As we go to press, our wishes for a speedy recovery go to former Superintendent Greg Serio. Get well, Greg.

The Society of Insurance Management recently held a panel in New York City called Rating the Raters that featured Anthony Bonomo, president of the (voluntarily un-rated) PRI, and Joe Petrelli, president of Demotech. Much reference was made to the piece on A.M. Best that appeared in Leaders Edge. The piece implied a certain self-righteousness of the ratings leaders. The panelists posed the question, Who guards the guards?

In response, the answer was, No one. The members of the audience seemed taken back at the frankness, almost as if everyone were sharing in an industry secret of sorts

Around the State

Slogan of the week: Quality is not an act, its a habit. Aristotle wrote it, Ernst and Young uses it.

Former U.S. Senator Al DAmatos Christmas Party was a winner, particularly since it featured Ed Koch, the outspoken former mayor of New York. Many insurance lights were in the crowd; some were lit up, others glowing in the light of political connection and luxury.

Mark Yanitelli and his partner Pete Kontos of the New York State Police were recognized recently, by a private foundation that supports those who enhance the Quality of Life in New York, for their role in bringing down a complex medical fraud mill in Tuckahoe, N.Y., netting 34 crooks " including MDs, runners, hospital ER insiders, police insiders, and others. The two took down a $12 million crooked centerpiece. End beneficiary: the insuring public.

Risk-Averse Boomers Retiring

Speaking of the public, 63 percent of baby boomers fear theyll run out of money for retirement, yet, while a majority of Americans acknowledge they may not have enough money for retirement, many also are wary of investing in the stock market, where the historically higher returns may offer the quickest way " or in some cases the only way " to boost their sagging retirement assets.

Sixty-three percent of Americans aged 50 to 59 said they are concerned about whether they will have enough money to maintain their desired lifestyle in retirement. The picture is slightly better for Americans in all other age groups, but not much, with 50 percent expressing such concerns. Yet, when asked how much of their retirement assets they would be willing to invest in the stock market, 32 percent of baby boomers surveyed replied they would not be comfortable investing anything at all in the stock market. In addition, less than one-fourth (22 percent) of respondents of all ages would be comfortable investing more than 30 percent of their assets. These finding highlight a growing dilemma for many baby boomers who are behind in their financial retirement planning, as many may not be able to generate the investment returns necessary to adequately fund their retirements. Additional data highlights that could impact the conventional view of consumers retirement risk tolerance:

Fretting fortysomethings " Sixty-seven percent of Americans between age 40 and 49 are either somewhat or extremely concerned about having enough money to maintain their desired retirement lifestyles; 58 percent of Americans age 39 or younger share this feeling;

Older Americans, retirees are risk-averse " Fifty percent of respondents age 60 and older, and 50 percent of retirement age respondents said they would not invest any of their assets in the stock market;

Women, unmarried Americans avoid stocks " Forty-one percent of female respondents and 42 percent of unmarried Americans said they would not invest any of their retirement assets in stocks.

The retirement risk tolerance data was generated by Kelton Research in September 2006 for NAVA. A broad national cross-section of 1,000 respondents was polled via telephone between September 8 and September 18. The survey has an error rate of +/- 3.1 percent.

Seasons Best!