When new Superintendent Jim Wrynn steps up to the mike for his first industry association appearance on October 9th for the Insurance Federation of New York, he will be in familiar territory. No stranger to the business, the newly confirmed Superintendent has both the advantages and disadvantages that go with popularity and friendships in the industry. On the one hand, the friendships and relations give him a quick entry into problem areas and relevant resources for the management of issues ranging from producer compensation regulation to fraud schemes that are uncovered, it seems, almost weekly. On the other hand, the disadvantage of that very closeness is that he runs the risk of being seen by many to be too close and thus lacking in objectivity. This charge has been made about other Superintendents, but has never proved to be true in our memory; in fact, we think that Jim Wrynn can cut a “right distance” line right down the middle and his popularity will enhance the functioning of the office by encouraging openness and frankness. Jim Wrynn, in our view, knows that love and respect are two different things—especially in New York, although Derek Jeter may have a unique mix of the two. Despite the many people who have told us, some rather aggressively, how close they are or were to Wrynn and how they know Jim Wrynn since the post natal ward and how Jim Wrynn and they played on the same little league team or fought acne together or whatever, we feel quite sure, after several meetings and discussions on a free ranging set of topics, that many do really know him but no one owns him. That augurs well for the industry.
……Speaking of the Insurance Federation of New York, the “Breakfast with…”event is scheduled for October 9th, approximately one month before the Federation’s big event November 4th, 2009,the day after election day, when WRM America’s founder William Fishlinger will be celebrated for his growth of the company. The company today is in nineteen states. Eric Dinallo has declared for Attorney General. Don’t know what that means to Andrew Cuomo, but he certainly does have friends in the business who are already climbing on board to support him for AG…Carl DeBarbrie has advised us that Y.A. Tittle will be the New York Giants’ man of the year. That’s not bad news to Carl and his partners and colleagues at Y.A. Tittle Insurance as they expand their franchise in New York among agents and brokers. The Y.A. Tittle program will be the subject of upcoming coverage in the Insurance Advocate. Carl is a straight shooter and solid family man whose children, like so many of our children, give us great hope for the next generation: hope you can really believe in…Transparent Health is the brainchild of Betty Heiman, who has a genuine alternative (a non-insurance one) to help solve a big piece of the puzzle in healthcare. We will be talking about Betty in the weeks to come, but, in the meantime, give a look at Transparent Health online and see if you don’t agree… One of the kinds of calls we truly appreciate is such a call as we received from Stu Fries to ensure that we got his home address correct so he would not miss getting his copies of the Insurance Advocate. Thanks, Stu.…The State of Israel Bonds’ annual event coming up on October 20, 2009 will honor Don DeCarlo and the Hon. Joel Ario, Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, for their service to the industry. The event will take place at The St. Regis in New York City....Tom Gleason of the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF), and attorney William Jones will be the honorees at the New York Claims Association’s December 12th dinner which is held at the Harvard Club, according to Annette Malpica, NYCA Chairman, featured in this issue for our Q & A… Demotech Corporation is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Joe Petrelli and his charming wife Sharon are putting together a book that will include testaments from friends and colleagues as to the ethical and professional standards of this fine young company. The testimonies are accurate.
Congratulations, Joe and Sharon… Cardinal Comp has a great ad campaign underway. For want of a better name, let us call it “the price of cheap.” The ad demonstrates that you get what you pay for, and that a low priced enterprise may very well disappoint buyers at critical junctures. The campaign gives a message that independent agents would do well to emulate and deliver to prospects. The fact is, you do get what you pay for and the fact is there is buyer’s regret in everything from political elections down to the smallest purchases these days, as mass marketing promises take further hold on consumers. The price of cheap is very high. Kudos to handsome Justin Gray, who is quarterbacking the marketing effort at Cardinal Comp…A Life Settlements bill is slowly making its way into law, a step we have long advocated here to clean up this side of the business… It is our view that without such a bill the industry–which is now very popular on Wall Street (see the front page of the September 6th New York Times)—could run amuck and cause a backlash on the insurance industry’s “popularity”…To the question of whether or not AIG has a solid future, the company has been the subject of even more speculation as Robert Benmosche’s strategy for running the game and running up the stock begins to restore confidence. According to Mr. Benmosche, there is no micromanagement on the part of the White House. This gives him a chance to start to promote AIG stock as if it had a future.
Those of us who have believed in the stock have felt all along that, given a chance for the market to work, AIG might have done better –and is—-without the specter of long-standing government intervention… The Governor has announced that GEICO will have a new operations site with three hundred jobs going into Erie County, where gecko’s breed… NYSID’s Kermitt J. Brooks has been named Chair of the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee, a key working committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the organization of insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories. The NAIC’s Executive Committee selected Brooks as Chair. Brooks serves as New York’s First Deputy Superintendent with specific responsibility for the life insurance sector. The mission of the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee is to consider issues relating to life insuance and annuities, review new life insurance products and establish priorities of the Life and Health Actuarial Task Force. The Committee oversees working groups devoted to annuity disclosure, indexed annuities and the suitability of annuity sales. Brooks recently announced the New York Department will hold public hearings statewide on the suitability of the sales of life and annuity products during August and September. Congrats, Kermitt.
