SUNDAY, APRIL 26

Sunday evening
Opening reception
(5:30-7:30 p.m. Pacific time)

MONDAY, APRIL 27

Monday morning
Breakfast (7:30-8:30 a.m.)
Business sessions (8:30-11:30 a.m.)

Meeting the Challenge of a New Era

Howard Mills, Deloitte LLP

Difficult economic conditions make it more imperative to underwrite and price with precision, but the new political environment may make it difficult to do so. Few people understand those dynamics as well as Howard Mills, former insurance superintendent of New York, now a director and chief advisor to the insurance industry group of the consulting firm Deloitte LLP.

In his opening address at the Main Event, Mills will analyze the political and economic challenges facing insurers in this year of transition in government and the economy.

Credit Crunch: Is scoring dead?

Lamont Boyd, Fair Isaac Corporation

There is no more scrutinized underwriting practice today than the use of credit-based insurance scoring, and there is no better expert on the subject than Lamont Boyd, insurance market director for Fair Isaac Corporation, the nation's leading provider of credit-based scoring tools.

In his presentation, Boyd will address questions about the validity of credit scoring in light of the credit crisis. He will review regulatory concerns regarding credit scoring, as well as the industry's keen interest in this underwriting tool.

Politics and Practices

Executive panel

In the past, we have asked our CEO panel to address "politics and products." This year we are asking company CEOs to discuss how their use of certain underwriting practices will be affected by new political and economic conditions.

Following up on our opening speakers, our panelists will discuss how they are using credit-based scoring and other predictive methodologies, and how they are prepared to respond to regulatory challenges to underwriting freedom.

The members of our panel include:

• Stuart Henderson, president and CEO, Western National Insurance Group

• Judy Jackson, president and CEO, NLC Insurance Companies

• Andre Krutainis, vice president and product officer, Harleysville Insurance

• Richard Zick, president and CEO, Utica First Insurance Company

Monday afternoon
AAIS Golf Outing (12:15-5:30 p.m.)

Half Moon Bay Golf Links
on The Ritz-Carlton property

Optional Group Tour (12-4:30 p.m.)

The California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco

Monday evening
Reception (6:30-8 p.m.)

TUESDAY, APRIL 28

Tuesday morning
Breakfast (7:30-8:30 a.m.)
Business sessions (8:30-11:45 a.m.)

Emerging Issues in Underwriting

Gerry Finley, Munich Re America

Even as the economy slows down, new exposures arise rapidly. Do you know the risks you face from acrylamide, bisphenol A, and phthalates? Gerry Finley does. As Munich Re America's senior vice president for casualty treaty underwriting, it's his job to monitor emerging issues before they wreak havoc on your loss statements.

Gerry has more than 30 years' experience in underwriting, 14 of them at Munich Re America, where he provides specialized underwriting expertise, solutions, and support to the company's business units. He is also involved in training initiatives, underwriting strategy development, and emerging exposure analysis, and sits on the underwriting subcommittee of the Reinsurance Association of America.

Among the issues being tracked by Munich Re America's corporate underwriting department are climate change, alternative energy, nanotechnology, obesity, and many others.

Predictive Power: What companies are doing
to implement analytics

Mark B. Gorman, independent consultant and researcher

In today's world, decisions are made by the numbers. To survive, your company has to know what numbers are important, and it has to have the systems and people in place to make sense of those numbers.

If you're eager to learn how to get started in implementing predictive analytics, come to hear Mark Gorman. This independent consultant collaborated with Insurance Networking News on a survey of how carriers are implementing predictive analytics in pricing, claims, and other areas. He is also the author of a report entitled: "So You Want to Use Predictive Models in Insurance - A White Paper on Getting Started," published by Valen Technologies.

In his presentation, Mark will share his survey findings on how P/C carriers are implementing predictive analytics, and share some of the lessons they've learned from their predictive analytics projects.

"Data Mastery:" Creating connections
between people and information

James Barber, Information Builders

Predictive analytics won't get you very far, however, if your organization is not committed to "data mastery." That's the practice used by leading organizations to make sure information is available to decision-makers, and that decision-makers are prepared to analyze and act on it.

James Barber is the North American insurance market manager for Information Builders, and the author of a white paper entitled "Business Success Through Insurance Data Mastery." James helps carriers throughout the U.S. and Canada implement business intelligence and data management solutions for executives, actuaries, underwriters, claims representatives, and financial personnel.

James will discuss how insurers can structure their information systems and train their staff to achieve the "data mastery" needed to succeed in today's market.

AAIS Update: New directions in rating

Deborah Summerlin, AAIS vice president of insurance lines
Greg Jaynes, AAIS chief actuary

Companies of all sizes--especially those that use AAIS programs--won't want to miss this segment on how AAIS is fundamentally restructuring its rating plans to help insurers achieve a better risk-to-price match.

Attendees will hear how AAIS is incorporating multivariate analysis, catastrophe modeling, predictive analytics, and other techniques to expand the number of price points in its Homeowners Program--and how that process will be carried over to other AAIS lines.

Rating will never be the same after this, and this session is a valuable opportunity for companies to see what lies ahead.

In addition, this segment of the conference program will feature an update on current and upcoming AAIS form revisions, and on the implementation of refinements in existing rating plans.

Tuesday morning-afternoon
Spouse/Guest tour (10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.)

Tuesday lunch
Lunch and AAIS annual meeting (noon-1 p.m.)

Tuesday afternoon
Roundtable discussions (1:30-3 p.m.)

Your Turn: The roundtable discussions

The business program of the Main Event concludes with breakout roundtable discussions led by AAIS staff members. Attendees select the group they want, and have an opportunity to share thoughts and concerns about the topic area with their counterparts from other companies.

Executive: Paul Baiocchi, president, and Greg Jaynes, chief actuary. This session will feature discussion of how companies are implementing predictive analytics.

Personal Lines: Susan Luecke, AAIS assistant vice president of personal lines, will lead discussion on:

• The status of the latest AAIS Homeowners forms;

• Homeowners rating plan revisions; and

• Revisions to the AAIS Mobile-Homeowners forms and rating plan.

Inland Marine: Robert Guevara, AAIS vice president of inland marine, will lead discussion on:

• Changes to the Builders' Risk forms in the AAIS Inland Marine Guide;

• Changes to the AAIS Commercial Output Program; and

• The development of new inland marine coverages.

Farm & Ag: Sherry Taylor, AAIS manager of farm and agribusiness, will lead discussion on:

• The new AAIS Agricultural General Liability Program (AgGL);

• An agricultural umbrella liability program to complement the AgGL: and

• Coverage issues and policy format for farmowners and agribusiness property risks.

Tuesday evening
Closing reception and dinner, 6-10 p.m.