I am honored to have been elected President of the IRUA at the Annual Meeting this month. Our now Immediate Past President, Laura Herubin, guided the association successfully through the Covid era and the IRUA has emerged stronger than ever. Thank you, Laura! With a strong Executive Committee, the 2023 focus will be to continue our mission of education, networking and next generation outreach for a prosperous community of reinsurance professionals.
The IRUA just concluded its 2023 Conference with record attendance, great sessions and topics. Even more pleasing was the large number of new first-time attendees which bodes well for the future. Please check out the many superb highlights posted on our new Linked in page: www.linkedin.com/company/irua55. We thank and appreciate all the efforts of the many industry experts, executives and professionals which made this event possible. Our team, led by Program Director Liz Hodge of SCOR Re, has already begun planning for a similar experience next year.
The Education program, led by Christiane Gross of Munich Re and John West of Guy Carpenter, continues to produce an array of excellent, relevant, and timely events. We will be pleased to announce in the near future a list of inaugural awardees to earn their IRUA “Reinsurance Basic Syllabus” certificate. This program offers an introduction to reinsurance basics including underwriting, claims, reinsurance structures, contracts, audits, accounting, actuarial principles and more. The IRUA will also continue to cover current and emerging industry topics throughout the year starting with our perennial Wall Street View of the Insurance/Reinsurance Industry. All these valuable sessions can be included under our membership plan and are open to members and non-members alike.
The Scholars program, led by Sam DeGiovanni of Ryan Re, also has expanded our Annual Essay contest eligibility to include not just our company member’s interns, but also first-year industry new hires. In 2022, a total of $14,750 was disbursed and in 2023 we will have even more in voluntary contributions available for the committee to consider disbursing. Thanks to Trans Re, we will also offer a Summer Lunch and Learn to interns giving them a broader view of the industry by hearing from leaders from several different functions of a reinsurance company. The Scholars team also recently introduced a dedicated IRUA Scholars Alumni LinkedIn page to further expand networking and offer member companies a place to showcase job opportunities for new entrants into the industry.
I also want to thank the hard work of the many individuals involved in governance, membership, social media, and the Beaumont Group for their efforts critical to supporting the function of the IRUA. Thanks for your commitment! Overall, the IRUA membership expands this year with the addition of two major brokers, Acrisure Re and BMS Re, both of which joined with intent to significantly bolster association activities.
The IRUA is a dynamic organization and the buzz from this year’s Annual Meeting & Conference was quite noticeable. New, fresh ideas and perspectives are what will continue to keep the organization relevant, bring added value to member companies and generate innovative ways of serving the reinsurance community. We are always encouraging member involvement so please think about who at your company may benefit from being a part of the thriving IRUA!
Watch your inbox for our announcements of upcoming events and we look forward to your participation.
Bill Bernens
IRUA President
and
Managing Director, Property & Specialty
Arch Reinsurance Company
