The National Council on Compensation Insurance said the outlook for the property-casualty insurance industry and the impact of legislative changes on the workers' compensation sector will be among topics speakers take up at its May conference.

Boca Raton, Fla.-based NCCI Holdings Inc. said its 2008 Annual Issues Symposium May 8-9, in Orlando, Fla., will hear from Newsweek essayist George F. Will; Fox Business News anchor Stuart Varney; W.R. Berkley Corp. Chairman William R. Berkley; Insurance Information Institute President Robert Hartwig; and Workers Compensation Research Institute Executive Director Richard Victor.

Mr. Hartwig, an economist, will speak on “Property and Casualty Outlook–2008: A Make or Break Year for the P/C Insurance Market?”

Mr. Victor will examine the effect of state reform efforts studied by the WCRI.

NCCI President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Klingel said the seminar “will examine today's market landscape and assess how workers' compensation might be affected by such critical topics as rising health care costs, today's dynamic political environment, and an American economy that continues to be fragile.”

Dennis Mealy, NCCI chief actuary, will speak on the state of the comp line. In 2007, Mr. Mealy reported a cautiously optimistic outlook for the workers' compensation line based on 2006 results.

NCCI said at this year's meeting Mr. Mealy will present both the 2007 results and detailed information about the underlying factors driving these results with a “unique, in-depth and comprehensive analysis.”

Mr. Varney will discuss his “views on a huge shift in financial culture from wealth creation to wealth distribution and what this means for the insurance industry, businesses and individual wealth. Mr. Will is to provide commentary on the Washington political scene, NCCI said.

Mr. Berkley is due to speak on “Leading by Experience: Four Decades at the Top,” and will reflect “on the dramatic changes experienced by the property-casualty industry during the 40 years since he started W.R. Berkley.

NCCI said in addition to the speakers mentioned, the seminar will feature a broad-based discussion of imminent industry issues by legislative experts and two breakout workshops to review the latest industry research as well as ongoing regulatory and legislative trends.

NCCI Holdings Inc., with the nation's largest database of workers' comp insurance information, analyzes industry trends, prepares workers' comp insurance rate recommendations, determines the cost of proposed legislation, and provides a variety of services and tools to the sector.

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