View a List of our 2007 Sponsors and Registrants

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5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Opening Reception
Sponsored by Johnson Lambert & Co

9:15 am - 10:15 am
What's in the Wind - Reinsurance: Is It Worth the Paper It's Written On? - Risk Transfer Issues Under the Microscope

z The Securities and Exchange Commission and several state Attorneys General have highlighted some abusive practices with respect to the use of certain “finite risk” reinsurance contracts. The additional scrutiny on these contracts has led auditors and regulators to question the existence of risk transfer not only in finite risk transactions, but in more traditional reinsurance treaties as well. This session will discuss the current status of risk transfer in reinsurance contracts, including the requirements of both FAS 113 and SSAP 62 (the GAAP and Statutory accounting rules which guide the treatment of reinsurance.) This session will also address the evaluation of typical reinsurance transactions to allow the attendee to assess whether their own reinsurance program is worth the paper it's written on.

1 Session Coordinator/Panelist: R. Ray Pate, JR., Executive Vice President, BMS Vision Reinsurance Intermediaries, Inc.

zz Panelists: David Spiegler, Executive Vice President & Chief Actuary, BMS Vision Reinsurance Intermediaries, Inc.; Jullian Griffiths, Imagine Companies

8 PowerPoint Presentation

10:30 am - 11:45 am
Don't Get Caught in a Windstorm - Corporate Governance Changes, SOX and the RRG

z This session will focus on recent changes in the corporate
governance landscape and current issues facing management
and boards of directors of risk retention groups. The panel will
explore and provide examples of different types and philosophies of corporate governance structures (formal versus informal), the use of various types of committees and their roles (including the Audit Committee), and the roles and responsibilities of management and the board. These and other aspects of corporate governance will be discussed within the context of Sarbanes-Oxley, the proposed NAIC Model Audit Rule, as well as other legal and practical issues relating to corporate governance of RRGs.

1 Session Coordinator: Gerald C. Yoshida, Director, Char Hamilton Campbell & Thom

zz Panelists: Gloria Everett, President & CEO, MedAmerica Mutual RRG; Wendy Fisher, Corporate Secretary/Regulatory Business Affairs; Craig Wanatabe, Captive Insurance Administrator, State of Hawaii

8 PowerPoint Presentation

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Weather Watch - Accounting & Tax Updated

z This session will explore the latest trends and issues in accounting such as the most recent developments in SOX implications for insurance companies, reinsurance accounting treating, and related party disclosure issues.

1 Session Coordinator/Panelist: Jim Murray, Partner, Johnson, Lambert & Co.

zz Panelist: Josh Keene, Principal, Johnson Lambert & Co.

8 PowerPoint Presentation

2:30 PM - 3:45 pm
Watching Your Barometer - Getting the Most from your Data

z This session will provide methods of reviewing your database from a new perspective. We will discuss claims data and give you a better understanding of the critical drivers in the underwriting results. This will be accomplished through helping you understand frequency versus severity in different types of risk and how this is reflected in the underwriting process.

z Additionally, we will review an actual case of implementation of changes in underwriting decision making process based upon loss drivers and trends in a claims database.

zzSpeakers: Robert T. Faber, Principal, Risk Lighthouse, Inc.
Colin Donovan, STICO Mutual Insurance Company, a Risk Retention Group

8 PowerPoint Presentation

3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Round Table Sessions:

1 Session Coordinator: Thomas McGowan III, Chairman of the Board, McGowan & Company

Risk and Rewards of a Homogeneous Risk Med Mal RRG

z This session will cover medical risk RRG benefits and burdens, formation and jurisdictional issues and homogeneous versus heterogeneous medical risk management differences. Policy and rate design, optimal risk sharing group size, creation and operational costs, and reinsurance attachment points will also be reviewed during this session.

zzTopic Leader: Paul R. Weil, Partner, Bryan Cave LLP

PDF Handout

Attorney Fee Relationships That Pay for Expertise & Value - Not Time

z Risk managers and claim executives bemoan the ever-escalating costs of the legal defense of claims. Yet, they keep paying defense counsel by the hour. Thus, putting the cost incentive in all the wrong places. Come and participate in a discussion of alternative fee arrangements and partnerships, with expert defense counsel who knows your industry.

zzTopic Leader: Mario C. Ciano, Chairman, Reminger & Reminger Co., L.P.A.

PDF Handout

Mastering NAIC Schedule P

z This will be a working session that will help you understand the organization and presentation of data on the NAIC's Schedule P. Additionally, you will gain a better understanding of the significance of the data and how it is used by regulators.

zzTopic Leader: Mark J. Sobel, Managing Principal, Financial Risk Anlaysts, LLC

PDF Handout

8 No PowerPoint Presentations were used for roundtable sessions.

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
:Networking Reception

Sponsored by BMS North America

8:30 am - 9:30 am
Saving For a Stormy Day - Coordinating Your Company’s Investment Strategy With Your Overall Business Strategy

z Investments are an important, often misunderstood, area of an insurance company’s financial success. Senior management and risk managers often focus on liabilities instead of on total balance sheet risk. Designing an investment plan that coordinates with an insurer’s overall business goals is paramount to a successful ongoing venture. This session will include light exposure to analytical modeling concepts that facilitate appropriate investment strategy development.

1 Session Coordinator: Carl Terzer, Brown Brothers Harriman

zz Panelists: Thomas McDonald, Managing Director, Brown Brothers Harriman; Glenn Saslow, Audit Partner & Director of Quality Control; John Svoboda, President, National Home Insurance Company

8 PowerPoint Presentation - Thomas McDonald

8 PowerPoint Presentation - Glenn Saslow

8 PowerPoint Presentation - John Svoboda

9:30 am - 10:45 am
Partially Cloudy with a Chance of Sun - Working with the NAIC and GAO

z The GAO Report raised a number of important issues regarding the ownership, operation and regulation of RRGs. The states, through the NAIC, have been working on revisions to the state accreditation standards and other methods to shore up RRG regulation. NRRA has been working with the NAIC and advocating the position of RRGs to preserve the rights established under the Federal Liability Risk Retention Act and to create a beneficial regulatory environment.

1 The panelists for this session, each of whom has been deeply involved in this process, will address these issues and discuss the future of RRGs and their regulation.

1 Session Coordinator: Robert "Skip" Myers, Partner, Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

zzPanelists: Fred Nepple, General Counsel, Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance; Tim Wagner, Director, Nebraska Department of Insurance

8 No PowerPoint Presentations were used for this session.

10:45 am - 11:00 am
Break

z Regulators scheduled to participate on this panel will include Len Crouse from the State of Vermont, Craig Watanabe from the State of Hawaii and Jeffrey Kehler from the State of South Carolina.

z Our panel of domicile regulators will share their experiences on group failures and tell us what your group can do to ensure they are not a future statistic. This session will include time for questions to the panel representing the domiciles of over half of the country’s risk retention groups.

1 Session Coordinator: Wanda Jong, National Home Insurance Co., a RRG

zzPanelists: Leonard D. Crouse, Deputy Commissioner, Captive Insurance Division, Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Administration; Craig Wanatabe, Captive Insurance Administrator, State of Hawaii

8 No PowerPoint Presentations were used for this session.

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Networking Luncheon

NRRA Members Receive the Lowest Registration Rate!!
*Please note: discounted rates for multiple registrations from the same company apply to NRRA Members only. All registrants must be employees of the same company.

Click here for membership information

Registration Type Registering Before Aug. 18 Registering After Aug. 18
NRRA Member $750 for first registrant
$500 for additional registrants*
$850 for first registrant
$600 for additional registrants*

RRG, PG or Captive
Non-Member $950 per registrant $1,075 per registrant
Service Provider
Non-Member $1,400 per registrant $1,400 per registrant
Domicile Regulator $300 per registrant $300 per registrant

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Telephone: 952-928-4656
Toll Free: 800-999-4505
Fax: 952-929-1318

Executive Director Douglas K. Barnes
Assistant Director Gloria Grove