Brace for change.

That's the underlying message of two scheduled presentationshighlighting next month's National Association of ProfessionalSurplus Lines Offices, Ltd. annual meeting agenda--one to bedelivered by a 43-year veteran of the industry, William R. Berkley,and the other to come from Adam Stafford, senior project manager ofmarket operations for Lloyd's, a centuries-old institution.

While the talk by the chair of Greenwich, Conn.-based W.R.Berkley Corp. (scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 13) will focus onsome potentially negative changes--the uncertain risks of achanging world--he is also likely to share his prediction of thesingle biggest positive change that NAPSLO members have beenanticipating: a cycle turn.

As was the case in a recent NU interview, Mr. Berkleycan be easily coaxed to outline the reasoning behind histwo-year-old prediction that the cycle will turn by year-end 2010."Could it be 2011 before it happens? Surely, but there's noquestion that pricing is inadequate," he told NU earlierthis month. "Price levels are effectively where they were in 2000,"he said, giving one reason he believes the turn is not faraway.

Mr. Stafford also promises to bring news of positivedevelopments coming before the year is out during his 1 p.m.presentation on Oct. 11--the opening day of the three-day NAPSLOmeeting in Atlanta.

According to Mr. Stafford, Lloyd's is truly breaking free of itswell-known attraction to reams of paper and trying to put an end tomultiple and varying data requests for different bits ofinformation, often on the same contract, coming from differentcorners of the market.

Explaining that data sought by London underwriters from U.S.distribution partners falls into three buckets--risk information,premium information and claims information--he said aproperty-catastrophe risk standard has already been developed.

"That is now live," he said, stressing that this standard, aswell as the others in the works, are ACORD standards.

"Lloyd's needs to speak the same language as other markets do.We're not good at that at the moment," he told members of KansasCity, Mo.-based NAPSLO during a July 13 webinar. "We offer a lot of'bespoke' information," he said (using a British term meaningcustom-made to a buyer's specification), adding that "we need to bespeaking in a standard language. In the insurance world [thatmeans] conforming with ACORD," he said.

(See related article, "Lloyd's Breaking Free Of Paper ShuffleWith U.S. E&S Partners," for an update on the progress of theLondon initiative to standardize collection of data for U.S.E&S risks in the next edition of NU'sE&S/Specialty Lines E&S Extra.)

MORE CHANGES

Unlike the deliberate plans to move Lloyd's forward, somechanges that will impact NAPSLO members over the next few monthsand years are unplanned, and Mr. Berkley said the bulk of hisremarks will likely touch upon those types of challenges.

"The world is changing so fast [that] we don't know what theworld is going to be like" in October, he said, promising to payattention to events that unfold over the next few weeks as heprepares for his lecture.

"I'll also talk about how and why the property and casualtyinsurance business was able to get through these difficult times"over the past few years "without sustaining the kinds of debaclesthat most of the rest of the [financial services] industry sufferedthrough," he said.

Sandwiched between the Lloyd's presentation and Mr. Berkley'skeynote address will be networking opportunities and a Tuesdayafternoon panel discussion featuring members of the NAPSLO boardand the board of NAPSLO's Next Generation group. The NextGeneration group works to help advance the careers of youngerNAPSLO members and to get the next generation--employees under age40--involved with NAPSLO functions and committees, among otherthings.

Panel topics will be focused on hiring practices of NAPSLOmembers firms--younger vs. older, experienced vs. inexperienced,outside industries vs. insiders--while keeping with a broaderconference theme, "Adding Value, Promoting Growth."

Mr. Berkley weighed in on the conference theme during anin-depth phone interview with NU last month, describingstrategies that have set the stage for growth of profitablebusiness and the ways in which great wholesalers add value to thespecialty insurance business.

"In 1973 when I first got in the insurance business, one of thefirst things I was told was there would be no more wholesalerswithin 10 years. It was explicit," he told NU.

"Since that time, wholesalers have a larger share of the marketthan they did. What really happened is wholesalers no longeroffered all products. They instead have become specialists andoffer specialty products," Mr. Berkley said. "So the more expertisethat's required in the insurance business--which I think isincreasing--the more valuable wholesalers become."

Asked to deliver some words of advice to wholesalers, heobserved that layers make it more difficult to deliver products orinformation to the ultimate customer. "But that's the differencebetween great wholesalers and not great ones. Great wholesalers aretransparent and help deliver the message and make it morefunctional, and other wholesalers create dysfunctions."

More details of the interview will be published in an articleprofiling Mr. Berkley and his career building the company hefounded into the 21^st ranked insurance group in thenation in the Oct. 12 edition of NAPSLO Daily, aconvention newsletter published by NU, which will bedistributed at on site at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

For more information on the technology project, a replay of Mr.Stafford's presentation during a July 13 webinar is available athttp://bit.ly/cTt26A. Thewebinar was sponsored by the Retail Agent E&S Initiative--acollaboration of the Independent Agents and Brokers of America'sAgents Council for Technology, the American Association of ManagingGeneral Agents, NAPSLO and ACORD, and which now has Lloyd's as amember.

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Schedule At A Glance

What's On The NAPSLO Meeting Agenda?

Networking activities and three special programs highlight theearly October meeting agenda for the NAPSLO annual convention,which is expected to draw more than 3,000 members.

The Convention will open this year on a Monday, Oct. 11 at theAtlanta Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

The Opening Reception will take place at the Hyatt, and allother functions will take place at the Marriott.

Some meeting highlights include:

Monday, October 11

• 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.: Brokers' Lounge Open
• 1:00 p.m-2:00 p.m.: London Technology Update--StandardizingData Transfer Across The Pond
• 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: Opening Reception

Tuesday, October 12

• 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.: Brokers' Lounge Open
• 3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.: Next Generation Panel
• 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Next Generation CocktailReception

Wednesday, October 13

• 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Brokers' Lounge Open
• 9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Opening Remarks & Welcome,Presidential Address
• 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.: Derek Hughes/NAPSLO EducationalFoundation Lecture--Guest Speaker William R. Berkley, W.R. BerkleyCorp.
• 10:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.: Internship Recognition/2010 LegacyProject
• 10:45 a.m.-11:00 a.m.: Annual Business Meeting

Visit NAPSLO's website at www.napslo.org for a completeschedule.