KJKC - News January 2006 Update

Dear IMSA Friends:

The first month of 2006 is over Time marches on. Used to be that this year, the third year of the IMSA cycle, was a slow year.

During the first and second IMSA cycles, about 70% of the member companies renewed their membership during the first year of the cycle (according to our estimates). About 20% renewed the second year, and 10% the third.

Because a number of companies requested extensions of their membership during this cycle, the renewal pattern as evened out a little to about 55% renewing the first year, 30% the second, and 15% the third. This makes the work flow a bit more even for us, and we are pleased to have a few assessments going on this year so that we are considerably more active on the assessment front than we have bee previously in the third years of the cycle.

IMSA Standards Committee Meets in Washington

We were pleased to be a part of the first meeting of the IMSA Standards Committee Meeting at the IMSA offices on Thursday, January 19, 2006. The purpose of the meeting was to consider changes to the Assessment Handbook and the IMSA process as discussed at the Handbook Forum held on September 8, 2005.

Attendees from about 15 companies and two QIA’s attended. IMSA was represented by Brian Atchinson, Don Walters, John Dohmen, Susan Beach and Margie Lopez. They laid out the parameters beginning with a recap of 2005 events including a strong message from IMSA’s Board of Directors to refine the Strategic Plan. The message was to focus on being the BEST, and doing the BEST for member companies.

This means a focus change from regulatory information to information companies can use on a day to day basis. We kept this in mind as Don Walters described the ongoing process for looking at the Handbook and IMSA assessment process in terms of this focus change and the direction given by the IMSA Board of Directors.

The reviewing process will be conducted through 3 committees:

The Standards Review Committee: This will be a group that considers and offers recommendations concerning policy issues affecting IMSA's future direction. The group will also attempt to identify future compliance challenges facing the life insurance industry.
Subject Matter Committee: Subject Matter Committee: This group will work on the policy recommendations from the Standards Review Committee, draft changes to the Assessment Handbook and Assessment Manual, as necessary, and consider comments offered by the Standards Advisory Committee. .
Standards Advisory Committee: This is a group comprised of representatives from various organizations representing a variety of regulatory, financial rating, producer, consumer and policy making interests that will review the work products of the Subject Matter Standards Committee. The Committee will offer comments to the Subject Matter Committee but will not draft modifications to IMSA standards.

These groups will meet regularly between now and September on a 4 to 6-week cycle. The plan is to have recommendations ready to present to member companies by the fall so that training can take place before the end of the year with changes to be effective as soon as practical in 2007.

We felt the first meeting was very productive and look forward to this continuous improvement element of the IMSA process. I believe IMSA will emerge stronger and more important than ever as a result of this broad cooperative effort that involves so many knowledgeable and experience insurance professionals.

By the Way…..

I picked two interesting pieces of information at the Standards Committee meeting. The first is that the IMSA offices will be moving a few miles up the road (Wisconsin Avenue) from Chevy Chase to Bethesda shortly. The second is that Insurance Compliance Weekly, which is often posted on the IMSA web site, is ceasing publication. This is too bad, from our standpoint. I always enjoyed the well-written articles that often focused on issues I could read about nowhere else. R.I.P.

LHCA Meeting at Panama City Beach

The Kenneth J. Kalis Company sponsored a lunch on Thursday, January 12,2006 for about 150 attendees of the Life & Health Compliance Association. The lunch was excellent as was the entire meeting. These are great get-togethers where I always learn a lot.

This time, I was able to give back a little. I hosted a breakout session on Thursday afternoon where I did a presentation on the Changes to the IMSA Process and the KJKC Approach to the IMSA Assessment Process. This was a good opportunity for us to communicate to many people who are not familiar with IMSA, either because their companies are not members or because they are new to their compliance jobs.

We look forward to other opportunities like this in the future.

2007?

We’ve already written a number of proposals for companies who will be renewing their IMSA membership in 2007. No, that’s not a typo, 2007. It’s great to see companies are planning for this well in advance. It’s evidence that IMSA has become an established part of the business landscape. It’s also evidence that companies are give IMSA a high priority and taking the necessary steps to identify and secure resources to assure a smooth and successful process leading to membership renewal.

Look for our Ad in Best’s Review

We have renewed our advertising with Best’s Review. Please ASBPE keep an eye out for it. The ad is simple and to the point, but the same as last year’s. Is it still OK? Should we change it? Let us know what you think.

Ken Kalis
Only Believe Mark 5:36

The Kenneth J. Kalis Company, Inc.
"Client-Focused IMSA Expertise"
386-462-1074

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