RAPA 2017 | 20th Conference Summary + Thank You!
The 20th Annual RAPA conference was an event to remember and a true testament to the dedication of the reinsurance professionals in our industry.
We kicked off the event in the sunshine state at the Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, where sunny, hot and humid Florida weather welcomed us. Our conference planning committee set the stage for another fun meet and greet evening reception, by taking us back 20 years with some entertaining and competitive trivia, focused around the many TV shows and sitcoms of the 90’s that many of us were familiar with and loved. It ended with a RAPA prize winning rendition of the theme song from the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” by SCOR’s Marjorie Bridges. Way to go Marjorie! RAPA’s surely got talent!
For the morning session, we were very fortunate to have three RAPA alumni join us to share their experiences as we reflected on the past, consider the present, and looked to the future. Jill Dupuis, Chris Murumets and Diane Brule walked us through the origins of our association from the initial administration roundtable at the Canadian Reinsurance Conference through the establishment of the professional Associate, Reinsurance Administration designation with LOMA.
From there, we took flight to the moon with Sven Roehl where we learned to fly through a world of Innovation & Open Collaboration. With his recent airline experiences top of mind, the focus was on a rapidly evolving and disruptive market. We certainly don’t have to look far to see the industries that have been affected – but it’s not about the disruption itself, it’s about the change in the ways we think and work including i) Design Thinking, ii) Creative Space, and iii) Iterative approaches to solving problems.
Before we knew it we were Breaking Bad and reefing with Kevin Glasglow….of course, we totally knew that Kevin meant the coral reef! Continuing on the theme of innovation but this time a focus on why we are in the insurance business in the first place – to pay claims. Kevin shared the geographical developments of claims trends as well as case studies to assist with identifying characteristics of fraudulent claims. By the end we came away with a number of extremely useful techniques we can apply to our respective businesses.
During our flight we started to feel some headwinds and turbulence with a focus on the reinsurance market and the regulators. Peter Schaefer brought us a wealth of knowledge on Insurance Innovation and Tax Reforms. Having first-hand knowledge of the implications of tax in the United States and potential future tax changes we were able to decipher the rationale for these changes. Impacts on our distribution, products, capital environment, pricing, and so on are certain to take place. A very energetic presentation that had us feeling like we were the 1990 Buffalo Bills!
After a quick break for lunch, Kim Langstaff spearheaded our 2018/2019 board elections where the new RAPA executive group was voted in. It was then time to head to our interactive sessions with the RAPA roundtables. We broke out into three groups on Empowering People, Emerging Trends & Product Knowledge, and Innovation rotating through each session. All very diverse, interactive sessions which provided an opportunity to step out of our comfort zones and think differently.
Finally, we landed at the mezzanine for cocktails, dinner, and for some…dice.
Day 2 of the conference began with Aastha Lal from Goodness and Giggles who brought us key insights on i) Perception, ii) Detachment, and iii) Mindfulness in a way we couldn’t have enjoyed more. Aastha was very engaging taking us through the peaks and valleys of our 60,000 or so thoughts each day.
It was then time to get into the treaty articles and exhibits. Stephen Cooley provided a great overview with a focal point on some of the emerging issues with cybersecurity, data privacy, facultative “may” and “must” just to name a few.
To conclude, our Initiative leads took us through the developments in Education, Data, Risk, Post Level Term, and the newly launched Innovation initiative. There is so much good work being done in our association and we would strongly encourage you to get involved today, if not already. Karen has updated the presentation materials on our website at https://reinsadmin.org/conference (Thanks Karen!).
A very successful 20th anniversary which would not have been possible without the great work of our planning committee spearheaded by Kelly Priest! Also, our sponsors, who have been so supportive of our association (Canada Life, RGA, PartnerRe, LOGiQ3, Optimum Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re, and Swiss Re).
As Chair, I have been very fortunate to have an amazing board and initiative chairs who have made my tenure extremely rewarding. A special “Thanks” to Eddie Martinez, Kim Langstaff, Garfield McIntyre, Genevra Pflaum, Jill Dupuis, Susan Whitehead, Kelly Priest, Karen Rotondi, Dalia Khoury, Lynn Martone, Brittany Pratt, and Rhonda Nielsen-Jackson for all their hard work and support!
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Spring meeting on April 18, 2018 and on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on October 21, 2018! Be sure to mark these dates on your calendars!
Greg LaRochelle, Past Chair