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Risky Business A U.S. and Bermuda Under 40s (Re)Insurance Collaboration Inaugural Edition |
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The U.S. Reinsurance Under 40s Group – Who Are We? By Brian Green
As one of the founders and the current President of the U.S. Re Under 40s, I was excited when I was asked to write an article about the history of the Re Under 40s Group. We’re still in our infancy (we are still less than 18 months old) but we have come a long way since we were born. We created the Re Under 40s because we recognized a void in the U.S. market – London and Bermuda both had industry groups that provided educational and networking opportunities to young industry professionals - but the United States did not have any such group. I think we have begun to fill the void and I look forward to watching the Re Under 40s continue to grow during its “toddler” years. The Birth of the Re Under 40s On October 25, 2007, my colleague Rob DiUbaldo and I, with the sponsorship of our law firm, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, hosted the inaugural Re Under 40s event in midtown New York. We had about 70 attendees, who were all very excited about the concept of a reinsurance group for younger professionals. The Chairman of the Bermuda Under 35s Group attended our event and our relationship with the Bermuda group has continued to grow since then (as evidenced by the joint nature of this Newsletter). [N.B. The Bermuda Group followed our lead and recently re-launched as the Bermuda Under 40s Group.] Rob and I then hosted a meeting with about twenty of our fellow Under 40s’ers who expressed an interest in participating on the inaugural board/committees. In February 2008, we had our first elections and our first Re Under 40s’ Inaugural Board and committees were created. Obviously, the creation of the inaugural Board and Committees was only the next step in creating the Re Under 40s. We brainstormed to determine how our Group should fit into the insurance/reinsurance industry and we worked to define the Re Under 40s. We created a mission statement, based on our goal of providing educational, social and networking opportunities for members of the reinsurance industry within the United States. We discussed that while we regularly attend other industry events, none of them focus on the Under 40s crowd, which sometimes has different goals and interests than others in the industry. We all agreed that our membership and events would be open to all members of the insurance and reinsurance industry, regardless of their age, but we all wanted to continue to have board members who are under the age of 40. We also decided to keep the door open to expand geographically, within the United States – until last week, all of our events took place in New York but on April 29th, we hosted our first Philadelphia social event, which was a success, and we are also considering a possible Chicago event (one of our committee members is based in Chicago). The Growth of the Re Under 40s The Re Under 40s Board then organized an event, which took place on May 29, 2008 – our first official Re Under 40s Event – and about 80 people attended. The feedback we received from the attendees, and others in the industry, was entirely positive. Our membership list continued to grow, which was exciting. We created a website as well as a Facebook group and Linkedin group, all of which helped us expand our audience. We incorporated under New York law, opened a bank account, and had monthly board conference calls. We gained the support of the industry, as the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) and the Brokers and Reinsurance Markets Association (BRMA) both embraced the Re Under 40s and helped us publicize our events, which was a significant step in our growth. The Re Under 40s was no longer an abstract concept – it was now a reality. The Board continued to look for opportunities to gain more industry credibility and recognition. Last October, the Re Under 40s hosted its first education event, ReIndustry Speak, which was sponsored and hosted by Swiss Re. Jim Fiore, Chief Operating Officer of QBE the Americas, and Alan Levin, co-chair of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s Insurance & Reinsurance Department, told us their “war stories” about the industry and discussed several key issues that the industry will need to address in the coming months. It was great to have two established industry leaders talk to us about their experiences and shares their insights. We recently hosted our 2009 Kickoff Event, featuring Frank Nutter, President of the RAA, and his daughter, Alycia Kiley, Vice President of RCM&D, and their presentation, “It's Not Your Father's Reinsurance Anymore, Putting Reinsurance in Your Terms.” Frank and Alycia led a lively and interesting discussion about several hot issues in the industry and how information about industry developments could be communicated to the industry in our ever-changing online world. The Future of the Re Under 40s On May 6, we will host the London-based Lloyd’s Non-Marine Under 30’s Group. We look forward to meeting them and establishing a relationship with them over the coming months. We also want to strengthen our relationship with the Bermuda Under 40s Group. A few of our members have met with our Bermudian counterparts when they visited “the Island” and we have given an open invitation to the Bermuda Under 40s’ers to tell us when they are in the New York area. We look forward to learning more about the Bermuda Group as we work with them in creating this inaugural edition of Risky Business. The Re Under 40s has come a long way since our October 2007 event. We now have over 250 members and a bright future. In May, we will hold elections for next term’s Board and we hope that the next Re Under 40s Board builds upon the present Board’s successful establishment of the Re Under 40s as an important part of the global reinsurance industry.
About the author: Brian is an attorney in Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP’s New York office, where he practices in the areas of insurance and reinsurance. You can contact him at 212.912.2755 or bgreen@eapdlaw.com or find him on twitter at http://twitter.com/brigreen. |
