AAMGA gives younger members a voice
in association and industry matters
When the UFO (Under Forty Organization) committee of the AAMGA was formed in 1990, the purpose was, and still is, to provide younger members of the association with the opportunity to communicate with older, more experienced AAMGA members in order to learn from them and to exchange views on industry matters. Recognizing that younger members of the association will be the AAMGA leaders of the future, the AAMGA decided that UFOs should have a voice in the affairs of the association, in the AAMGA University, and in the industry as a whole.
At its last annual meeting in September in Vancouver, British Columbia, "UFOs" discussed, among other topics, the upcoming sojourn of UFO members to Lloyd's of London. This is not the UFO's first trip to London to learn from the Lloyd's market. Last year, UFOs were invited by Lloyd's Worldwide Markets Division, headed by Julian James--who will be a participant in this year's annual AAMGA meeting--to visit the marketplace and learn how it operates. The meetings were so successful, in the views of all parties involved, that Lloyd's Worldwide Markets decided to repeat the effort this year.
"In today's global insurance environment, the importance of communication between members of world markets cannot be over-emphasized," says Greg Gold, chairman of the UFO committee. "Our trips to London offer our young executives the chance to learn how business is done in the London market, particularly at Lloyd's. Last year, there were classroom sessions to explain to UFO members how Lloyd's is funded and how it is regulated. There were panel discussions with Lloyd's brokers and underwriters. In addition, for one whole day, we 'shadowed' brokers and underwriters around the floor of Lloyd's to get a first-hand feeling of how Lloyd's works."
The UFO's relationship with Lloyd's can be said to be a symbiotic one. The AAMGA consists of mostly MGAs that operate in the excess and surplus lines arena. And, Lloyd's main participation in the U.S. market is in excess and surplus lines. In addition, the UFO itself is a concept that originated in the Lloyd's market.
In 1998, a few very young and up-and-coming American insurance executives from the specialty lines side of the business were doing an internship at Lloyd's of London. While they were there, they were informed about a group at Lloyd's called the "Under 30" club. This club consisted of insurance underwriter and broker "wannabes" who were under 30 years of age. Like the UFO today, the purpose of the club was to afford young entrants into the business the opportunity to "network" with the more seasoned seniors of the Lloyd's marketplace.
The American youths were inspired by the concept and brought it home to AAMGA leaders. After a few years of tweaking the concept, the Under Forty Organization was born, broadening the concept to reach those under the age of forty.
When it first began, membership in UFO was more family-oriented, offering membership only to the sons and daughters and other relatives of the owners of managing general agencies. Today, the membership qualifications are much broader. To join, one must be employed by either a partner in or owner of a concern, which is an AAMGA active or associate member. Each AAMGA member organization may have as many UFO members as it desires, providing that all the nominees fall within the age bracket. "This gives us a good cross-section of the membership," says Gold.
Significantly, UFO's relationship with Lloyd's of London comes at a time when the marketplace is undergoing one of the most remarkable periods in its history. Called the "modernization" of Lloyd's, last year its members voted to put into effect a plan that would enable it to compete with new competition from insurance centers such as Bermuda. Another reason for the new plan stemmed from both realized and anticipated losses from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, which hit some syndicates hard, bringing about the need to attract new capital.
"One panel session last year was on the modernization of the Lloyd's market," says Gold. "It hadn't yet passed at that time, so it was sort of a preview of what would happen under modernization. This year, there's going to be another session discussing the progress of the plan. Also, there will be a presentation on 9/11 and an update on what's developing there."
But the Lloyd's market is only one item on the UFO agenda. "We mirror the issues that are of concern to the AAMGA," says Gold. "Of course, the hard market is of paramount importance to us as it is to all MGAs. "One issue is how to do a business plan and make it presentable to underwriters. That's going to be one session at this year's AAMGA annual. UFOs also are now able to sit on AAMGA committees that discuss issues such as the new terrorism act and the mold controversy. Our mission was, and still is, to act as a premier, entry level committee to serve the AAMGA," says Gold.
"If we continue growing as we have, the UFO committee of the AAMGA will produce the leaders of the future the industry needs." *