PLUS Special Section

Looking at the new year

Incoming PLUS president anticipates challenges and opportunities

By Phil Zinkewicz

Reflecting both the potential opportunities and possible pitfalls of the professional liability insurance marketplace, next month’s 21st annual PLUS meeting and its educational sessions are intended to help PLUS members “examine and navigate the political, economic and regulatory issues facing the professional liability industry,” according to David Bell, 2009 incoming president.

“The market has been soft for the last several years,” says Bell. “We in the industry are worried about the possibilities for expansion. The stakes are high because margins are being squeezed.”

Bell, the global professional lines manager for Allied World Assurance Co., Ltd. (AW), based in Bermuda, is responsible for the professional lines underwriting operations originating from AW’s offices worldwide. Prior to joining AW, Bell was with Chubb, managing the professional liability lines operations based in and around Florida.

In addition, he handled legislative affairs for Chubb in the state of Florida, working with the state legislature, insurance department and governor’s office on insurance-related issues. He is on the PLUS board and also serves on the board of World Vision (Bermuda), a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty.

Additionally, Bell is on the board of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, which promotes a better understanding of Asia and of U.S. relations with Asia. Most recently, Bell and a partner founded Grateful Nation, a Montana-based nonprofit that provides funding and support so that children of soldiers killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan can attend college.

In addition to funding four years of college for these young people, Grateful Nation, working with the state university system, has developed a comprehensive mentoring/tutoring outreach program that gives the children of fallen heroes the tools to be both academically and emotionally prepared to compete on the college level. Bell has authored numerous articles in various industry publications addressing directors and officers liability coverage. He holds a BA degree in finance from the University of Montana and currently lives in Bermuda.

“The professional liability market today is plagued with the laws of supply and demand,” says Bell. “There is simply more capacity out there than there are customers. It’s similar to trading apples on the roadside. The more that are sold, the less the demand, so prices drop. Prices have dropped in professional liability. However, losses have not been substantive enough to drive rates back up.”

Looking ahead to his coming year as PLUS president, Bell mentions a number of initiatives that were started by past presidents and says he wants to work to complete them. “Take a look at the fleet of educational offerings, conferences and networking opportunities already available from PLUS University,” he says. “They are intended to bring the core fundamentals of our business to new PLUS members.

“We intend to continue to work to form alliances with universities around the country to take the precepts of professional liability to their students, so that, when they are graduated, they will have an idea of the business and hit the ground running,” Bell continues. “We see this as an important recruiting opportunity. We are choosing universities that are geographically diverse, some of which have insurance programs in place and some that don’t. Currently, we are getting more interest from universities and schools that don’t have insurance programs,” Bell says.

Bell is particularly excited about the upcoming PLUS annual meeting. “In addition to the educational sessions, we are excited to have James Carvill and Mary Matalin available to take questions and discuss the political landscape less than 48 hours after the presidential election. Stephen Flynn will discuss security and catastrophe scenarios, and Michael Milken will discuss the credit and subprime market, the economy in general and the convergence of political, economic and environmental factors that will impact our industry and the nation as a whole.”

Concludes Bell: “The PLUS International Conference is the premier annual professional liability industry event, drawing major decision makers, leaders and key industry personnel. The Education Committee, Conference Committee and PLUS staff have worked to develop a timely and informative program to provide top-quality information along with excellent networking opportunities.”