Program administrators and insurance carrier representatives will get a chance to have their opinions counted on the subject of soft market survival strategies during the upcoming midyear meeting of Target Markets Program Administrators Association, the group announced earlier this month.

Wilmington, Del.-based TMPAA said that Benfield, a London-based reinsurance intermediary and a strategic partner of the association, will be collecting data from meeting attendees during a panel presentation, "Strategies for Surviving the Soft Market."

The midyear meeting is set to be held in Atlanta on April 7-9.

"I think it will be a good measure of where we are right now in the life cycle of program business when it comes to the relationships that carriers and their program administrators have with each other when they're facing a soft market," Stephen Porcelli, senior vice president for New York-based Hudson Insurance Group, told NU recently.

Mr. Porcelli is scheduled to participate on the panel with another carrier representative (Rick Weidman of Castlepoint Management) and three program administrators--Geof McKernan of NSM Programs, John Paulk of Britt Paulk Insurance, and Greg Thompson of THOMCO, who is also TMPAA president.

Andrew Bustillo, an executive vice president for Benfield, will be moderating the panel.

This is going to be an interactive discussion with the audience, noted Mr. Porcelli. "There will be a number of questions that will be posed, [and] via technology available to the audience, [attendees] will actually be able to respond," he said.

It will be an instantaneous survey, he said. Although he did not reveal any of the exact questions, he did note that response tallies will appear on a screen, allowing the panelists to react to the audience responses.

In a statement, TMPAA and Benfield said the intent is "to gather key facts about the program business operations in the group and the strategies they currently employ to remain profitable."

"We have our opinions," Mr. Porcelli said, adding that Hudson's intention is "to be careful about businesses we're in that are competing in markets where prices are softer."

"We're encouraging our program administrators to shrink if that's what needs to happen," he said.

Mr. Porcelli noted, for example, that within a professional liability program unit that he leads, Hudson is "pretty cautious" about a directors and officers liability program. On the other hand, the company is still looking to grow in the miscellaneous errors and omissions category, he said.

In the latter category, he noted, Hudson has introduced a product that can provide privacy, security and content liability coverage that he believes will be attractive to service firms doing business on the Internet--those "that are emerging in the use of technology as part of their business."

"Places where we can find product innovation opportunities are places where we're growing. Places where we simply have to compete on price, we're not," he said.

In a statement, Mr. Thompson said "the last prolonged soft market seriously impacted the image of program managers."

"The TMPAA intends to do all within its power to keep the image of its members positive throughout all market cycles. Defending the profitability and integrity of the business is paramount," he added.

TMPAA also announced that Lou Dobbs, anchor and managing editor of CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and "The Lou Dobbs Financial Report," will be presenting the keynote address at the meeting.

"We look forward to hearing what Mr. Dobbs has to say about the current business/political landscape and the possible implications for the insurance industry and the businesses of association members," said Mr. Thompson.

In addition to the panel and the keynote address, TMPAA said that decision-makers from over 40 program carriers will be meeting with program administrators during the course of the conference to discuss program business opportunities.

The association also has scheduled a "TPA Forum" featuring risk management and claims-handling solutions.

Program administrators and MGAs interested in learning more about the TMPAA or the midyear meeting can visit www.targetmarkets.com.

Special Reports /

Opinions To Be Counted At TMPAA Meeting

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