President's Message
President’s Year End Message
As we approach the end of year, I want to take a moment to share all the wonderful accomplishments achieved during 2025. Once again, we have had a highly successful year of Education events; a stellar Scholars Essay program; and another great Conference. Planning is well advanced and we look forward to another excellent event to come in 2026! The new website debuted early in 2025 and has received very favorable feedback as does our popular LinkedIn page IRUA55 – now with well over 500 followers.
The 2025 conference was very well attended and Charleston proved to be a popular 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 producing a 2026 agenda filled with new industry insights; relevant and informative sessions; and many networking opportunities. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending from April 27-29, 2026, at the Opal Grand Resort & Spa in Delray Beach midway between Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale in sunny 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.” Individuals who complete the program will be recognized at the conference and are 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 Annual Scholars Essay program, this year led for the final time by Sam DeGiovanni of Ryan Re, had another successful year with four awardees receiving a total of $12,000. In June, member company Trans Re again continued the highly successful Summer Intern Lunch and Learn Day in New York City. The one-day event provided a broad view of the industry by hearing from leaders from several different disciplines. Sam is stepping down as Chair at the end of the year, and we are very pleased that long-time committee member Brendan Furlong of Odyssey Re will step up as Co-Chair and will be 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, will remain 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 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 feature.
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