The Insurance Advocate continues to evolve as we reach the 16th month of our second tenure of this publication, as a journal of increasingly more useful and interesting opinion, according to so many of our readers whom we hear from at every turn. Thank you.

In this issue we feature the first of a two-part feature by Peter Bickford, a well respected independent attorney, whose analysis of the current functioning of the New York Liquidation Bureau will prove searching and provocative. We must state that we do not agree with Peter on all points, but his argument is quite coherent and makes for challenging reading for those in the regulatory, legislative, and legal sectors. We commend Peter for his initiative in creating this most thoughtful two part series...Also, in this issue we present Peter Molinaro's column which has become a mainstay of this publication and, to many readers, an authoritative independent view of issues that affect everyone in the business. See particularly his assessment of the case decisions that make law from the bench...Our recent article on "Stealth Rebating" in the May 4th issue drew a great deal of attention - and a little distress - at the recent LISA Conference held in New York, May 6 & 7. The Life Settlement industry is under a lot of fire and, as it evolves from its first decade of Wild West expansion into another set of kinder, gentler processes. In this issue, we note that the IRS has turned its attention to taxation on the sale of policies, certainly not good news for the business. We believe that there will be an increasing demand for the sale of life policies and so we have begun to cover it here with greater intensity.

We commend LISA and Doug Head, its leader, for a bright conference...Jim Wrynn has just been appointed to head the NYSIF, a most challenging job at a most challenging time. Reductions in employment throughout the state and the need to cut state agencies face the incoming Executive Director. Jim brings talent to the task and we will be pleased to introduce him to you more fully in our next issue...The PIA's of New York, Ct., NJ and the surrounding states - all based in Glenmont - have announced an upcoming survey of agents' use of companies which will offer agents a chance to express their opinions. Frankly, we have always found such survey results to be a little on the benign side, given that agents have always believed that the more they love companies the more companies will love them. In other words, they keep their responses rather polite and balanced, even when they do have the kind of frustration that comes out in conversations, interviews and e-mails. We don't really know if surveys work or provide meaningful data, but we do salute PIA for undertaking the annual benchmark survey. No doubt, the Association is doing its best to get conversation going...

We think it would be an interesting idea to survey members independently about their associations and what they think associations do well and don't do well. Recently, we have actually been encouraged to do so by a long standing member of the two leading New York agents' associations. We are thinking about it, especially as agents look closely at how their dollars are spent...With respect to the current economy, one of the most interesting pieces to appear was written by Mr. Clifford Asness, entitled, "Unafraid in Greenwich Connecticut." The article talks about how some capitalists have been demonized unjustly. May I call your attention to it at wordpress.com;...In our next issue, Sara Gabay Rafiy will be updating her recent article on cancellation of homes that are unoccupied with an update from a circular letter just issued by the Department...Dan Carr has been attending a number of functions including Buffalo's overwhelmingly successful I-Day, as well as the recent Stroock law firm conference which you can see summarized in this issue...

The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York have turned to different electronic formats for reaching members. On June 10th the Association will hold a televised E & O broadcast which may not win an Emmy but will certainly be prized by its members who will find this format less stressful than traveling the required distances to classes - especially between some upstate locations. This is a sound idea...Michael Loguercio continues to travel the states we cover on behalf of his company and in this issue has picked up some very good insight from NextGen and Millennial in his quest to understand better the concerns of people "on the street". Michael is a good listener and a good writer and adds a lot to the Insurance Advocate...We continue to try to present to agents the kinds of trends they really need to look at. The most important one that I can think of relates to personnel and the future of the industry. For many years associations have tried to deal with this by having separate sub-sections of membership, separate conferences, all manner of educational offerings, and, of course, the prayerful advice that agents should find ways to cultivate next generations beyond simply turning to their progeny. It's a difficult task since no one really goes to high school and thinks of going into the insurance business when they graduate. People usually find their way into the agency force rather by accident or by some kind of relationship that transcends the normal course of college and graduate studies. That is not a sad commentary on the business; it is simply a real one. On the other hand those who do join the business generally find it rather rewarding and seem to want to keep it to themselves.

ResourcePro has some ideas on this and we will present them here in an upcoming issue.