President's Message
President’s Year End Message
As we approach the mid-point of 2026, I wanted to take a moment to share all the wonderful accomplishments achieved over recent months. Once again, we have had a highly successful year of Education events; a stellar Scholars Essay program that is currently underway; and another great Conference. Planning is well underway for 2027, and we look forward to another excellent conference which will be held at the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg Florida, April - 26 - 28, 2027. Not to mention that and our LinkedIn page, IRUA55, has grown to well over 600 followers.
The 2026 conference was an overwhelming success and the Opal Grand Resort in Delray Beach proved to be a welcomed destination. The sessions were top-notch and with plenty of time built in for networking, the feedback from the event was highly complementary. Once again, we welcomed many new “first-time” attendees and received excellent feedback from all. The member-company Conference Committee, newly led by Carl Weinberger of Munich Re, is already hard at work planning a 2027 agenda filled with new industry insights; relevant and informative sessions; and many networking opportunities. So, please mark your calendars and plan on attending from April 26-28, 2027, at the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg and we will hopefully have another sunny event in Florida.
The Education program, now led by Cathryn Thom of Trans Re and Jim Wilson of Partner Re, continues to produce an array of relevant, and timely events. At the end of 2025, we were pleased to announce that three more graduates have completed the 10 required sessions to earn their IRUA “Reinsurance Basic Syllabus Certificate.” Those individuals were recognized at the conference and were invited to attend at a substantially discounted registration fee. As always, the IRUA will continue to cover current and emerging industry topics throughout the year in addition to offering the Reinsurance Basic Syllabus topics. The entire year of IRUA educational sessions is included under our membership plan, and sessions are open to both members and non-members alike.
Our 2025 Annual Scholars Essay program, led for the final time by Sam DeGiovanni of Ryan Re, had another successful year with four awardees receiving a total of $12,000. And, this year in June, we are planning our first on-site New York City Lunch 'n Learn Afternoon event followed by a Networking Social. So save July 29th and join us! Sam has stepped down as Chair at the end of last year, and we are very pleased that long-time committee member Brendan Furlong of Odyssey Re stepped up as Co-Chair and is ably supported as Co-Chair by Christian Thompson from Guy Carpenter. Thank you all!
Lastly, I would like to thank the hard work of the many individuals involved in Governance, Membership, Social-Media, our Executive Director, Jerry Wallis, and the Beaumont Group for their efforts critical to supporting the functions of the IRUA.
Once again, the Membership Fee structure, for the sixth consecutive year, remained unchanged! That is a true testament to the dedication and support of our members, non-members and sponsors who understand the value and benefits of continuing education and who continue to support all our activities and events. Please review the three categories available, the two higher levels of which provide for multiple employees from your organization to attend IRUA education webinars and virtual events at no extra cost. This allows our members to pick the option that best fits their organization … and we have a growing number who do take advantage of this opportunity.
We look forward to continuing our mission of education, networking, and professional development to support a thriving community of reinsurance professionals and look forward to your continued participation.
Christiane Gross
IRUA President &
Senior Vice President and Property Underwriting Team Lead- Facultative & Programs
Munich Re America