Dear IMSA Friends: 

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and a great month of May.  There’s a lot going on in the IMSA world these days.  Please read on. 

Six Renew IMSA Membership 

• Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, Boston, MA, a member of the Liberty
Mutual Group;
• Principal Life Insurance Company, Des Moines, IA;
• Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Binghamton, NY;
• Sun Life Financial companies including
         Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S. Division), Wellesley Hills, MA;
         Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), Wellesley Hills, MA; and
         Sun Life Insurance & Annuity Company of New York, New York, NY. 

IMSA Today 

I hope you are all enjoying IMSA Today as much as I am.  IMSA Vice President: Susan W. Beach is the editor and it is chuck full of the latest news on IMSA’s activities.  Much of the material below has been selected from the last two issues.  If your Company is an IMSA member, you can  get in touch with Susan to get your copy at SusanBeach@IMSAethics.org. 

New IMSA Standards – Suitability Monitoring, LTC Claims & Key Topics

It was great to be a part of the discussions at IMSA's Standards Development Committee in Washington on May 16.   As many of you know, the new IMSA suitability monitoring standards go into effect on. Jan. 1, 2008.  In response to company requests to prepare for this, IMSA is working to develop certification for distribution partners to confirm their compliance with the supervision requirements of the NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. 

Other key issues were:

Long-Term Care Insurance Claims - We endorsed a recommendation that IMSA develop standards for long-term care insurance claims.  The recommendation will be presented to the IMSA Board of Directors at their June 27 meeting.

 Appless Processing of Annuity Business - IMSA will address compliance challenges posed through the electronic processing (or "appless") of annuity business.

New Standardized Regulator Report Form - IMSA  will develop an enhanced form explaining the IMSA qualification process to accompany IMSA's Supplemental Report for use by regulators. For more information, contact Donald Walters at DonaldWalters@IMSAethics.org.  

 Product Distribution Management – New Certification?

IMSA hosted a meeting of distribution channel managers and compliance specialists (including Qualified Independent Assessors) on May 17 to discuss the feasibility of developing a set of compliance standards that would apply to distribution channels including general agencies, firms, banks, broker dealers, and independent marketing organizations. This seems to be a great opportunity to extend the IMSA Principles and to help companies monitor the supervision standards.  A Qualified Independent Assessors associated with the Kenneth J. Kalis Company participated in the meeting and is very enthusiastic about prospects for this initiative.   For more information, contact John Dohmen, at JohnDohmen@IMSAethics.org. 

 ACLI Compliance Section Meeting Set for Florida 

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at ACLI's 2007 Compliance and Legal Sections Annual Meeting at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, July 11-13.   This year is the first, that the Compliance and Insurance and the Law meetings will be one.   

As usual, the Kenneth J. Kalis Company will have a booth at the Marketplace Forum.  Please mark your calendars with date and time so you can stop by and say “hello.” 

We will also be presenting out Excelsior Awards for best practices to the nine companies we certified this year.  I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there. 

Best Practices Workshop 

IMSA’s Best Practices Workshop is set for Chicago, September 19-20, 2007.  I’ve always enjoyed this great get-together where we can really learn what current best practices are and how companies are using them to build a culture that encourages ethical market conduct.  Hope to see you all there.  For more information, contact John Dohmen, at JohnDohmen@IMSAethics.org.  

Media and Public Relations Update

Brian Atchinson met with Money Magazine Senior Editor Walter Updegrave to discuss IMSA and the value it provides consumers shopping for life insurance, annuities and long-term care insurance products.  A personal finance reporter, Updegrave writes the column “The Long View” for Money, as well as an online column for CNN/Money, and has published four books on retirement and personal finance topics.

 Life insurance industry public relations professionals met at an IMSA-sponsored breakfast to hear and discuss IMSA’s current initiatives.  For more information, contact Susan Beach at SusanBeach@IMSAethics.org.

  Best Practice of the Month

One of the bedrock standards in the IMSA assessment process is the intake of information about new laws and regulations (as well as updates to existing ones), sharing them with those who need to know, and then following up to make sure that appropriate action is taken.  Most companies do this by having someone go to a website that provides legal updates, then send it on to the users and then follow up with emails or calls.  Many companies have an electronic database that monitors this for them.  Some companies have the intake centralized in legal or compliance, while others have it within the business units.  One company has put together what they call  “Client Focus Groups” that meet every week to discuss the updates and implementation plans.  It gets the job done and establishes backups and action plans as well as building teamwork between the compliance officers and the businesses they support.

 Hope you all have a wonderful summer.  I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in July at the ACLI Compliance Section meeting.  God bless you and those you love. 

Ken Kalis
Rejoice Evermore! 1 Thessalonians 5:16

**********************************************************************

Count your blessings this month and always.  I’m thankful for all of you and for the noble work we are all engaged in.  Best regards,