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RIMS 60th annual conference preview
Agency compensation will dominate the organization’s lobbying efforts
By By Michael J. Moody, MBA, ARM
There are few conferences in the insurance industry that can match the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) annual conference. With upwards of 10,000 participants and more than 400 exhibitors, it is one of the insurance industry’s must-attend conferences. This year marks the 60th year of the conference, which will be held in Boston on April 25-29.
Since its first conference in 1950, the annual event has grown in stature and importance. As with most conferences that were held in 2009, attendance was down slightly; but with risk management taking on a more significant role at most organizations, RIMS anticipates that this year’s attendance will return to its previous levels. The premier risk management event of the year promises to provide ample opportunity for networking as well as a large selection of educational sessions.
Something for everyone
The annual conference kicks off on Sunday, April 25, with a variety of events. Each year the conference sponsors two Spencer Educational Foundation events, the golf outing and the Spencer Cup Hockey tournament. And, in what has quickly become a tradition, RIMS will hold its Community Service Day on Sunday as well. This year, the service day focuses on “Project Literacy Builders.” To help promote literacy, RIMS participants will help build and stock bookshelves in the convention center that will be donated to local Boston organizations. The opening day will conclude with the 60th Anniversary reception, which will be held at Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel.
This year’s conference will also have a number of keynote presentations. One features Gary Loveman, chairman, CEO and president of Harrah’s Entertainment. He will address the risks and challenges of running the nation’s largest gaming company. Another keynote address will discuss the important concept known as the “black swan.” Black swan is a term that has to do with “high impact, rare events,” such as the recent events that have occurred in the financial service sector. The presentation which will be given by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, and he will discuss his unique approach to black swan events.
Educational sessions offered at the conference run the gamut of topics, from claims management to risk financing. In addition, this year, as with the past years, the conferences will feature additional sessions on enterprise risk management (ERM).
Changing of the guard
Historically, the annual conference marked the time when new officers took over the leadership of the association. However, RIMS President Terry Fleming points out that this practice changed a couple of years ago. Fleming, who is the director of the division of risk management at Montgomery County, Maryland, says that RIMS decided to make a change to a calendar-year basis. Therefore, he assumed the responsibilities of the president’s office effective January 1, 2010. He also notes that he has already begun work on objectives for his term.
Fleming indicates that he has set out four major objectives for this year.
These include:
• Continue to lobby for legislative and regulatory change—Among the issues RIMS will be working towards are the optional federal charter, surplus bill, and various tax-related issues. However, it’s the compensation disclosure issue that will dominate RIMS legislative efforts this year. Fleming notes that while the new requirements that the New York Insurance Department developed are not exactly what RIMS had hoped for, he says, “It is a step in the right direction and we will continue to work with them.” From the RIMS standpoint, he notes, “We think that New York represents the handwriting on the wall.”
A major RIMS lobbying event each year is “RIMS on the Hill.” This year, the event will take place in June. Fleming says this gives RIMS members a chance to lobby for the changes they think are important. He points out that considering all of the new regulatory efforts, this should be well attended.
• Develop and implement an international strategy—Fleming believes that there are significant opportunities to offer RIMS products and services to an international market. He indicates that this strategy will be developed for two broad groups: U.S. corporations with international operations, and international organizations. He states that RIMS intends to promote various risk management programs such as location-specific conferences as well as other educational offerings. The strategy also would include steps to expand RIMS chapters internationally. He points out that there are already two such chapters, one in Mexico and one in Japan.
• Redefine the student outreach program—Over the years, a number of students who have been involved with various RIMS/Spencer projects have moved into other areas of the insurance profession. Fleming says they frequently move into either insurance brokerage or insurance company operations, rather than moving into risk management positions. In an effort to change this, RIMS will begin to work with the risk management fraternity Gamma Iota Sigma as well as risk management professors and teachers at the college level to encourage students to move directly into risk management jobs.
He also indicates that RIMS will be carrying out other activities to encourage student involvement. These include offering students free membership to RIMS and access to the RIMS Web site which has a job bank. Fleming states, “The purpose of these activities is to bring younger people into the profession quicker.”
• Establish peer-to-peer benchmarking—Fleming notes that the RIMS membership includes numerous knowledgeable members who can provide “great opportunities to help each other.” And he says it is even more important in times of financial constraints like the current environment. Accordingly, RIMS is working towards new methods of sharing information. He points out, “Interaction with your peers is one of the best kept secrets about RIMS.”
Over the past few years, RIMS has also become more involved with the movement to enterprise risk management (ERM). At this point, Fleming says, “We have staked out a pretty good position with regard to ERM.” He notes that RIMS has a very active ERM committee, which is good, since “new terms and concepts are coming out every day.”
In that regard, RIMS has been working with the Insurance Institute of America to develop a special ERM program to be added to the traditional Associate in Risk Management designation. The additional segment will result in an ARM-e designation for those who complete the course work. Fleming also points out that a new international risk management standard (ISO 31000) has been developed and distributed. He says that RIMS was represented on the ISO committee and that “RIMS is fully on board with the new standard.”
Conclusion
The annual RIMS Conference represents one of the best ways to catch up with the rapidly evolving world of risk management. Changes that affect all risk managers are occurring daily—both nationally and internationally—and it is critical to keep pace with these changes.
Since 2010 is the 60th Anniversary, one can expect a number of surprises during the weeklong event. RIMS has planned an active agenda with numerous educational opportunities. Additionally, RIMS will be providing a number of special networking events to mark this important milestone.
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