we do is look at the all of the new technology and ask, “How can we be innovative and find a way that makes sense for the tools that we have today?” This type of questioning is where a lot of our innovation comes from.
DISCHER: Do you want to comment about Accident Fund engaging at the local level, starting with the former Ottawa Street Power Station? I think you got an award for this building.
HAAR: I’m pleased to say we’ve actually earned several awards for the building. It’s part of the culture piece that I referenced earlier. Our workforce wants to be highly engaged in the communities that we live and work in.
In 2009, we were outgrowing our existing building and we had to make some choices. We could have moved some of our operations to other states where we already had a presence. We could have moved our downtown Lansing office to a green space. But what we chose instead was something that has been a great fit for our organization and is in
line with the spirit, strategy and vision of our shareholder, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, which has a strong commitment to Michigan cities. We took an old power plant that had been abandoned, and we renovated it for our new headquarters. Today it’s a great space, it’s LEED gold certified, EPA Energy Star rated and it has earned us a number of major awards, including the Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation. And the entire project was recognized for excellence by the International Economic Development Council. We couldn’t be more pleased.
SULLIVAN: One of the things you touched on is how worker’s comp has changed, especially when competing on a national level. With both your actuarial background and the change in the competitive nature of worker’s comp, what made you so successful when you expanded outside of that single state writer?
HAAR: One of the keys has been understanding the markets we are expanding into. I have seen other companies say, “We’re going to move into Texas and run it from Lansing, Michigan.” That rarely works. Our model is to assemble a team that has worked in Texas, has agency relationships in Texas, with adjusters that know the hospital system in Texas and loss prevention consultants that know the risks in Texas. We build with local expertise because there are very distinct regional differences all across the country.
We also have the advantage of being experts in work comp. It’s something we drink and sleep all day, every day. And there are some innovative products that we have developed over the last couple of years—especially on the medical side—that smaller companies, or a company that only has a portion of their book in work comp,
would not have the financial resources to invest in. These are important when you expand.
DISCHER: Let’s turn our attention to the customer. For our business, the customer is often the agent, the person we are going to be focused on because that is the key contact. Then you have the employer, as well as the insured. Talk a little bit about the changing needs of the customer and what Accident Fund is doing to solve that.
HAAR: We focus on the independent agent as our customer at Accident Fund. We also view policyholders and their injured workers as customers. Agencies play a critical role, especially in commercial lines. It is a complex industry and there are many policyholders who need the expert guidance they can only get from an agent. Agents are under a lot of pressure to do things better, faster, cheaper and to deliver superior product—all with a personal touch. You can have the best technology in the world, but our business is based on relationships, and agents get their business based on the effectiveness of these relationships.
Insurance companies also connect with agencies based on relationships. You have to be able to keep that balance of delivering a better product, which often is related to technology, but then have that personal touch and the personal relationship as well.
Our goal is to make it easier for agents to do business with us. Our online solutions are focused on allowing the agent to get a quote from us and to get a policy issued—and we’ve won awards for this technology. Most recently, we won the 2012 Applied Systems Interface Partner Award from Applied Systems for our frontline agency-facing system.
In addition, the predictive modeling that we use in conjunction with this helps speed up the process for agencies to get answers and to know why we are pricing a piece of business a certain way.
For policyholders, especially larger accounts and for our brands that focus on larger insureds, we have a full suite of products to offer. Our risk management system is one of the best in the industry. We also focus on providing tools for policyholders of all sizes, such as online loss prevention tools for small policyholders who may not receive a visit every year from a loss prevention consultant.
One area where we have committed considerable focus is assisting injured workers. As I mentioned before, if you go back 20 years, the medical component of injuries did not receive a lot of attention. You just paid the bill, and if you were lucky, you had a fee schedule.
SULLIVAN: You had bill review TPAs out there that would review them, but it was around
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EXECUTIVE CORNER
reducing the cost versus getting back to work. What are some strategies around that and how do I[1] shorten the times?
HAAR: We created a medical management strategy in 2009. When we began to form this strategy, we asked, “How do we focus on the injured worker and on improving outcomes, which will be good for the injured worker, good for the insured and also good for us?” The answer was through the creation of a number of innovative products. One of them is a patented and trademarked process called Care AnalyticsTM, which ensures that the injured worker can get access to the care with the best outcomes.
We are also looking at all aspects of the care model and cost containment. We’ve partnered with Johns Hopkins University to study narcotic abuse--research that earned your (IASA) 2013 Technology Innovation Award, by the way. And we’ve implemented a number of predictive modeling solutions on the claim side so that we have the earliest and best insight into how we think a claim is going to develop. This allows us to get the right processes and the right treatments as early as possible.
SULLIVAN: How has Blue Cross Blue Shield influenced, or has it influenced, some of the things you are doing when you talk about medical management? On the worker’s comp side, you are looking at your claims and asking, “Where is the best outcome, and how do I direct them?” Has Blue Cross influenced you at all in that thinking, or is that coming mostly from here?
HAAR: What we have found is that there are differences between occupational and group medicine and their services. There are also significant regulatory and market differences that impact how medical services
are provided to injured workers. Even with that, we clearly learn from BCBSM. They have the expertise, knowledge and insight that is helpful for us in a number of ways as we do research and strategy, even if it is not always directly applicable.
DISCHER: One of the things I think is really interesting is you have entered into four different businesses. You are looking at claims potentially across all, underwriting across all. So if you think about the medical, it seems you are looking at the business, whether intentional or not, similarly to how some of the major players are looking at their business.
HAAR: We do look at claims from an enterprise-wide perspective across the country. This gives us the opportunity to invest in areas that we would not be able to invest in if we were simply looking at them in isolation. It also gives us insights we would not have if we were not looking at it across a broad geography. There are items that we know are best practices and should be applied across our entire organization and across all of our claims operations. We also know that having local brand expertise will surface things that work for that jurisdiction. California is a perfect example; there are things that we do in California that are very specific to California and work well very there. There are also things we started in California but said,
“Wow, that was a great idea. Let’s apply it across the entire country.”
SULLIVAN: You talked about the culture and how people like working here and feeling part of the community. A lot of that comes from the leadership in an organization. If I talked to your senior leadership team and asked, “What kind of leader is Liz?” how would they
describe your management style and leadership style?
HAAR: Most people would probably say that everybody knows what I am thinking. I really do not hold back. I think that is a good thing, and it is something that I expect from everybody that works with me. I’ve said, and really believe, that if I do not know your opinion, then I should not have to pay you. Regardless of whether your opinion matches mine or is opposite of mine, or matches your coworker or is opposite of your coworker, we are only going to get to the best decisions if we get all of those ideas and opinions out on the table. That is where the best innovation comes from.
At the end of the day, however, you also have to have a clear decision-making process. I have been in environments that were highly collaborative and focused on idea sharing, but we could never reach a decision. Then I have seen command and control environments where the only ideas brought forward were ones people knew the CEO was going to agree with. Both environments are equally unhealthy.
We try hard to be in that middle ground where you are here because of your expertise. You are here to be bringing ideas and opinions to the table. You are here to help shape the way we do things, but we cannot have 1,100 people making every decision. For everything there has to be either one or just a few decision-makers who are hearing the information and then using it to make the best choices for us going forward. I also believe that we are not going to be right every time. Make decisions for the best reasons and have the best analysis behind you, and then execute, watch and monitor. If you were wrong, admit it and fix it.
I have been here now for 17 years, coming up through actuarial, working on the strategic development of our national expansion and then leading the business development area before I became CEO. As a result, I have been fortunate to lead many teams in creating things. And there are times people will approach me and say,
“There’s a better way to do things.” They’re often hesitant because they know that at some point I had a hand in creating it. But I actually think that is a great thing. Everything that has been done at some point can be done better, and we need to be open-minded without an emotional connection.
The fun thing about our business is you might create something today and it might be great for today, but in two years, there is going to be something better. If you get too emotionally connected to it, then you are not going to move the company forward.
SULLIVAN: Plus, the outside market is continually changing. Our competition is changing, and so a good decision five years ago may not fit today. We want our people to be comfortable enough to recognize this. We expect it.
DISCHER: We had rising medical costs; we had all these things that were impacting us. We know some of that is going to happen again, but what are we doing to build a more resilient company? What are you thinking about? Was it resilience, or is it growth? We are going to weather these cycles again, so what are we doing now to position ourselves to sustain and weather that storm?
HAAR: We are focusing on reducing volatility within the company. There used to be general acceptance that you just have to ride up and down with the cycles. And while I still believe
Liz Haar Interview continued from page 9
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EXECUTIVE CORNER
that there is some truth to this, we are focused on dampening those swings and lessening that volatility. This is done through an enhanced focus on underwriting excellence. When you take a look at the work comp industry, you can see a difference in companies that have that intense focus on underwriting excellence and the ones that simply accept that they are going to float with the industry.
I think you are starting to see a separation between those types of companies, and I think that gap will continue to increase. At Accident Fund, we do everything we can to position ourselves with the group that is focused, first and foremost, on underwriting excellence, on lessening that volatility and on having the data analytics to understand what is going on at a much more granular level than companies used to be able to do 15 or 20 years ago.
Overall, I think our industry is slowly changing. When you take a look at what we talked about earlier and at the speed with which things can take place because of data and technology, we are not going to have those long-term cycles with the huge swings and a hard market that lasts multiple years. I would say that the current market is as firm as it is going to get. It hasn’t been a traditional hard market, either by depth or by length. So as a company, we have to be prepared, and that is why we are focused on underwriting excellence.
DISCHER: Is there anything else you would add to the foreseeable future, relative to the challenges that you see? I mean things that you talked about: healthcare, interest and investment income, weathering the cycles.
HAAR: The impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is still a big unknown for the work comp industry. There are pieces
of the ACA that do not become effective until 2016; and I do not think employers have seen the full effect of what is going to happen with rates. I think the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is also a big unknown in our industry—and it is still something we need to deal with. There are also uncertainties in the regulatory environment, in the relationship between state versus federal regulations and the potential impact of European standards on the U.S. And, of course, there is a sluggish economic recovery. Overall, these conditions create uncertainty for companies in terms of what the environment is going to be like in the coming 18 to 24 months. That uncertainty adds volatility and it affects company strategies.
SULLIVAN: I look at all of our clients, and there are a significant amount of women who are at the executive level, but not so many at the CEO level. So, how do you attract the top talent and maybe a subset of that as female CEOs? What is your message to that young MBA student coming out of school? How do you say this is an exciting industry to be in?
HAAR: First of all, insurance is an exciting industry to be in. At Accident Fund, we focus on recruiting both younger talent and seasoned executives. Very few people my age chose the insurance industry purposely—I fell into it by accident. But that does not work these days when there is such tough competition for young, qualified talent. So, we are intentionally working to increase our reach into colleges, universities and even at the high school level. We work with the Griffith Foundation and The Institutes to get young people interested and knowledgeable about our industry. We also
work with Michigan State University and Olivet College here in Michigan, and we have deliberately expanded our reach to colleges and universities across the country.
There is a high demand right now for people with strong data analytics backgrounds, whether it is in predictive modeling or actuarial, or even general data analytics. Information Technology roles are tough to recruit because there is such high demand. So, we have specific recruiting efforts that go after these types of individuals through a strong internship program. We have also partnered with local high schools to try and get kids to understand that insurance is not just a group of individuals sitting in a back room crunching numbers, and it is not just about selling it either. There are many types of careers available in the insurance industry, and it is an exciting place to be.
We are also very focused on building the diversity of our workforce. I mentioned earlier that we pay people to share their opinions--but this does not work if everyone has the
exact same opinion. To have diversity of thought, we must have a diverse workforce. In fact, this is so important that we have incorporated diversity and inclusion strategies across our organization to create this environment.
As for women, I read something not too long ago that only 6% of insurance company CFOs, CEOs and board members were female. I am optimistic that will change over time. It is not going to change because of mandates or quotas, but rather because companies will realize that diversity in leadership is good for their organization. Gender diversity is good now at most levels of insurance companies, especially compared to when I first started working. But at top leadership levels, we still have a ways to go. I’m optimistic that it will continue to improve over time.
SULLIVAN: We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. Your insight into your company, your business, and how you look at things makes for interesting reading.
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Presents
SPECIAL REPORT
Find out more about IASA’s Executive Education Program events and opportunities inside this special section, or visit IASA online at www.iasa.org
Around the industry, the country, and your own backyard, IASA is empowering insurance executives through education.
&Executive Education
Roundtable Series
This year’s IASA EDGE conference was held September 21 and 22 in
Chicago at the historic Chicago Hilton. On Sunday, September 21, attendees were invited to historic Wrigley field to enjoy an afternoon of Cubs baseball, which was followed by a networking reception.
Among other topics, the focus of the conference this year was industry innovation, trends, and fiscal responsibility. The program began with a panel of industry experts sharing their perspectives on key industry issues facing carriers now and in the coming few years. The panel included Ernie Csiszar, professor of Finance at the University of South Carolina and a consummate industry veteran and pundit; Tom Nodine, managing director of Corporate Transformation Partners and expert on digitization in the insurance industry; Denise Lynch, Group Executive for Kemper Property & Casualty and authority on human capital and culture; and Rod Travers, executive vice president of The Nolan Company and expert in insurance technologies.
The lively panel discussion first touched on regulation. Mr. Csiszar suggested that a “clean slate” ap-proach to reengineering industry regulation would be ideal, but that such a radical step is not likely to happen. He also suggested that a
“unifying event” such as a threat to the industry might snap us out of the regulatory paralysis we seem to be mired in. He also discussed the geopolitical concerns (e.g., Ukraine) and opportunities (e.g., global expansion) that carriers should pay
close attention to and potentially act upon. Ms. Lynch described the importance of making people a strategic priority, and creating a workplace and industry that sup-ports professional development and advancement. She suggested the industry is in stiff competition from other industries such as inter-net companies, startups, and even small companies that offer lifestyle balance. Mr. Nodine described the spectrum of digitization opportu-nities open to insurance carriers, enabling them to speed up business processes and reduce complex-ity. He suggested that the pace of change in technology will continue to increase. Mr. Travers discussed the practical realities in regard to technology that many carriers still face, namely achieving the business impacts of major technology initia-tives. In response to Mr. Nodine’s observation regarding the pace of change, Mr. Travers declared a “red alert” that many carriers may not be prepared to implement and as-similate even more technology, yet they must find ways to do just that or be left behind.
Following the panel, the audience was presented with three real-world success stories as told by three innovative insurance organizations. The outstanding technology accomplishments of AssureStart, PURE Insurance, and Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC) were presented as part of IASA’s Technology Innovation Award.
AIC described its ANNAPOORNA project, an end-to-end web-based solution to serve the remotest and poorest farmers
in the country in an affordable way. AssureStart shared how they
implemented in just nine months a proprietary, easy-to-use, fully integrated insurance platform covering every aspect of the insurance value chain. AssureStart is the only carrier in the market today where a small business owner can purchase a Business Owner Policy online in just 5 minutes.
PURE explained how they designed and built a self-service portal for their policyholders so as to deliver an exceptional policy-holder experience through transpar-ent, straightforward service. The PURE system integrates GuideWire, OneShield, and SalesForce.com in an innovative, cloud-based solution.
Following introductory presentations and an audience vote, the AssureStart project was chosen as the 2014 IASA Technology Innovation Award winner. “There were three outstanding nominees this year, and we congratulate them all on their innovative applications of technology and the impressive business benefits they achieved,” said Mary Ellen Freyermuth, director of IT with Catholic Mutual Group and IASA’s CIO.
“AssureStart is a great example of an organization recognizing the needs of its target insurance market and finding an innovative way to leverage technology to make researching and buying small business commercial insurance easy and affordable for the customer, and profitable for the insurer,” said Paul Rieder of Ward Group, which co-sponsors the Innovation Award with IASA.
Next up was former US
Comptroller General and head of the government accountability office (GAO) David Walker. Mr. Walker sounded the alarm about the unstainable fiscal policies that are threatening the financial future of our nation. He provided examples of government programs, such as Social Security, that will run out of money unless our representatives in congress take fiscally responsible actions today.
Professional facilitator Tim Ursiny then led the breakout groups in an exercise to address four intriguing questions:
The Search is on: Where will the Insurance Industry Find Top Talent?
Strategy Session: Making Sure Analytics Can Positively Impact Your Business
Trading Places: How would Things Change if Steve Jobs Ran Accounting, or if a CFO ran I.T.?
Are you Willing to Trade Control for Cost Savings? Do you have to?
The breakout groups followed a structured process to identify relevant challenges and opportunities, and then specify actions company leaders might take in their own organizations. A comprehensive recap of the session outcomes will be presented in a future article and will be available to IASA members at IASA.org.
Allstate vice president Miguel Edwards and PWC director Scott Busse then introduced an innova-tive high-definition data visualiza-tion platform for exploring data and collaborating with business leaders. Edwards and Busse demonstrated the ability to depict data-driven scenarios in a visual and interactive manner which blends charts, satel-lite imagery, and other content.
The day concluded with an energetic, insightful and forward-looking presentation from Brian Sullivan, journalist and publisherContinued on page 15
14 Fall 2014 theInterpreter x www.iasa.org
EDGE Recap by ROD TRAVERS and MARY ELLEN FREYERMUTH
Mary Ellen Freyermuth is Director-MIS for Catholic Relief Insurance Company of America and IASA’s 2014-2015 CIO and she can be reached for further information via email at [email protected]. Rod Travers is Executive Vice President for The Nolan Company and IASA’s 2014-2015 VP-Marketing and Communications. He can be reached for further information via email at [email protected].
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
Consistent with IASA’s mission statement, for almost ten years, IASA
has been offering an executive education program anchored by its annual Executive Roundtables in connection with IASA’s Annual Educational Conference and Business Show. Starting with the Chief Financial Officer Roundtable in 2005 and expanding to include separate Roundtables for Chief Information/ Technology Officers, Chief Investment Officers and Chief Operating Officers, IASA continues to meet the educational and networking needs of its C-level constituency. In addition, since 2008 IASA has offered its annual Executive EDGE conference, which brings together the individual executive disciplines to provide an opportunity for cross-disciplinary collaboration and conversation. These programs collectively comprise IASA’s Executive Education Program (EEP) and they fulfill the mission statement by providing outstanding opportunities for educational growth, personal and professional development and exchange of ideas for our industry’s leaders.
IASA’s EEP is consistently one of its highest rated educational
programs and the 2014 Executive Roundtables and Executive EDGE Conference were no exception. The tradition of excellence continued in June in Indianapolis with four outstanding Roundtables
- each offering a variety of educational topics, presenters and session formats geared to the professional needs and interests of our C-level audiences. There were presentations by noted industry experts, panel discussions by industry peers and solution providers and opportunities for audience response and participation. Each Roundtable was specifically planned by a subcommittee of IASA’s EEP Committee and was tailored to include relevant issues and topics to address ever-changing educational needs of insurance
executives across the industry and across the country. The feedback from those in attendance consistently praised the 2014 Roundtable quality of the content and presentation and affirmed the traditional IASA educational and networking value proposition.
In addition to the Executive Roundtables in Indianapolis, the 2014 IASA Executive EDGE conference was held in Chicago in September. This conference brought together executives from the finance, accounting, investment, technology and operations disciplines for an
opportunity to hear from high-quality keynote speakers and panelists about current issues impacting the insurance industry and the world at large. This year’s conference was headlined by David Walker, a noted author and former U.S. Comptroller General and head of the GAO with a poignant message about fiscal responsibility. A lively panel discussion included Ernie Csiszar, past president of the NAIC and other outstanding industry executives with a look at the pulse of the industry.
This edition of the Interpreter includes specific coverage of each of the 2014 Executive Roundtables and the recent EDGE conference. At this time, planning is underway for the 2015 of IASA’s EEP Roundtables and EDGE programs. We have dedicated teams of volunteers working in earnest to provide the same level of high quality programming and networking opportunities in 2015 that you have come to expect from IASA. See you in Las Vegas as we
“Go All In.”
Tim Morgan is Assistant VP and Corporate Controller for The Republic Group and is IASA’s 2014-2015 President-Elect. He can be reached via email at [email protected]
theInterpreter x www.iasa.org Fall 2014 15
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
Executive Education – A Hallmark of IASA Education Excellenceby TIM MORGAN
”
IASA MISSION STATEMENTThe mission of IASA is to initiate,
enable and facilitate the exchange of educational information, best practices and
innovative ideas among insurance related professionals to enhance the effectiveness
of these individuals, their employers and the insurance industry as a whole.
‘‘
EDGE Recap Continued from page 14of the Auto Insurance Report and Property Insurance Report. Sullivan spelled out the macroeconomic, generational, and consumer-driven trends that are reshaping the insurance industry right before our eyes. For example, the overall reduction in aggregate auto premiums is a trend that
will continue. Sullivan suggested insurers must pay attention to demographic trends, evolving consumer behaviors, and ancillary factors such as climate change in order to drive new product designs, underwriting, and distribution models among many other changes.
The EDGE conference concluded with a lively networking
reception with exhibitors and sponsors in the grand atrium of the Chicago Hilton.
IASA thanks the sponsors of the 2014 EDGE event including Accenture Duck Creek, Appian, ComnServ, Edgewater Technology Inc., EDM Americas, EIS Group, GhostDraft, Insurity, Keymark, MajescoMastek, The Nolan Com-
pany, Northern Trust Corporation, OBRIEN Insurance Solutions, Princeton Financial Systems, PWC, Salient Commercial Solutions, The Ward Group, and Xpertdoc.
Mark your calendars for 2015 when the EDGE Conference will be held September XX in St. Louis, Missouri. We look forward to seeing you there!
The responsibilities of chief operating officers (COOs) cross many disciplines
within today’s insurance companies, touching on not only operations, but human resources (HR), finance/accounting, technology and more. Since the interests and educational needs of this group cover such a broad cross section, developing timely executive-level content for COOs is extremely difficult.
The 2014 IASA COO Roundtable tackled that challenge admirably this year with topics including social media mastery, the business application of analytics, and a COO Solutions Challenge that engaged the entire room in practical problem-solving. Held on Monday, June 9, during the IASA Annual Educational Conference & Business Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, the day got off to rousing start with incoming IASA President Forrest Mills who introduced the program.
Mills invited Tim Morgan of the Republic Group, who is also IASA’s vice president of seminars and the 2015/16 president–elect for the association, Rod Travers of the Nolan Company, who is also IASA’s vice president of marketing and communications and co-chairman of the COO Roundtable program, and me, Ken Zieden-Weber of Xchange
Benefits, LLC, chair of IASA’s Interpreter and eInterpreter Committee and co-chairman of the COO Roundtable program, to stand and be recognized as the primary organizers of the event. In addition, the 2014 IASA COO Roundtable sponsors, including Dixon Hughes Goodman, IBM, Insurity, the Nolan Company, SS&C and Workday, were introduced and thanked for their support. This was the 5th annual IASA COO Roundtable, and the largest yet in terms of attendee numbers, which have grown over the years to approximately 75.
The first session, “Social Tech Mastery: Table Stakes,” was presented Mike Wise, president of WebWisedom, LLC, a company that focuses on social media for the insurance industry in terms of both marketing and training executives on the value of social media. During this session, Wise reiterated the importance of social technology as it relates to insurance company operations. He focused primarily on being in the space and utilizing it in areas such as client contact, claims, HR, policy management and general communications (messaging). Wise also discussed various software solutions available to insurers who desperately need to manage multiple social networks while maintaining a common
message. Wise’s presentation was dynamic and achieved significant audience engagement.
Craig Bedell of IBM led the second session of the day, “Analytics: Unlocking Results,” which included Teri Deehan of Travelers, Scott Henck of Chubb, and Keith Kerver of Westfield Group. This group discussed success stories as well as the “stop and starts” of data analytics projects. They concluded that greater success can be achieved by building slowly on an existing foundation rather than engaging in large all-encompassing projects. Everyone agreed the natural starting place for data analysis within an insurance company were in the claims and policy management areas, typically looking at demographic patterns. However, assessing demographic patterns apparently often frequently expanded into claims analysis and special investigative unit (SIU) studies. The more advanced insurers seem to have already begun to explore policyholder trends, and some actuaries have even started to include derived data elements in pricing algorithms.
The day concluded with another installment of the most popular session from last year, the COO Solutions Challenge. The session was moderated Bob Larew of Insurity, and featured
three teams. Team 1 was Team Nolan, and was anchored by Jackie Morales of AXA. Team 2 was Team Insurity, and was coached by David Lawless of Magna Carta Companies. Team 3 was Team IBM, and was coached by Jim Keal of West Bend Mutual.
During the COO Solutions Challenge, the teams were presented with an operational business issue and given one hour to devise a strategy that would best resolve the issue. The groups were given several criteria to include in the solution, including market impact, brand impact, financial impact, customer impact, and degree of innovation.
I was privileged to judge this year’s competition alongside Don West of State National and Jim Daggett of the Insurance Technology Association (ITA). The groups presented some terrific options and each had a somewhat different take on a solution. After a second round of deliberations, the judges determined Team Insurity was the winner of the 2014 COO Roundtable Solutions Challenge. Congratulations, however, should be extended to all participants for their enthusiastic teamwork and creative solutions under pressure.
The camaraderie of the day easily flowed over into a networking cocktail hour sponsored by SS&C. By the end of the reception, plans for next year’s event, and ideas for an even better COO Solutions Challenge were in the works.
16 Fall 2014 theInterpreter x www.iasa.org
Around the Track With the COO’sby KEN ZIEDEN-WEBER
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
Kenneth Zieden-Weber is the Senior Vice President and COO/CFO at Xchange Benefits, LLC. He is also the chair of IASA’s eInterpreter/Interpreter Committee and a member of the association’s Seminars Committee. He can be reached via email at [email protected].
theInterpreter x www.iasa.org Fall 2014 17
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
The 2014 IASA Annual Conference and Business Show saw a promising
number of c-suite executives taking advantage of the opportunity to network and share ideas as participants in the Executive Edition Roundtable Series. These Roundtable sessions focus on topics of particular interest to management executives, and offer participants an in depth examination tailored for company decision makers. The 2014 Chief Financial Officer Roundtable gathered together top Finance executives from around the country to explore trending industry topics.
Following a networking breakfast sponsored by Exigen, the 2014 CFO Roundtable kicked off with an examination of the changing landscape of Reinsurance with a panel moderated by Mark Robinson, Chairman and President, of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. Panelists Cory Anger, Global Head of ILS Structuring at GC Securities, Romulo Braga, Senior Vice President at BMS Group, Jeffrey Burman, Deputy General Counsel at American International Group, and Dan Knipe, Life Portfolio Manager at Leadenhall Capital Partners all weighed in on the emerging market for non-traditional Reinsurance.
As the investor community has expanded the way they put capital into the reinsurance market, the market itself has adapted to these changes.
Of primary concern in this evolving niche is how to cover risks while ensuring stability going forward. With the new investor market looking for opportunities, reinsurance has become a viable option as part of a diverse investment portfolio. This additional market can provide greater security via financial flexibility in the event of a catastrophic loss such as Hurricane Andrew. Panelists advised that anyone curious
about looking to this as an option should explore it now, as this will be easier to renew than to instate while facing the potential of a catastrophic loss. The market is still emerging, and there is the strong possibility of investors looking to capitalize on any given asset class.
Second on the day’s agenda was a discussion on the NAIC’s Solvency Modernization Initiative. Moderated by Gary Bowers, Tax Partner, of Johnson Lambert LLP, the panel addressed what has been called the most significant program of regulatory reform in over twenty years. Panelists D. Keith Bell, Senior Vice President of
Accounting Policy and Corporate Finance at The Travelers Companies, Stephen Broadie, Vice President of Financial Policy for Property and Casualty at Insurers Association of America (PCI), James Hattaway, Insurance Examinations Supervisor at the Alabama department of Insurance, and Ray Cox addressed ways in which this initiative can impact both individual companies and the Industry as a whole.
Solvency gaps are inherent in any financial crisis, some of these are anticipated and contingencies can be put in place to alleviate the effects. However, it was discovered that some of these known gaps were not acted upon, or were addressed insufficiently, which created a sense that regulations needed to be tightened to avoid these lapses going forward. As a result, the Model Holding Company Act was revised to include opportunities to increase efficiency of regulation. As well, with the ORSA Model Act, Risk Management is becoming more and more a focus of regulatory examinations. Companies are encouraged to
create robust, thorough, and effective risk management policies and practices. This is key not only to appease the regulators, but to create a more productive feedback environment between company and regulator as communication between the two is made more effective when the process is clear and well supported. This also serves to foster a pride of product within the company itself. Mitigation strategies are also in focus, and, as with risk management, companies are encouraged to have thoroughly documented and understood policies in place and distributed among all employees. ORSA topics are being included in regulatory exams now, with the Initiative slated to be fully in place by January 2016.
Following a short break, the day resumed for the first part of a look into Data Analytics. For Part One of Making Your Data Work for You: How Analytics Can Help Insurance Company CFOs, speaker Sam Stuckal, Research Director of Insurance at CEB Tower Group, took a look at how well firms are leveraging the time and money invested in data analytics into actionable insights and results.
The biggest data projects in financial reporting are billing, claims, deferred acquisition costs, incentive compensation, investment accounting, liquidity analysis, long-term operating plans, risk appetite, and stock market volatility. Within these diverse topics, there
COntinued on page 18
CFO Roundtable SummaryIASA 2014 Annual Conference & Business Showby CELESKA FREDIANELLI
The current state of data management shows that more than half of the companies studied had
little or no data management policy in place.
‘‘’’
CFO Summary Continued from page 17lies an opportunity to collect and consolidate data to assist executives in making effective decisions for their companies. It is generally agreed among those polled on the topic that data and systems architecture that provide accurate data are key for this to be effective, as low data quality directly impacts decision confidence. Not only must data be collected, but it needs to be managed and filtered into usable results. However, the current state of data management shows that more than half of the companies studied had little or no data management policy in place. It is recommended that companies establish standardized data definitions in house and with business partners, establish and communicate data standards, and make all data sources transparent. From that base, it is possible to evaluate data beyond just verifying accuracy, as relative factors can be examined and incorporated to create a solid data strategy that will, in turn, empower well-informed, effective decision making as well as simplify reporting.
In Part Two of Making Your Data Work for You: Case Studies, Moderator John Vercellino, Vice President of Product Management at SunGard and iWorks Financials, continued the exploration of Data Analytics with examples from two insurers who applied this theory in practice with success. Wayne Deveydt, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wellpoint, shared
his insights on utilizing readily available tools to develop a data analytics strategy that suited the needs of his smaller company. This example highlighted the use of innovation and creative thinking to adapt pre-existing tools to suit the specific needs of the project. Aaron Pierce, Associate general Counsel at Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa, discussed the options available to larger companies that are able to dedicate resources, staff, and budget to creating a customized solution. This case study pointed out how many resources and avenues for optimization can be found in the realm of data
analytics. Both examples illustrated the benefit of having effective data analytics, regardless of how it is achieved, in providing a solid foundation for decision making and discovering viable solutions for increasing profit and mitigating loss.
The 2014 CFO Roundtable closed with the Annual Economic Outlook. Speaker Peter Giola, Vice President and Economist at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), provided the assembled executives with a look at our current economic outlook from a global perspective. Emphasizing the importance of understanding both small and large market
fluctuations and how they affect every aspect of industry finance. While his overall take is that the economy is in recovery, and that this recovery is going better than anticipated or perceived by the general populace, there needs to be more clarity and confidence, and less uncertainty, with regards to fiscal policy on an individual, corporate, national, and global scale.
IASA would like to thank this year’s sponsors, Exigen, BMS Group, Guy Carpenter, Johnson Lambert, SunGard, BKD, Centric, Dixon Hughes Goodman, and Workday for helping to make the 2104 Chief Financial Officer Roundtable a success.
Celeska Fredianelli is VP-Discontinued Programs for QBE Holdings Inc. During the 2013-2014 year, she served as Chief Financial Officer for the association, and she is currently serving as the association’s Vice President – e-Learning. She can be reached via email at [email protected].
18 Fall 2014 theInterpreter x www.iasa.org
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
Information Technology is central to the insurance ecosystem, from carriers to
agents / brokers to reinsurers and beyond. It is also arguably the fastest moving discipline on the planet, and is being influenced by ever increasing capabilities and expectations of company business leaders, employees, and consumers. The world of digital is everywhere and changing fast, and will potentially disrupt every part of the insurance supply chain. The theme of “Digital Disruption” was the backdrop for the day-long Chief Information / Chief Technology Roundtable event (CITO) held at the 2014 IASA Educational Conference and Business Show, in Indianapolis, IN.
115 senior technology leaders from carriers around the country and 35 supplier / sponsor participants came together to engage in discussions about Digital Disruption and how it is affecting the way companies view and respond to its forces. The day began with a keynote presentation by one of the founders of Twitter and was followed by three sessions: Digital Disruption Within Your Enterprise, Digital Disruption Outside Your Enterprise and Digital Disruption For (and by) Your Customers. It was a fast-paced day, as each section offered two TED-style speakers: short, 12-18 minute talks with no bullet point slides, and no Q&A. A live and visible Twitter feed offered attendees the opportunity to respond and comment to topics and ideas in real-time.
Dr. Dom Sagolla, who was part of the team that developed and founded Twitter, and author of the book, 140 Characters – A Style Guide for the Short Form kicked off the day with a keynote talk centered around the power of small and dynamic development teams. He shared stories and pictures and a rare peek behind the curtain of the
first days of Twitter, conveying how the idea and platform evolved into its first launch. He discussed some of the current startup activities going on in Silicon Valley, and how the availability of technology is putting digital creation into the hands of anyone who wants it. Ideas come from everywhere.
The three session that followed Dr. Sagolla’s keynote were presented by senior leaders from carriers, vendor sponsors, and industry consultants. Each gave energetic and thought-provoking information and ideas of where and how Digital Disruption is challenging the insurance industry.
The first session, Digital Disruption Inside Your Enterprise began with Bill Hartnett, President of Hartnett Advisors, giving an impassioned talk on the topic of Leading The Fastest Moving Profession in a Slow Moving Industry. He illustrated examples of how, insurance companies are still using documents and forms from the 1950’s. His talk referenced current and future technologies such as Bitcoin, as technology that carriers need to better understand and harness to reach the demands of their customers.
Laura Ford, Executive Director, Advisory Services with Ernst & Young wrapped up the first session with a talk titled Insurance IT Recruiting and Retention, a topic relevant to every single person in the room, and beyond. Using examples from Ernst & Young divisions and other companies, she spoke of strategies to recruit, hire, engage, and retain hard-to-find talent, ranging from university graduates to tenured IT staff.
John Johansen, Founding Partner at Agile Technologies led off the second session, Digital Disruption Outside Your Enterprise with his talk on Differentiating Beyond Price. He gave broad, cross-industry examples of companies and
technologies that speak to how people interact with each other and how they interact with the companies they do business with. He also spoke on the power of technologies available to everyone that chooses to look for their creative uses and the opportunities that may ensue. John finished by bringing everyone to the edge of their seats by describing a scenario where data about any one of us may be ubiquitous and where companies and service providers
– even health care will follow our every move and find ways to insert themselves into our lives.
Scott Mackey followed John, and introduced outside-of-insurance knowledge and ideas to the insurance product development ring. Describing the creative uses of technology and data in manufacturing and other mechanized industries, he provided the audience with out of the box approaches to look at traditionally stoic processes that we all “just accept” as status quo. His points were real. Scott illustrated how other industries innovate and move their products and services ahead can and should be very instructive to insurance..
The final session examined digital disruption from a consumer’s point of view. Mike Collins, SVP & CIO of Personal Lines at Travelers engaged the room with show-and-tell. Speaking on the topic The Internet of Everything, he pulled many of the earlier speakers’ ideas into focus with toys. He showed the room samples of technologies being used by companies to enable consumers to interact with products and services in new ways. Attendees
were able to view the digital bracelets that Disney provides to guests to grant access to hotel services, make payments, and schedule entertainment seamlessly. He also discussed the implications of such technology, how vast the data can be from these technologies and how consumers readily allow this data to be gathered and used. Mike concluded his presentation with a demonstration of a Google Glass video capture and play, and passed around his Google Glasses for all to see.
Consumer-Driven Disruption was the last talk of the day. Bryan Fowler, CIO at Oregon Mutual Insurance spoke about industries that had quickly been disrupted by the lightning-fast consumer adoption of capabilities enabled by technologies and the effect these capabilities have on consumers’ expectations. Using examples of Airbnb, Uber, Zillow, and ZoomCare, he pointed out how fast expectations are changing, how “social capital” is a huge accelerator of consumer adoption and expectations and that insurance companies have little time to build fast-response capabilities before threats and competition from outside-the-industry become a reality.
The dedicated sponsorship of MajescoMastek, Agile Technologies, Ernst & Young, and ISCS made the 2014 CITO Roundtable possible, and following the day of fast-paced talks and focus on disruption, the attendees were treated to a cocktail reception sponsored by Centric Consulting, where they were able to relax and compare notes, ideas and takeaways.
Mary Ellen Freyermuth is Director-MIS for Catholic Relief Insurance Company of America and IASA’s 2014-2015 CIO and she can be reached for further information via email at [email protected].
theInterpreter x www.iasa.org Fall 2014 19
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
CITO Roundtableby MARY ELLEN FREYERMUTH
In the continuing saga several years in the making, 2014 continues to be a time of low
investment returns with little anticipated relief in sight. In a familiar set of circumstances, the Chief Investment Officer Roundtable attendees gathered in Indianapolis in June 2014 having much to consider with an eye toward improving their investment portfolio returns in a challenging environment. This Roundtable was an integral part of IASA’s Executive Education Program, a key component of the Annual Educational Conference and Business Show.
The opening session for the Roundtable provided a global economic update and capital markets outlook. This opening economic session provided a foundation for the day’s discussions highlighting economic growth possibilities and discussing indications of improvement areas in the economy, such as employment data, and the Fed beginning to unwind the stimulus program which continues at this time. While negative GDP returns in the 1st quarter did little to promote optimism, it was anticipated that 2014 will see GDP growth of approximately 2.5% - so there is some reason for optimism as the economy appears on a growth path after a disastrous opening which is
better than a disastrous closing. In addition to the economic data, a review of the capital markets with an outlook for investment opportunities was also presented.
The second session of the afternoon focused on an attendee survey conducted and compiled in advance of the conference. While as a general
rule, Chief Investment Officers do from time-to-time tinker and adjust their investment program — there is a dearth of real information about what their peers are doing. The comprehensive survey gave attendees a chance to actually see what their peers are doing to combat the challenging investment landscape. Peer tracking to support your program may be a good thing, but is also an opportunity to see what peers are doing that you are not. Food for thought!
While it is always “fun” to do what you want, a presentation by a former A.M. Best
principal regarding just how rating agencies view insurer’s investment strategies and portfolios provided information on how insurers can optimize their investment strategies and get the most favorable analytical feedback from the rating agencies. Certainly another sobering “food for
thought” discussion and a “keep it in mind” take away that you are being watched and must have some consideration for the consequences of portfolio decisions as they relate to regulator evaluation.
Speaking of which, a “Portfolio Construction” session followed with a discussion of strategic and tactical portfolio construction options to consider. The session focused on risk management with an eye toward exploiting investment opportunities across the yield curve. Asset/liability modeling was an important part of the discussion with focus on
investment duration needed to accommodate cash flow needs.
The wrap-up session for the day was “Closing the Loop: Making Investment Decisions” and provided an opportunity for attendees to apply discussion ideas presented during the course of the overall program. The popular audience response technology was used to spearhead the session, thus attendees were once again given a chance to see the overall audience viewpoints to various questions tailored to the day’s presentations. Sessions like this helped pull things together and improve the chances of leaving the roundtable with more innovative ideas to explore. After all, this should be what the overall Roundtable provides
- potential actionable items with an awareness of how your peers are dealing with similar situations. Your takeaways may or may not be supported by your peers’ indicated actions but at least you know something about what they are thinking.
Clearly, persistent low interest rates have defied all predictions and low investment yields continue to pose challenges to insurers. However, the Chief Investment Officer Roundtable provided thought-provoking opportunities for networking and learning that will allow chief investment and financial officers to return to their companies better equipped to pursue new opportunities for investment returns and deal with the challenges of today’s markets and regulatory environment.
Brent Jones is Chief Financial Officer with Texas P&C Insurance Guaranty Association. During the 2013-2014 fiscal year he served as chair of the Executive Education Program sub-committee and will be continuing in that role for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. He can be reached via email at [email protected].
Executive Education Program SPECIAL REPORT
Chief Investment Officer Roundtable Recap: The Roller Coaster Ride Continuesby BRENT JONES
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...there is a dearth of real information about what their peers are doing. The comprehensive survey gave
attendees a chance to actually see what their peers are doing to combat the challenging
investment landscape.
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The Art of Delegationby MEG DIXON
“I’ll do it myself ” are four, small words with large implications. It lives
in every facet of my life...my children, my husband, and of course my work. They slip out of my mouth before I even think about them. My kids ask to help with the cleaning…not this time, thanks; my husband offers to help with the laundry…no, I can do it; I get a project dropped on my lap…should I delegate?...Nope, much easier/faster for me to do it.
The fallout from doing it yourself not only affects your workload, stress, etc…it affects those who are not given the opportunity to help and contribute. I’ve hurt my children’s feelings. I’ve closed the door on getting help with the laundry. And, I’ve not passed on a project that could really help a fellow employee grow and learn. Meanwhile, I’ve added extra burden and stress do my own life, because I’ve over committed myself.
I know I’m not alone here. As a relatively new supervisor in my job, this is one of the hardest things to do. After all, I got to my position through hard work, dedication and, you guessed it, doing it myself. That’s the good news. The better news is that hard work and dedication get you more projects, tasks, meetings, etc…so unless your proverbial plate is getting bigger, you’re plate is now overflowing. Here are a few myths that come with the “I’ll do it myself ” mentality…
MYTH: I can handle it. FACT: Of course you can
handle it, you wouldn’t have been tasked something if you couldn’t handle it. But why
would you if you don’t have to? If you have the opportunity to pass something on, do it!
MYTH: I will look weak if I pass this on.
FACT: You will look a whole heck of a lot weaker if you try to do it all and fall short. It’s much better to give 100% to eight tasks than 75% to ten. Pass two on and knock out what you have left like a rock star. Use your voice to speak-up if you are drowning! I’ve seen this happen before, we say yes, we let things pile up, we get buried, and we don’t want to admit defeat. But if we communicate and delegate along the way, we have a chance to make it out alive and unscathed.
MYTH: It’s much faster if I do it myself.
FACT: Ok, I’ll be honest…this is my biggest obstacle…the thought of explaining the project to someone, then reviewing it in detail to make sure it’s as good as I would have done it is usually so exhausting, I think I’d rather just get it done myself. I
did this just last week, and then decided you know what? Yes, it’s going to be painful to see each step through, but I’m giving someone else a chance to shine…get recognition. Plus, I don’t have to do the bulk of the work! It’s a win-win! Think long term, not short term. Short term, it’s easier to do myself. But long term, as you establish people you can delegate to and make those connections and relationships, delegating will become easier! (So I’m told….I admittedly haven’t mastered this one yet).
MYTH: No one can do this as well as me.
FACT: While this may be true in part, you will never know if someone can do it as well as you, if you don’t give them the chance! Even if they don’t do
it the same way as you, maybe you’ll learn something new by letting someone else take a stab at something first. Delegating is also about coaching. If you’re lucky enough to have people to delegate to, you should also be coaching these people to let them grow and learn. If it’s a task you know well and know you can perform well, why not let someone else take the chance?
MYTH: There are more than 24 hours in a day.
FACT: Sorry, everyone. There just isn’t. I know this might come as a shock to everyone who tries to cram as much as humanly possible into their days, but we are limited to a mere 24 hours. So, you know that project you didn’t start yesterday, didn’t start today and likely won’t start tomorrow? That’s a prime candidate for delegation. There is a limit to how much we as humans can do. We can control our days and prioritize. By passing along certain things, we can make those 24 hours matter (and maybe even get some sleep).
I know nothing I’ve written is earth shattering. It’s all stuff we know, but if you’re like me, we suppress that little voice of logic that says “pass this project on” and let those myths take over. I challenge you to take a look at that to-do list. Pick one thing and pass it on!
FEATURE
Meg Dixon is Lead Statutory Accountant for RLI, relatively new supervisor, and Past President for the Central Illinois Chapter of IASA. She can be reached for further information or comment at [email protected]
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FEATURE
The IASA membership is largely comprised of
“technical people”. Technical people are accountants, actuaries, programmers, systems engineers, etc. These professionals originally qualified for their jobs predominantly because of their specialized technical skills. IASA offered a career skills program intended to help technical people make the best possible transition from an individual contributor role to a leadership role, titled “Making the Transition to Leadership” at the recent 2014 IASA National conference. One of the key takeaways from this program was that technical people in, or moving to, a leadership role must realize the characteristics and skills which helped them succeed in a technical role may significantly hinder their chances for maximum success as a leader. In order to succeed as a leader a technical person has to “give up” important things to fully enter a leadership role. They will also need to balance their appreciation and application of technical, interpersonal and administrative skills to be an effective leader.
As part of the “Making the Transition to Leadership program we asked the attendees: What do you love about your job as a technical person? Typical answers to this question included the following:
• Direct involvement in problem solving
• Clear role definition• Measurement of worth
based solely on professional competence
• Control over personal development
• Being insulated from organizational politics
• Being on the “cutting edge”• Task completion–closure
We subsequently asked: What are/were the payoffs for
going into leadership? Typical answers to this questions included:• Additional money, chance for
financial security• An element of autonomy,
chance to be in charge• Ability to amplify my efforts• Personal growth
opportunities• Inside knowledge• Increased visibility• More control
The final question asked was then: Are the payoffs gained
from being a leader enough to offset what you gave up from your prior technical role?
Technical people who think they have gained enough and truly value the gains of being in a leadership role are more likely to experience a smooth transition into a leadership role. In going into leadership, or in fully embracing leadership, we may leave some of the things we love and transitioning to other things that are different and perhaps
less than we expect. Anytime we make a major change in our lives, we leave feelings of security and often have negative concerns. The key to a successful leadership transition is to recognize these feelings and channel our energies towards making the changes required to fully embrace the leadership role.
There are several value/motivational shifts or changes that can help us to become more effective leaders. In order to enable a successful
transition from a technical role to a leadership role, a technical person must begin anew by moving from a narrow technical emphasis to a more general leadership emphasis. Specific examples of needed changes include moving from:
• Details to the big picture• Narrow areas of discipline/
logic to a wide variety of new ideas
• High degrees of specialization to generalist skills
• Production to coalitions and partnerships
• Low need for social interaction to a high need for same
• Loyalty to a profession, trade, or skill to loyalty to an organization
• Responsibility for one’s own work to responsibility for the work of othersThe technical characteristics
and skills that make an individual a competent technician can hinder them as leaders. To be most successful, technical people must make the same level of commitment to developing and improving their leadership skills that they previously made to their technical skills. Many technical people find it very hard to give up the technical publications and meetings in favor of leadership publications and meetings. Effective leadership does not involve reversing powerful technical inclinations.
Moving From a Technical Role to a Leadership Role – Making the Essential Transition to Leadershipby PAUL HEACOCK
Technical people in, or moving to, a leadership role must realize the
characteristics and skills which helped them succeed in a technical role may significantly hinder their chances for
maximum success as a leader.
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FEATURE
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Technical people must give up or deemphasize some technical characteristics and skills in order to maximize their leadership capabilities.
A specific example of a technical inclination that must be addressed is the tendency of many technical people to be perfectionists. Perfectionism is not knowing when to stop. When is a perfectionist done? Only when time runs out! A perfectionist is someone who takes great pains in everything he or she does and gives those pains to everyone else. As a perfectionist the people an individual works and lives with can be a constant source of disappointment. You are now reading a real-life personal example of perfectionism at work. If it were not for a publishing deadline, I might still be working to “perfect” this article. Perfectionism saps energy, steals time, and ultimately negatively impacts success. Being the most effective leader requires us to address this vulnerability.
These vulnerabilities can be addressed by following a three step process.
1. Recognize the vulnerability.2. Develop a step-by-step plan
for improvement.3. Express your commitment
to address the vulnerability to another person (probably not your immediate boss) for support and feedback.
Another important element of making an effective transition to leadership is keeping a proper balance among technical, interpersonal, and administrative
skills. Technical skills are those with a professional focus (accounting, finance, math, programming, systems analysis, etc.). Interpersonal skills are those needed to work effectively with others. Administrative skills are those needed to deal with the inevitable bureaucracy of organizations (forms, politics, power, etc.). The Carnegie Institute conducted a study of the skills that are needed to advance in one’s chosen profession. The key finding of this study is that once in the chosen profession, having proven the necessary basic technical skills, one’s future advancement is likely to be 85% based on interpersonal and administrative skills and only 15% based on technical skills.
Although one could certainly debate the exact percentages, I have often observed technical people’s career advancement limited by their lack of or proper use of interpersonal and administrative skills.
Making the essential transition from a technical or individual contributor role to a leadership role truly does involve crossing a threshold. This threshold requires rechanneling some of the powerful technical attributes that led to success as a technical person and at the same time valuing and effectively implementing the attributes needed to be the most effective leader possible. Once in a leadership role the technical person must also maintain and display a proper balance among the technical, interpersonal, and administrative skills needed to be an effective leader.
Paul, an IASA Past President, has been involved with IASA since 1971 — serving in various Local Chapter and International Board positions. Paul served as the IASA International President in 1979-1980. The book and presentations summarize the leadership and personal relationship lessons Paul learned over the last 47+ years in his roles as a business leader, marriage partner, parent of two daughters, as well as grandparent of one precious little girl. Paul believes that these BASIC principles apply equally to all the roles we play in life – leader, partner, parent and grandparent. To find out more, go to http://www.BasicRelationships.com/home.html.
Note: This article is excerpted from Paul Heacock’s recently published book BASIC Relationship and Leadership Strategies – Commonsense Ideas on How to Get Along Better with the Important People in Your Life. Paul, an IASA Past President, has been involved with IASA since 1971 – serving in various Local Chapter and International Board positions. Paul served as the IASA International President in 1979-1980. More details on the book and sample videos of presentations based on the book are on Paul’s website: http://www.BasicRelationships.com/home.html.
The book and presentations summarize the leadership and personal relationship lessons Paul learned over the last 47+ years in his roles as a business leader, marriage partner, parent of two daughters, as well as grandparent of one precious little girl. Paul believes that these BASIC principles apply equally to all the roles we play in life – leader, partner, parent and grandparent. The book and presentations offer a proprietary BASIC acronym to remember and better use these commonsense ideas.
Pat Saporito is a Senior Director in SAP’s Analytic Center of Excellence. She is the author of a new book, “Applied Insurance Analytics: A Framework for Driving More Value from Data Assets, Technologies and Tools”, available on Amazon. More information can be found on leading practices in metrics, business value, and data governance in the book and in SAP’s BI ebook at http://t.co/I1J5mgh4Dg.
Pat has also authored many articles on analytics for Best Review’s Technology Insights column and has presented on analytic and data warehousing at past IASA annual conferences.
FEATURE
IT and Finance: Partners in Driving Analytic Value by PAT SAPORITO
Big Data and the Internet of Things are two key disruptive trends
providing both opportunities and challenges to both IT and Finance. As “Big Data” gets even bigger and end users want to leverage it for sentiment analysis, text analysis, geospatial analysis, etc., IT has to “up” its game in data management, governance, security, and provisioning. Effective integration of external data with internal data, including unstructured social media data, requires enhancing existing data governance and data architecture processes. Finance is looking at ways to address internal and external analysis and reporting requests leveraging this data. They are looking at more sophisticated tools and advanced analytic skills to mine for new insights in the data. But Finance can extend its current and new capabilities beyond traditional finance functions and partner with IT to manage and validate the value of data and analytics.
To optimize value from their analytic investments, organizations need a business-driven and business-aligned enterprise business intelligence strategy, which extends beyond reporting to visualization and predictive analytics. This strategy needs to be applied to the business processes of the
business to increase revenue or decrease expenses, and needs to include five key areas: Strategy Objectives and Scope; Business Needs; Value Measurement and Management; Information Structures and Technologies; and Organization and Governance.
Both the business areas and IT are engaged in the definition of the strategy; the operationalization or execution of this strategy is affected through a BI (or Analytic) Competency Center (BICC). Key roles in a BICC are the executive sponsor, the BICC leader, a technical analyst, value analysts, business analysts, and data stewards; some of these are virtual roles filled part time in business areas. Key candidates for the executive sponsor, value analyst and data steward roles are from Finance. When starting up a BICC or improving its
capabilities, organizations take an “iterative” approach developing or enhancing processes and standards on an initiative by initiative basis. Finance transformation projects are excellent candidates as pilots for BICCs due to the high level of both BI and user commitment.
CFOs are very effective executive sponsors for advocating analytics; often they are already the “de facto” Chief Analytic Officer based on their existing responsibility for both internal and external management reporting. They have vested interest and engagement in data quality and governance. Extending this role to the executive sponsor and championing analytics on the senior management team is a natural fit. Even if they do not fill the Chief Analytic Officer role, they can still be strong advocates for analytics and champion analytics by telling success stories on the applied value of analytics to ensure ongoing funding for overall analytic programs and investments.
The value analyst role is to help build the business case, define KPIs to measure value attained, and participate in post implementation value assessments. It is often filled by a business analyst in IT or a functional area, but is sometimes filled by
or augmented by a cost analyst from finance. Value analysts also participate in building a corporate metric framework which every organization should have for effective performance management, however, this can be a daunting task. Starting this effort with internal and external finance KPIs can be very effective, as there is little disagreement or controversy on their definition or calculation. Organizations can then extend their KPIs by related metrics that roll up to the finance metrics area by area, as transactional or analytic initiatives are rolled out in underwriting, claims, marketing, etc.
Finance likely already has a data steward from an operational perspective, and to ensure the quality of finance data to fulfill reporting requirements and support management requests. The finance data steward role is often extended from operational data to analytic data. Financial data stewards are generally well experienced and can be strong contributors to leading practices in a data governance community of practice as part of the BICC.
Finance is a key stakeholder in an Enterprise BI strategy and its execution. Finance and IT are a perfect partnership in driving value from your data and technology investments.
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ASSOCATION NEWS
Founded on the notion of shared objectives, education, networking, and improved
communication within the financial and technology areas of the insurance industry; it is not surprising IASA Chapters play such a vital role. Volunteerism is the driving force behind IASA’s success at both the National and Chapter levels.
Many volunteer faces are familiar, but none is more quintessential than Chuck Gunkel. Chuck has been a volunteer with IASA for more than nine years. During Chuck’s time as an IASA volunteer, he has lead three committees; Chapter Advisory, Membership, and Volunteer Development. Now, excited to discuss the strategies of his committee assignment, he is taking over his second reign as VP of Chapter Advisory.
The goal of Chapter Advisory Committee is to develop leadership and strategies for the chapters, to help them increase attendance and membership, develop and maintain quality speakers while attracting new speakers, and ultimately, assist with the training of new chapter officers who are coming on-board. The National Convention attracts upwards of 2000 industry folks while the Chapters, on the other hand, hold 30-40 separate events each year touching between 3000-4000 individuals at all the local levels. Therefore, one of the major strategies of Chapter Advisory is, and has been, to increase communications between National and the local Chapters.
Chuck’s committee of 20-30 members is aware that their goal is to support the chapters continued growth while meeting the needs
of the local members. The carrier members, in combination with solution providers, are the force behind each chapter. The benefits provided through chapter affiliation make it difficult to believe it’s a free association with a local chapter. However, there is a nominal fee to attend chapter meetings. Chapter meetings offer two outstanding benefits: top notch affordable CPE’s, and networking. “Recently,” said Chuck, “I stood back at the Michigan Chapter meeting and watched the 100 plus individuals interacting. Carriers were sharing their experiences and solutions. In addition, vendors were engaging with each other and the carriers on a much different playing field. They have become friends and look forward to seeing each other.”
Chapter Advisory is working to increase the training with each chapter and their officers. This is a three prong process. First, a Chapter Handbook is being developed and will include Best Practices. This handbook will include job descriptions for each officer as well as an outline of ‘what to expect your first year.’ It will cover issues such as 6 months, 4 months and one week out from the conference, what should each chapter officer being doing to prepare. Second, a subcommittee is working on developing new webinars to train Chapter officers. Finally, both the handbook and webinar training will include a well-developed list of “Best Practices.” For instance: How to best attract great speakers who will increase member involvement; how to increase vendors to support and enhance their experience; how to drive carrier membership and attract new board members
or officers. Chuck reports “This handbook will include what is working best at the chapters so each chapter is not recreating the wheel.”
Increased communications between the chapters as well as with National IASA is imperative to continued growth. Currently, one time per year for approximately four hours prior to the annual meeting, the chapter officers get together to share ideas and develop sound strategies. “The time at this meeting flies-by and there never seems to be enough time to cover every topic.” states Chuck. As a result, the committee will now be holding bi-monthly conference calls with the Chapter Presidents. This will allow the stronger, more established chapters to help support the new chapters. In addition, strategy and solution dissemination will not have to wait until the annual convention. Blast emails will offer best practice ideas and allow National IASA to ensure chapters are up-to-date on events and activities. What is taking place at National and how chapters can get more involved to begin to excel is crucial to IASA’s future growth. For that reason as communication avenues increase we will be adding social media for the officers where it makes sense. For example, this subcommittee may determine that Chapter office discussions be added to Facebook and/or Twitter.
Lastly, Chuck shared the committee’s desire to support new
and revitalized chapters, while assuring all other chapters remain strong. The group determined there are three Chapters they will be focusing their efforts on for the next 2-4 years. These chapters are as follows; Indianapolis, South Florida, and the Desert States.
“Last year when we held the annual meeting in Indy, it allowed us to assist the Indianapolis chapter, led by Mike Holmes, to gain momentum in the growth of their chapter” states Chuck. Although the Desert State Chapter and the Indianapolis Chapter are holding a conference this year the committee feels it is vital to provide as much support as possible in helping them to grow their membership. Over the years, IASA has collected a tremendous amount of data from a variety of touch points such as; those who have attended annual and local conferences to those who have purchased text books. As a result, we can help the local chapters by reaching out to Insurance Companies and asking for their involvement at the Chapter level. No officer or chapter should ever have to feel alone. We make sure someone from the IASA National is represented at the majority of the local chapter meetings and/or offers support and guidance throughout the year. Chuck concluded, “Do yourself a favor, if you’re not involved with your local chapter get involved or simply consider attending and taking advantage of all the amazing benefits. You won’t regret it.”
Stephanie C. Leicht is the Vice President of Marketing for IDP, and a new volunteer for IASA. She can be reached for further information or comment via email at [email protected].
COMMITTEE SPOTLIGHT
Chapter Advisory Drives to Increase Communication, Support and Education by STEPHANIE LEICHT
NOTE: A conversation with Woodmen of the World’s Vice President Accounting, Annette Devine
Woodmen of the World was founded in 1890 by Joseph Cullen Root, who believed member customers should help their communities. His belief led him to form a fraternal benefit society for the purpose of treating members like family by providing life insurance protection. As a fraternal organization, Woodmen of the World is dedicated to enriching the lives of their member customers, and strengthening their communities.
Woodmen of the World’s Vision Statement represents the organization’s goals: to be the most trusted financial services provider with valued member benefits and programs. In order to achieve this vision, they believe it is important that all members feel welcomed and are encouraged to participate in the activities of their local Woodmen of the World chapter. Woodmen believes their organization is strengthened when members of all backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences take full advantage of their Woodmen of the World membership and work together for the benefit of their chapter and their community.
At year-end 2013, Woodmen of the World’s total assets stood at more than $10 billion, life insurance in force reached $36.7 billion, and total income was nearly $1.17 billion. They gave back more than $66 million in refunds to their members, and provided $553 million in benefit payments to members and their beneficiaries. In 2014, Woodmen of the World
received an A+ rating from A.M. Best, the second-highest rating.
Two of the charitable initiatives that Woodmen of the World is most proud of are:
American Flag donations: Since its inception in 1890, Wood-men of the World has donated more than 2 million American flags and presented them to wor-thy non-profit and community organizations. “Patriotism is a strong facet of our corporate cul-ture, you could say patriotism is in our blood” said Devine.
Red Basket Connection: Red Basket is a web-based non-profit organization that allows individuals to donate time and money directly to people or projects that need help. Through their brand and use of crowdfunding, individuals can extend their reach beyond normal venues. With Red Basket, not only do the people who need help get access to a larger audience, donors can claim a tax deduction. And since Woodmen of the World covers all processing fees, 100% of the money goes to benefit the project or individual in need.
In August 1986, Woodmen of the World joined IASA as a member company and began participating at both the national and local chapter levels. Annette Devine thoroughly enjoys attending the IASA annual conference and has done so for the past 10 years. “One of my favorite aspects of the annual conference is the ability to attend the CFO Roundtable,” said Devine. “This session always has at least one or two topics of interest that are directly applicable to what I do
and timely for a business challenge we may be experiencing.”
Annette also enjoys attending the business show that runs throughout the conference. “The business show is a great way to explore new vendors and to see what’s out there,” states Devine.
“I always make a point to attend the Vendor Connect Tours. Even if we are not exploring a new system, it’s a good way to validate that we are still on top of our game with the system we are currently using.” Devine went on to say that spending just five minutes with each vendor is a perfect way to collect and gather enough information to decide which solution providers you’d like to get a closer look at.
In addition to attending IASA conferences, Annette has been volunteering on the national level the past three years.
“Being a volunteer for IASA has been a positive experience for me both personally and professionally,” Devine said.
“Through our IASA membership and by networking with peers and business solution providers, I am able to get a closer glimpse at key challenges and opportunities within the industry and learn from other’s decision process and overall experience”.
Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization that believes in giving back. Devine said “I am blessed to have the organizational support from my company to give back to the insurance industry.”
When it comes to educational benefits, Annette states that IASA
is her top resource. “I participate in everything IASA has to offer,” Devine said. In particular, she finds value in IASA webinars offered to members. These webinars allow the ability to bring in staff to learn about a particular, relevant topic for little to no cost.
“It is great to have an educational resource like this,” Devine said.
“You can pick and choose which seminars to attend and the log in/out process is simple and easy.”
Along with webinars, Annette finds value in the Industry Pulse
– a service provided by IASA that polls the insurance industry every month on key or hot topics. “I always submit a reply to the polls. Devine said, “The results help you see what is important to peers within our industry and what direction other companies are moving. It is not a huge time commitment and you get feedback that helps validate your practices and broaden your thinking.”
IASA would like to thank Woodmen of the World and all member companies and individuals who participate at the local and national level. It is because of you that we are able to run an organization that helps enhance the knowledge of insurance professionals by facilitating the exchange of ideas and information within the industry.
ABOUT WOODMEN OF THE WORLD: Woodmen of the World was founded in 1890 as a not-for-profit. We give back to our member customers and the communities we live in. Today, Woodmen of the World offers quality life insurance and retirement products. More than 700,000 Woodmen of the World member customers across the country share a commitment to family, community and country. To learn more about Woodmen of the World, visit woodmen.org.
Sonia Cliffel is Vice President for First American Equipment Finance and Board Member-At-Large for IASA and also serves as a member of IASA’s Membership Committee. She can be reached for further information at [email protected].
ASSOCATION NEWS
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MEMBER COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Woodmen of the World by SONIA CLIFFEL
1) How do you typically get your work day off to a good start? I get into the office fairly early, but I always make time for SportsCenter and some Starbucks. Very few mornings go by without some caffeine and a review of how my favorite sports teams performed the night before.
2) Is there a certain song on your ipod that gets you motivated? I definitely listen to a lot of rock music when I’m in the car or working around the house. Whether it’s Billy Joel, the Foo Fighters, or Aerosmith the sound has a way of keeping me moving and feeling like I can take on any challenge.
3) What would you consider to be the biggest benefit your company gets from your volunteer participation in IASA? Further insight into the industry and a better collective insight into potential solutions to some of the large issues facing the industry. Not only has my volunteerism allowed me to become more well rounded and a better leader for my organization, but it has allowed me to participate in many more discussions with industry peers and solution providers and to bring back those insights to my organization.
4) Do you have any hobbies that could affect your personal insurance premiums? I would say that I am absolutely low risk. However, it’s definitely a good thing taking big risks on the golf course does not necessarily translate to higher insurance premiums. Imagine Tin Cup multiplied by 10.
5) What is your favorite way to relax after a particularly stressful day in the world of Insurance?
Unquestionably, spending a nice relaxing evening with my family is my favorite way to relax. My daughter just turned one, so watching her figure-out new things has a way of putting everything into perspective after a long afternoon.
6) IASA is a great place to experience firsthand the cooperation of business, financial and IT professionals working toward a common goal. Do you struggle with issues relating to business/IT alignment at your company? What is the best way you have found of successfully handling these type of situations? We are similar to most companies in that technology and business alignment opportunities occur regularly. We have been very successful in identifying these opportunities and addressing them quickly and effectively. Our biggest strength has been to develop a targeted understanding of the business, IT and finance implications across all of the teams that are impacted. This has allowed the team to focus on the issue at hand, as opposed to a misunderstanding of the Enterprise and departmental focus and goals. The solutions developed are more complete in terms of addressing the overall Enterprise needs and more fully aligning those to organizational objectives.
7) What do you believe is the biggest challenge currently facing your company? I think, similar to many insurers, deciding what technologies to implement. Primarily, the technologies that will create further efficiencies in the organization and position the organization strategically for the
future. The implementation of a new technology is a significant cost to an organization in both time and people, so the challenge is to ensure we make decisions that provide the capabilities we need, while continuing to align to the strategic direction of the organization.
8) How do the educational and networking benefits you get by volunteering for IASA help you do your job better? I think it is twofold. First, I continue to learn and integrate information I gain from IASA into my daily business decisions. Two, I’ve developed some really great relationships with network peers that have helped me grow professionally and I can reach out to when questions arise.
9) Is your company getting involved in social media? Do you think social media can have benefits for insurance companies, or is it just a trend? We have started to move more into
social media in recent years. Social media definitely has its advantages and benefits for insurance companies as a continued way to connect with current and future clients, as well as means to further socialize your brand. The differentiator will be how companies are able to monetize their brand through social media, while appropriately complying with the rules within the highly regulated insurance industry.
10) Can you name the one thing most people would never guess about you when they first meet you? In high school, I regularly participated in a local theater company working backstage during musicals. I’m not sure I could ever be on a stage singing and dancing as the center of attention, but it is where I met my wife, so some good without a doubt, came out of it. We continue to attend several musicals a year when they travel to Cincinnati.
Chuck Gunkel is the Rainmaker for Swift Print Communications and VP-Chapter Advisory for IASA. He can be reached for further information via email at [email protected]
ASSOCATION NEWS
theInterpreter x www.iasa.org Fall 2014 27
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER PROFILE
Jason Nickles by CHUCK GUNKEL
The insurance industry’s most prominent conference offers educational, industry relations and career development opportunities for new and experienced professionals across all lines of business and critical functional areas, including: accounting, finance, investments, operations, risk, and systems/technology.
u More than 80 educational sessions
u 200+ product and service exhibitors
u Three discipline-specific super sessions
u Exclusive executive roundtable events
u Inclusive networking opportunities
Plan now to join IASA in Las Vegas next June!
GO TO IASA.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION!
SAVE THE DATE u JUNE 7-10, 2015 u LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Keynote Address by PEYTON MANNING on Monday, June 8