| News
January Update
for IMSA Friends: Dear
IMSA Friends: Time is
marching on, and January of 2005 is gone! It's been a cold one in many parts of
the nation. Our assessments took us farther north than we like to go in January,
but we at least got some good use out of our winter coats, which had been nestled
in mothballs! Any how, be sure to check out our non-IMSA close sent in by a friend
from New Jersey who is thinking about moving to Florida! Read on! Congratulations
to New IMSA Members and Re-Ups On
January 12, 2005, IMSA announced renewal memberships for six leading companies:
- American National Insurance
Company, Galveston, TX, and its subsidiaries
- Garden
State Life Insurance Company, League City, TX,
and
- Standard
Life and Accident Insurance Company, Galveston, TX,
Two
COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services companies: - COUNTRY
Life Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL,
- COUNTRY
Investors Life Assurance Company, Bloomington, IL,
and
- Symetra Life
Insurance Company, Redmond, WA.
On
January 14, 2005 IMSA announced two new memberships: - AIG
Life Insurance Company
and
- American
International Life Assurance Company of New York
This
is great news. It shows what a great job IMSA is doing to encourage new membership.
We hope other companies who aren't yet members will see the light. In
addition to these two new member qualifications, three other AIG member companies
- American General Life
Insurance Company,
- The
United States Life Insurance Company of the City of New York, and
- American
General Life and Accident Insurance Company
have
requalified for IMSA membership after undergoing the triennial review of its marketing,
sales and compliance practices.All
of these companies are members of AIG American General, the marketing name for
the insurance companies and affiliates of American International Group, Inc. (AIG)
that comprise its domestic life insurance operations. On
January 31, 2005 IMSA announced the renewal membership of 3 companies in the Prudential
Financial Group - Prudential
Insurance Company of America,
- Pruco
Life Insurance Company
and
- Pruco
Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, all based in Newark, NJ.
In
addition, American Skandia Life Assurance Corporation, a Prudential Financial
company, acquired by Prudential in 2003, has completed the necessary assessments
to qualify for IMSA membership. "Scrubbed"
Supplemental Reports IMSA
has asked |Qualified Independent Assessors to ask their client companies
if they would be willing to share a "scrubbed" Supplement Report with
them for training and educational purposes with regulators. We have had a couple
of companies express an interest in participating in this process. The "scrubbing"
means removing all indications of company identity. This includes not only the
company name and initials, but any key words or trademarks identified with the
company. We also replace the names of all process owners with others that cannot
be identified with the company, and even change all page numbers and references.
Our hope is that these
reports will be strong evidence to the regulators that the IMSA process is a rigorous
one and that meeting the IMSA standards and gaining IMSA membership should generate
some recognition in the market conduct examination process. If your company would
like to participate, let your QIA know, or get in touch with Don Walters at DonaldWalters@imsaethics.org. Flash
Surveys Flash
Surveys on Initial Premium for Term Life and Participation in Industry Organizations
in Advertising and Sales Materials are out, and we are grateful for your responses.
If you did not get one of these surveys, please let me know and we will get it
to you ASAP. These quick
and simple Flash Surveys are available to all of you if you would like a quick
read on what others in our industry are doing. There is no charge for this service,
which is confidential and meets the ACLI's guidelines and standards on fair competition.
Let me urge you all to do you best to respond to these surveys so others will
accommodate you when you would like some feedback from the industry.
KJKC to Be a Sponsor at 2005 Compliance Best Practices Workshop
IMSA
announced its 5th annual Compliance Best Practices Workshop, May
11-13, 2005, at The Hyatt Regency Chicago. This is a highlight every year for
us and for everyone serious about meeting the IMSA standards. We are pleased to
be a sponsor for the second year. We are also pleased to have been asked to do
a presentation on the best practices we have discerned during the past year. We've
got a bunch. Any topics you are especially interested in? Let us know, or better
still, send an email to John Dohmen at IMSA, johndohmen@imsaethics.org
You can look
for registration materials in early March or call IMSA at (240) 497-2907 for additional
information. We hope to see you there!
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