AAMGA Special Section

Studying abroad

AAMGA young agents learn from a mix of international and domestic relationships

By Phil Zinkewicz

It wasn’t featured in the daily news reports around the world, but UFOs were sighted in Munich, Germany, between March 30 and April 1. No, not the flying kind with little green men who talk funny. These were members of the AAMGA Under Forty Organization (UFO) who attended an educational forum sponsored by Munich Reinsurance. The agenda included such topics as the interdependence of today’s insurance marketplace; the role of tomorrow’s insurance professional; climate change and natural catastrophe exposures; global market influence on the U.S. excess and surplus market; and European insurance markets and how they operate and differ from U.S. markets.

Actually, the UFO has become quite international in recent years, with trips to London, Bermuda and British Columbia. “We try to do an interna-tional seminar every other year,” says Matt Letson, outgoing chair of the UFO. “Munich is a very important emerging market and very important to the international insurance industry,” says Letson, who is also vice president of Hanover Excess and Surplus.

The AAMGA established its Under Forty Organization to afford young insurance professionals under age 40 an opportunity to network, learn and exchange ideas. Recognizing that the insurance market requires innovative and dedicated leaders, the AAMGA established the UFO to focus special attention on this unique group of skilled practitioners. At the outset, the UFO consisted only of under 40 insurance executives who were relatives of managing general agents. However, the enthusiasm that the initial group brought to the UFO caused the AAMGA leadership to rethink its original philosophy, and soon the organization was opened to anyone under 40 who was employed by a partner or owner of an MGA.

The UFO today boasts more than 300 domestic and international members. The UFO elects its own chair and vice chairs for the board of directors, holds an annual meeting in September and sponsors a reception open to all attendees at the AAMGA’s annual meeting in May. Throughout the year, the UFO conducts leadership, perpetuation and management training sessions. The organization has established strong ties with Lloyd’s of London’s and Bermuda’s “under 35” groups.

“Networking and learning are what drive the UFO,” says Letson. “We learn from each other by sharing our experiences, from our mentors and from other markets. We discuss the important trends in the surplus lines industry such as market dislocations, regulatory developments and legislative changes,” he says.

This year, Letson says, the UFO revived its newsletter and is calling it “UFO Visions.” “We use it to keep our membership abreast of what’s going on in the industry,” he says.

The UFO has several committees, including membership, education and new membership, and also maintains its own section of the AAMGA Web site. The membership committee is responsible for keeping up to date with membership changes, so that members can get in touch with each other. It also lets the UFO know when a member passes the age of 40 and must leave the organization.

The UFO Education Committee works to secure speakers for industry events and makes sure they are qualified to address particular subjects. The New Membership Committee deals with recruitment, which is of great importance to the UFO. The UFO portion of the AAMGA Web site is continually updated to ensure that members have easy access to AAMGA contact information.

“The UFO is fulfilling its promise of getting young people involved in the AAMGA at an early age,” Letson says. “Our members benefit greatly from the networking opportunities and learn some things they might not learn in classrooms.”

The incoming chair of the UFO is Tripp Duesenberg of Southern Insurance Underwriters. Duesenberg says that one of the areas he intends to focus on is recruitment. “We want to market the UFO to MGAs that are members of the AAMGA. We want to tell them about the benefits of having their young people join the UFO. The more participants we have in the UFO, the stronger we are.”

Duesenberg says that he wants to get UFO members more involved in philanthropic activities. “We want to get them involved in projects that will benefit local communities,” he says.