President's Message
President’s Message
We reflect in this President’s Message on the many highly successful activities achieved in 2024 look forward to much more to come in 2025!
The 2024 conference saw another record attendance with many thought-provoking sessions and topics. We welcomed many new “first-time” attendees and received excellent feedback from all. The member-company Conference Committee, led by Keith Cartmell of Toa Re, is already hard at work producing a 2025 agenda filled with new industry insights; relevant and informative sessions; and several networking opportunities. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending from April 7-9, 2025, at the Francis Marion Hotel in beautiful and historic Charleston, SC.
The Education program, led by Christiane Gross of Munich Re and John West of Guy Carpenter, continues to produce an array of relevant, and timely events. At the end of 2024, we were pleased to have awarded certificates of completion to three more graduates who have completed the 10 required sessions to earn the IRUA “Reinsurance Basic Syllabus” program. Employees that complete the program are recognized at our annual Conference and invited to attend at a discounted registration fee. As always, the IRUA will continue to cover current and emerging industry topics throughout the year. In January we will be offering a new session on Artificial Intelligence. Depending on the topic, sessions are available to attend both in-person or virtually. The entire year of IRUA educational sessions is included under our membership plan and remain open to both members and non-members alike.
The Annual Scholars Essay program, led by Sam DeGiovanni of Ryan Re, recently expanded its program eligibility to include not just our company member’s interns, but also their first-year industry new hires. In 2024 we received the largest number of essays for consideration in many years and a total of four awards were given out for a total of $13,500 in awards. In June, member company Trans Re continued the highly successful Summer Intern Lunch and Learn Day in New York City. The one-day event provided a broad view of the industry by hearing from leaders from several different disciplines.
Lastly, I thank the hard work of the many individuals involved in Governance, Membership, Social-Media, our Executive Director, Jerry Wallis, and the Beaumont Group for their efforts critical to supporting the functions of the IRUA. By the time you read this we are pleased to be operating on our new updated website! Our Linked-In site: www.linkedin.com/company/irua55, is up to over 350 followers and has been a great resource for viewing IRUA activities and events. If you are not already following, please consider doing so – check it out!
The Membership Fee structure will, again, continue unchanged for 2025. Please make note of the multiple options that allow multiple employees from your organization to attend IRUA events at no extra cost. This allows our members to pick the option that best fits their organization … and we have a growing number who take advantage of the enhanced options.
We look forward to continuing the mission of education, networking, and professional development to support a thriving community of reinsurance professionals.
Bill Bernens
IRUA President
and
Managing Director, Property & Specialty
Arch Reinsurance Company