The 1999 ICAEW General Insurance Conference promises to rank among the best. The Conference – run by Accountancy Courses and Conferences, the commercial training arm of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales – has been recognised for over a decade as the insurance industry's annual platform for discussing important financial issues.
It acts as a powerful strategic forum, every year bringing together senior management from the insurance industry and professional advisers. And never more so than this year, when two key industry figures, who are both new to their roles – Nick Prettejohn (CEO of Lloyd's) and Mary Francis (director general of the Association of British Insurers) – will give major presentations.
Following the introduction to the Conference by chairman Chris Moulder of KPMG, Nick Prettejohn will present the opening session on "The Role of the London Market in International Insurance and Re-Insurance". He will be immediately succeeded by Mary Francis, who in her first conference appearance since becoming DG of the ABI, will speak on "General Insurance and the Retail Market". She will focus on: risk rating and financial exclusion; selling and consumer expectation; and political challenges to the industry.
The conference will then, building on last year's theme of change, look principally at two continuing challenges for the industry – reporting and consolidation.
The morning session will deal with the subject of financial reporting – specifically the challenges of reporting the results of insurance companies. It will examine how companies meet the challenges of explaining their results to the financial markets, to the rating agencies and potential or actual investors.
The four contributors will offer completely different standpoints: Julian Hance, group finance director, R&SA, will give "The Company Perspective"; Trevor May, director, senior insurance analyst, Salomon Smith Barney, will provide "The Analyst's View"; David Anthony, director – management, Standard & Poors, will explain "How Rating Agencies See It"; and Paul Rutteman, consultant and former Ernst & Young partner, will supply "The Independent Practitioner's View".
The afternoon session will consider the challenge of consolidation and integration within the industry – Julian Roberts, the group finance director of Sun Life and Provincial Holdings, will present "A View from the Industry"; and Jane Barker, finance director of Equitas, will explain the transitional process, from Lloyd's of 1992 and prior years' liabilities of Lloyd's to London syndicates.
The Conference will also look at the effects of e-commerce on the industry. The last session of the Conference on "Insurance: Electronic Commerce – Cause and Effect" will be presented by Kevin Ashby of Wise (wordwide insurance for electronic commerce). He will explain Wise's aims against the background of industry change.
The 1999 ICAEW General Insurance Conference will be held at Le Meridien Hotel, Piccadilly, London W1 on November 19, from 9am to 5pm.
Further details of the conference, telephone 0800 783 5000.
