The business workshops will be divided into two sessions, lasting over one hour each. They will be held on Thursday, September 28, from 14.30 to 15.45 and from 16.30 to 17.45. Each session is split into six streams focusing on legal, regulatory, financial, IT, personal development and marketing issues.
Legal focus
part one: Professional indemnity from the underwriter to the solicitor
Led by Catherine Hudson from Merricks solicitors, this workshop considers coverage issues, risk assessments and claims handling the post-ISF era.
part two: Partied out? Are professional obligations becoming too onerous?
David Wilkinson, partner at Berrymans Lace Mawer and Penny Lewis,
a solicitor with the same firm, will look at the London insurance market. As a consequence of the incestuous market, brokers, underwriters, loss adjusters and lawyers owe duties to more than one party and face liabilities from sometimes unexpected quarters. This workshop will consider the impact of increasing professional and governmental regulation on the insurance industry.
Regulatory focus:
part one: Bringing ombudsmen together: creating the virtuous circle
The chief ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service will analyse how the service works and how the industry will be affected. The session will also cover raising industry standards, helping customer understanding, multi-service businesses, bundle products, straddling the boundaries and working with the new regulator.
part two: GISC monitoring in practice
Steve Barrow, head of monitoring at GISC, James Dean from Ernst & Young and Paul Clarke from PricewaterhouseCoopers will look at monitoring as one of the central pillars of the General Insurance Standards Council. This session, led by GISC and with representatives from the monitoring organisations, will outline the rationale behind the scheme and the initial experience gained to date. Input from delegates on their experience will be positively encouraged.
Financial Services focus:
part one: After the Financial Services and Marketers Act
Led by David Worsfold, editor-in-chief of Post Magazine, the workshop will consider how the Financial Services Authority is slowly taking on its new powers over the whole sector. What does it mean for the industry and where will it take us next?
part two: Stakeholder pensions
Mike Wadsworth, partner at Watson Wyatt, will provide information on the state of regulation and the potential for customers and competition with existing pension models – corporate and individual. He will also outline the importance of contracting out. The session also considers the options for distribution/administration/fund management, and the risk and uncertainties involved, and takes a guess at how the market will look in 2005/2010.
IT Focus
part one: ecommerce v. ebusiness
David Piesse, director of WebX, will speak about the fundamental way for a business to compete effectively in today's mobile technology world. From more business modelling to ebusiness application delivery, the insurance industry is under pressure to compete in a global market but with an infrastructure that will deliver.
part two: Trading electronically. So what? Ecommerce won't affect us...or will it?
Led by Kevin Ashby, chief executive of Wise, the session highlights that the new world of ecommerce is not constrained by the past. Does this mean that old slow companies don't stand a chance in the face of new entrants and new methods and mechanisms? Or, although small personal and commodity lines will be affected by the internet, is the business-to-business sector built on solid relationships and trust that needs intermediaries in the loop? Expect a lively debate.
Personal development focus
part one: Life cycles and performance
The executive director for PMI Management Consultancy, Rolf Gerritsen, will analyse how when organisations mature, behaviours change, and how these have a direct impact on performance. The workshop will look at organisational life cycles and predict behaviour patterns, but more importantly it will focus on the interventions required to extend an organisational lifestyle.
part two: The role of Britain's reserve forces in the nation's defence - essential insurance
John Bridgeman, chairman of the National Employer's liaison committee, will look at how taking part in the reserve forces gives opportunities for personal development, benefiting the employee – and the employer. The session outlines the role of the reserve forces in defence and what the normal training commitments are.
Marketing focus
part one: Being the Best / Marketing
Led by Jonathan Clark, director of strategic operations development for UK and Europe at Crawford, Richard Drinkwater, director of marketing practices at Royal & SunAlliance and by Alan Cleary, commissioner at the United Nations compensation commission, this session will deal with the CCI's conference theme.
part two: ecommerce is about business not IT
Andy Hawkes, executive manager, marketing & ecommerce at Independent Insurance, will look at ecommerce as the new industrial revolution, and like the last one, the winners will be the organisations that create new ideas and concepts because the technology is available. The technology is only a source of competitive advantage, not the advantage itself. Business people must understand and embrace the opportunity and then implement the potential for “e” success.
