9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Registration

10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Optional Tour – Sites of Chicago
Arriving early to the Windy City? Make plans to see the wonderful sites of Chicago on a luxury motor coach, while hearing about the unforgettable history of this great city. All tours will depart from the Renaissance Chicago and will be led by a professional tour guide.

1 – 6 p.m.

Sponsor Showcase
E-mail Crista Hassett if you are interested in participating in the Sponsor Showcase.

1 – 1:15 p.m.

Welcome

1:15 – 2:30 p.m.

Keynote: Industry Outlook
A lot has happened in a year! Back by popular demand, this year’s seminar will kick off with an informative presentation by industry expert Dr. Robert P. Harwtig, president and economist with the Insurance Information Institute. This presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of the outlook of the property/casualty insurance industry and provide insight on what has happened in our industry over the past year and what might be in store for the year ahead.

View the presentation.

Dr. Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU
President
Insurance Information Institute
New York, N.Y.

2:30 – 2:50 p.m.

Break

2:50 – 4:30 p.m.

General Session: Roundtable Discussions
Join other commercial lines professionals in roundtable discussions focused on industry changes and emerging issues.

5 p.m.

Welcome Reception

6 p.m.

Meeting adjourns for the day

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

1. Concurrent Session 1: Creating a Culture of Customer Service
   As the competition heats up for goods and services, organizations today struggle to be characterized by their customer service initiatives. During this presentation by Jason Young, participants will find out what outrageous customer service can really do for their bottom line. Discover the meaning behind “customer defined” service and how it may very well separate you from your competitors. Learn to make the most of those moments of truth that face your organization to leave a legacy of service. Identify the sources of service breakdowns and what it really takes to make a clear path to recovery.
   
   During this interactive session, Jason Young will present a comprehensive approach on how to create and sustain a culture of excellence for both internal and external customer service. Participants will discover that a strong commitment to service excellence can help an organization make a name for itself and leave its mark.
   
   Jason Young
   President
   Leadsmart, Inc.
   Dallas, Texas
2. Concurrent Session 2: Credit Based Tools in Commercial Lines
   Commercial lines insurance has followed the example of personal lines and discovered the power of credit-based rating and underwriting tools. Middle market accounts have known the benefits of commercial credit scores and related information for years; however, some of these tools were not as effective for smaller accounts. Insurance programs for smaller commercial lines’ insureds have discovered a wide variety of tools to increase the predictive power of credit-based tools. This session will examine both traditional and non-traditional tools used for rating and underwriting commercial insurance products.
   
   View the presentation.
   
   Rob Walling, FCAS, MAAA
   Principal and Consulting Actuary
   Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc.
   Bloomington, Ill.
3. Concurrent Session 3: Cyber Risk Underwriting & Risk Management Considerations
   In this information session, Gerry Finley will cover the types of cyber risks, examples of cyber incidents and important risk management practices and procedures. He will also include important information on the issues related to Blogging benefits, risks and underwriting issues.
   
   Gerry Finley
   Senior Vice President, Casualty Treaty Underwriting
   Munich Re America
   Princeton, N.J.
4. Concurrent Session 4: Current Issues in the Workers Comp Arena – The Call for O.A.T.S
   We are living in a whole new world, operating in an ever-changing business environment. As a result of the recent financial crisis, regulators and legislators are seeking oversight and accountability from the financial services industry. In this informative session, Mona Carter, national policy executive, NCCI Holdings, Inc., will discuss national trends impacting the world of workers compensation.
   
   Mona Carter
   National Policy Executive
   NCCI Holdings, Inc.
   Boca Raton, Fla.

9:30 – 9:45 a.m.

Break

9:45 - 10:45 a.m.

1. Concurrent Session 1: Influence Strategies for Underwriters
   This one hour session will focus on approaches you can use to help you and your agents get back on track to more profitable business. You will learn the economics behind today’s market, the driving factors for buyer relationships, how to work with agents to understand buyer motivations, and most importantly, how to position your offering more favorably. Whether you are new to underwriting or a seasoned veteran you will find something practical in this presentation.
   
   Paul Balbresky
   Principal
   Balbresky Consulting Services, Inc.
   Marlton, N.J.
2. Concurrent Session 2: Chinese Drywall – Issues and Exposures
   This session will provide a brief overview of the current scope and nature of the Chinese drywall exposure as well as the classes of business impacted. This will be followed by a discussion of key issues and considerations relating to policy coverage and underwriting.
   
   Gerry Finley
   Senior Vice President, Casualty Treaty Underwriting
   Munich Re America
   Princeton, N.J.
3. Concurrent Session 3: What’s New in Insurance for Data Breaches
   Companies that breach personal information must now provide notification to the affected individuals in most states. For business reasons, most companies providing such notification choose to include an offer of services. This makes a personal data breach an expensive, disruptive and dangerous event in the life of any business or organization. Recently, new insurance programs have appeared offering coverage for some of these exposures.
   
   This session will provide important insight on data compromise as it relates to commercial business. Attendees will learn how personal data breaches happen and gain an understanding of the legal and business issues involved in responding to a breach. Additionally our speaker will share details on the current insurance coverages being offered, the risk levels for different classes of business, and provide best practices for responding to personal data breaches.
   
   Mark MacGougan
   Vice President Strategic Products
   Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company
   Hartford, Conn.
4. Concurrent Session 4: The State of the Future: Black Swans and More!
   Black swans are unpredictable events with massive impact. Black swans can have both a positive and a negative impact on you, your clients and the world. In this session, you will explore emerging issues in risk management and underwriting. Elise Farnham will analyze significant events in the past that re-shaped the world of risk management and look at emerging issues that appear poised to change the way we evaluate risk, accept risk, and insure risk. This will be an interactive presentation in which the attendees will be fully engaged through group activities and class discussion.
   
   Elise Farnham, CPCU, ARM, AIM, CPIW
   President
   Illumine Consulting
   Grantville, Georgia

10:45 – 11 a.m.

Break

11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

1. Concurrent Session 1: Creating a Culture of Customer Service
   As the competition heats up for goods and services, organizations today struggle to be characterized by their customer service initiatives. During this presentation by Jason Young, participants will find out what outrageous customer service can really do for their bottom line. Discover the meaning behind “customer defined” service and how it may very well separate you from your competitors. Learn to make the most of those moments of truth that face your organization to leave a legacy of service. Identify the sources of service breakdowns and what it really takes to make a clear path to recovery.
   
   During this interactive session, Jason Young will present a comprehensive approach on how to create and sustain a culture of excellence for both internal and external customer service. Participants will discover that a strong commitment to service excellence can help an organization make a name for itself and leave its mark.
   
   Jason Young
   President
   Leadsmart, Inc.
   Dallas, Texas
2. Concurrent Session 2: IBHS Update on Disaster Preparedness Initiatives
   Mitigation of commercial property losses improves as building science advances and more businesses learn how to - and actually do - put disaster preparation plans in place. During this informative you will learn about new insurance industry-sponsored initiatives that will help lead the way to more resilient businesses in all parts of the country.
   
   Julie Rochman
   President and Chief Executive Officer
   IBHS
   Tampa, Fla.
3. Concurrent Session 3: Preparing for Sustainability
   You can not pick up a newspaper, watch news cast without being faced with environmental concerns, especially global warming, the concept of sustainability, the resulting green movement and the deployment of renewable energy. Whether you believe “Global warming “is fact or fiction, you can not deny that the world is changing.
   
   As energy costs rise, supply uncertainties of fossil fuels and as the pressure mounts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, a growing number of corporations, utilities and municipalities are turning to renewable energy sources. The United States Government is rethinking its energy policies, which should favor energy from domestic resources that can be cost effective and is considered renewable without contributing to climate change.
   
   This is creating an ever changing world where new technologies are being employed, presenting new opportunities for business. Side by side with these new opportunities is the creation of new exposures and the modification to existing exposures for business and the property insurance market.
   
   This presentation will evaluate exposures of renewable energy technology on a peril by peril approach along with loss prevention advice.
   
   Dallas Kinley
   Vice President and Engineering Manager
   Mutual Boiler Re
   Malvern, Pa.
4. Concurrent Session 4: Lessons from Losses
   This session will provide an overview of large individual risk and catastrophic property losses. Sue Stein, property facultative claims manager, Gen Re, will review loss trends on physical damage claims, how risks are changing, and the underwriting consequences that are impacting our industry. Loss topics include modern methods of construction, recession claims, green construction issues and more.
   
   View the presentation.
   
   Sue Stein
   Property Facultative Claims Manager
   Gen Re

12 – 1:30 p.m.

Networking Lunch/Sponsor Showcase

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

1. Concurrent Session 1: Bridging the Generation Gap with Collaborative Technology: Making Gen Y Your BFF
   Baby boomers are retiring at a dizzying rate, one every 10minutes, threatening to leave a major gap in the workforce. International accounting and consulting firm Deloitte LLP estimated the industry must hire and develop 25,000 new underwriters alone between 2004 and 2014. Top-performing “graying” underwriters, who largely operate by instinct, threaten the loss of best practices when they retire. After all, much of an insurance carrier’s knowledge and expertise currently resides in the heads of these folks. Insurers must appeal to Generation Y, which gravitates to companies that do things faster, smarter, and easier with real-time collaboration, once-and-done tasks, and Web 2.0-based processes.
   
   In this session Julian Pelenur, CTO and founder, FirstBest Systems, will outline ways that easy-to-use technology can make your business more competitive by improving collaboration and jumpstarting productivity. New knowledge- and rule-based capabilities and checklists can be right on your desktop. They are accessible, applicable, adaptable, and don’t require you to change the way you do business. Are you ready to expand your vision and deal with the shrinking talent pool? Are you ready for Gen Y?
   
   Julian Pelenur
   CTO and Founder
   FirstBest
   Bedford, Mass.
2. Concurrent Session 2: EPLI: A Hot Product in a Cold Economy
   Employment Practices Liability Insurance is one of the few products offering organic growth, but it comes amid a time of economic downturn and employee layoffs. How can insurers find the pockets of opportunity without falling into a vortex of employment liability claims?
   
   Join us for this information-packed session that will provide a look at the state of the EPLI marketplace and challenges associated with the down economy. Our speaker will also discuss EPLI underwriting and claim issues, why classes, territories, size and services matter, and provide insight on the future of EPLI in a brighter economy.
   
   View the presentation.
   
   Mindy Pollack
   Vice President and EPLI Business Development Specialist
   Gen Re
   Stamford, Conn.
3. Concurrent Session 3: Usage Based Insurance in Commercial Lines
   Commercial auto insurers have employed telematics to assist fleet managers in control of their fleets for routing efficiency and safety concerns. The surging interest in telematics to deliver usage-based insurance for both personal and commercial auto has tremendously raised the stakes for this technology. This session will look at how current technology is rapidly advancing and the uses and benefits to which it can be employed by the companies willing to explore this game changing alternative to underwriting.
   
   Robin Harbage, FCAS, MAAA
   C-Counsel Consultant
   EMB
4. Concurrent Session 4: Workers Compensation – Challenges and Solutions
   The Workers Compensation exposure has been subject to significant change with more on the way. Rising medical expenses outstripping inflation and lack of employer focus due to business and subsequent jobs loss have had a negative impact on outcomes and results. This session will analyze the exposures created due to employment of undocumented workers, returning war veterans, and the impact of new technologies. Through case studies and group discussion, attendees will analyze leading edge practices for confronting potentially adverse risk exposures in order to improve outcomes.
   
   Elise Farnham, CPCU, ARM, AIM, CPIW
   President
   Illumine Consulting
   Grantville, Georgia

2:30 – 2:45 p.m.

Break

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

1. Concurrent Session 1: Thinking Outside the Black Box – The Latest on Catastrophe Risk Management
   This session will provide a comprehensive overview of best practices in modeling, pricing and underwriting catastrophe exposure. Near versus long-term hurricane models, recent developments in earthquake modeling, and limitations in modeling other perils, will be explored in detail. Pricing topics will include expected values versus tail values, reinsurance, and return on catastrophe-exposed capital. In terms of underwriting, black and white versus shades of gray, data quality, and controlling exposure through terms and conditions, will also be examined.
   
   John Tierney
   Senior Vice President
   Karen Clark & Company
   Boston, Mass.
2. Concurrent Session 2: Maximizing Underwriter Productivity – Art or Science?
   The art of underwriting is one thing. Managing productivity is another. In this session you will learn how leading organizations are balancing the art of underwriting vs. the management science of productivity. Our speaker will address the elements of quality, service, profitability and productivity, and identify the factors to consider when making changes to positively affect underwriter productivity while not compromising quality or service. You will gain a better understanding of how leading insurance companies are striking an effective balance in these tough economic times.
   
   Steve Discher
   Senior Vice President
   Robert E. Nolan Company
   Dallas, Texas
3. Concurrent Session 3: Applying Predictive Models: Pitfalls and Deployment Strategies
   Predictive modeling has a proven track record with respect to personal lines insurance however some commercial lines companies have struggled to develop satisfactory results. Although many of the modeling techniques developed for personal lines can be used effectively for commercial lines such as workers compensation, there are many unique issues that must be properly addressed before reliance is placed on the indications from the predictive models. This session provides a discussion of the unique modeling challenges encountered with workers compensation and offers solutions to these issues.
   
   In addition, the extent of value realized from predictive models is highly dependent on the deployment strategy selected by the organization. This session will discuss various strategies and their overall impact in consideration of your corporate goals of growth, profitability and retention.
   
   View the presentation.
   
   Brett Nunes
   Senior Consultant
   EMB
   Chicago, Ill.
4. Concurrent Session 4: The Human Factor and its Effect on Loss – Interactive Workshop
   Loss consists of two components: frequency and severity. Risk is often differentiated or selected by analyzing factors that affect these two components. One factor affects both components of loss - the human factor.
   
   In this workshop participants are engaged as the building manager of a 20-story high-rise office building, and they will participate in a fire emergency simulation. They will encounter a variety of situations in which they will try to contain the fire, provide safety to building tenants, and minimize overall loss. Participants will experience first hand how the human factor can affect the severity of loss. They will also gain a better understanding of the true value of contingency planning, emergency planning and response, and be provided a perspective to better serve insureds and evaluate a piece of business.
   
   David Ritzinger
   Exposure Analyst
   Mutual Boiler Re
   Malvern, Pa.

3:45 p.m.

Meeting adjourns for the day

6 p.m.

Chicago Dine Around

8 – 11:15 a.m.

Sponsor Showcase
E-mail Crista Hassett if you are interested in participating in the Sponsor Showcase.

8 – 9 a.m.

1. Concurrent Session 1: The Human Factor and its Effect on Loss – Interactive Workshop
   Loss consists of two components: frequency and severity. Risk is often differentiated or selected by analyzing factors that affect these two components. One factor affects both components of loss - the human factor.
   
   In this workshop participants are engaged as the building manager of a 20-story high-rise office building, and they will participate in a fire emergency simulation. They will encounter a variety of situations in which they will try to contain the fire, provide safety to building tenants, and minimize overall loss. Participants will experience first hand how the human factor can affect the severity of loss. They will also gain a better understanding of the true value of contingency planning, emergency planning and response, and be provided a perspective to better serve insureds and evaluate a piece of business.
   
   David Ritzinger
   Exposure Analyst
   Mutual Boiler Re
   Malvern, Pa.
2. Concurrent Session 2: Designing an Underwriting Dashboard – A Comprehensive Management Approach
   History and management dictums tell us that you can’t manage what you do not measure. Designing an effective underwriter measurement system – aka dashboard – can go a long way to effectively managing underwriting in today’s world. In this session you will learn how the use of dashboards leads to improved service, productivity and quality for commercial lines organizations. Our speaker will also address the strategy and tactics of designing an underwriter dashboard which includes the proper methods of gathering data, identifying the essential elements in determining underwriter effectiveness, and how to display these elements for effective use.
   
   Steve Discher
   Senior Vice President
   Robert E. Nolan Company
   Dallas, Texas
3. Concurrent Session 3: An Introduction to Alternative Markets
   Why should you care about agency, association and group captives, risk retention groups, and 831(b)s? All of these alternative-market mechanisms have made tremendous inroads into traditional commercial lines markets. All of them have unique competitive advantages that can make them very difficult to compete with. This session will provide an overview of some of the most successful approaches to the alternative markets, their advantages, their threats, and even the opportunities they present.
   
   View the presentation.
   
   Rob Walling, FCAS, MAAA
   Principal and Consulting Actuary
   Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc.
   Bloomington, Ill.

9 – 9:15 a.m.

Break

9:15 - 11:15 a.m.

General Session: Leadership: Predictable in Unpredictable Times
With the economic recession comes a psychological recession. At a time when you need your employees the most, they are more distracted than ever. How do you create a win-able game during these uncertain times? How do you improve your execution?

Unfortunately, studies have shown that organizational failure is primarily caused by the inability to execute—a lack of clarity on key goals, vague indicators of success, and low levels of accountability. Join us for this informative and interactive session facilitated by leadership experts, FranklinCovey ©, and learn how to, reduce fear in the workplace, achieve more with less, build team trust, and successfully execute priorities.

Les Kaschner
Consultant
FranklinCovey
Chicago, Ill.

11:15 a.m.

Seminar Concludes

1:00 p.m.

Optional Tour – Sites of Chicago
Extending your stay in the Windy City? Make plans to see the wonderful sites of Chicago on a luxury motor coach, while hearing about the unforgettable history of this great city. All tours will depart from the Renaissance Chicago and will be led by a professional tour guide.