Eric Dinallo strikes us as a smart choice for N.Y. superintendent of insurance, one who may have Spitzer-like reform zeal but, having worked at Willis and been around the industry, comes to the post knowing that the insurance business is not simply a corrupt hodge-podge of unchecked greed. Nor are its people any better or worse than any other field " maybe a little better, if you look carefully.

The superintendent-elect is an insider " as is his wife " in the new Albany regime. He is credited with being the source of the light bulb that went on Attorney General Eliot Spitzers offices and set focus upon Merill Lynchs activities and, subsequently, the Sheriff of Wall Streets agenda.

Past superintendents, early in their tenures, would routinely remark that the NYSID is the nations best. It was a re-enforcement to the whole mini-economy within the states economy that is the insuring business. It is likely that a Superintendent Dinallo will adopt a more critical posture, reflective of the entire reform-driven administration, yet hell probably, inevitably, come to see the NYSID as an organ of change and high accountability " with some notable recent exceptions in the Liquidation Bureau. We wish the superintendent-elect well.

Watchers Fail to See

Alan Hevesi was smart to cut a deal and step down as many of us had steadily advocated. Rumor has it that N.Y. Assembly Insurance Committee Chairman Peter Grannis, is up for the post. The scandals and dubious ethics keep on surfacing in Albany. What is it with these officials? Are they paid so little that alternatives become necessary? Is it the structure of their service (i.e. permanent part-time legislators) that finds public trust and business lines crossed? Or is it that no one is really watching. Those who watch Albany are usually content with a status quo of which they are beneficiaries. Change seems imminent. We hope so. Even the most jaded insider knows that the trough-feeding is getting particularly piggish, and the obstructionists are more pig-headed. It wont be long until the public gets wind and makes the hogs pay in local elections.

Names Around the State

Many of our readers will recall Charles Niles, former top gun at General Accident, and, of late, one of the countrys top insurance/reinsurance arbitrators. Charlie passed away just before Christmas. He will be remembered as a disciplined, careful, good man who bettered us all for being in this business. RIP

At its December annual meeting, the Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc. (LICONY) elected Mitchell F. Politzer to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2007. Politzer is president and chief executive officer of First Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York, headquartered in Suffern, N.Y. Politzer joined First Ameritas in 1999 and was elected senior vice president " Ameritas Direct in June 2005. He has also served LICONY as its initial chairman of the community investment committee. He has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of insurance marketing and corporate consulting. He previously served as president and chief executive officer of Unity Financial Life Insurance Company, co-founder of Baker, Rakich, Shipley & Politzer (BRS&P), corporate strategy, marketing research and executive development consulting firm. He received an MBA from St. Johns University and a BA degree from Long Island University. Dennis J. Manning, President and CEO of the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, is the immediate past chairman.

LICONY also elected the following Board Members as officers for 2007:

David J. Sloane, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Genworth Life Insurance Company of New York;

James J. Kerwin, president and chief executive officer of Bankers Life Insurance Company of New York.

Board Members elected for new terms are:

Frederick J. Crawford, director and chief financial officer of Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York;

Paul H. Trevvett, president and chief executive officer of Monitor Life Insurance Company;

Vincent G. Vitiello, president and chief executive office of Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York.

Other Board Members continuing to serve include:

Bret L. Benham, chairman, president and chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF Life;

Bruce W. Boyea, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York;

Maureen A. Buckley, vice president and chief operating officer of RiverSource Life Insurance Company of New York;

James L. Lipscomb, executive vice president and general counsel of MetLife;

Patrick A. Mannion, president and chief executive officer of Unity Mutual Life Insurance Company;

Thomas J. Moran, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company;

Frederick J. Sievert, president of New York Life Insurance Company;

Timothy A. Walsh, president and chief exeuctive officer of Farm Family Life Insurance Company.

We wish Mitchell and the LICONY team so ably led by Tom Workman, a successful 2007.