NU Online News Service, Jan. 14, 2:48 p.m. EST

NEW YORK—The ex officio of The Risk and Insurance Management Society praised the New York State Insurance Department for tackling the issue of producer compensation disclosure when no other department would.

Terry Fleming, director, Division of Risk Management, Montgomery County, Md., made his comments at a reception welcoming new RIMS President Scott B. Clark, risk and benefits officer for the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Fla., for the 2011 term, effective Jan. 1. Attending the event was New York department Superintendent James J. Wrynn.

"We're part of the process, the dialogue and implementation of the new regulation in New York dealing with broker compensation," Mr. Fleming said

"Supt. Wrynn is here," he said. "He knows RIMS wanted a much stronger regulation, but in my experience I found that when you leave the negotiating table and you feel like you left something on the table, or you didn't get everything you wanted, it's usually a sign of a pretty good compromise."

Mr. Fleming noted that New York "stepped up to the plate on this and really came through. I'd like to thank the department for allowing RIMS to be part of that process."

He also pointed out that New York tackled the issue of broker compensation "when no state did before and no state has done it since."

In his address, Mr. Fleming outlined four items that were his focus in 2010:

â–ª Legislation and regulation

â–ª Moving forward with ERM

â–ª Moving ahead with RIMS international strategy

â–ª Student outreach

On student outreach, he said, "many of our activities in student outreach are related to RIMS financial position."

He continued, "I'm pleased to say that RIMS is very strong financially. Consequently, we were able to commit to a donation to the Spencer Educational Foundation of $450,000—our largest donation ever." The foundation is affiliated with RIMS.

Mr. Fleming said RIMS also is donating $50,000 to the William H. McGannon Foundation, a similar group in Canada.

He spoke about the rebranding of RIMS, with the addition of a new tagline, announced this week.

"Last month RIMS' board approved a rebranding of RIMS, now The Risk Management Society, and I think certainly we're moving into the 21^st century," Mr. Fleming said.

RIMS also replaced its symbol, previously a unicorn, with three stripes representing its "key areas of service to its members: resources, networking and education," RIMS said in a statement.

"More conceptually, the stripes also represent upward movement, symbolic of growth and action. They join together as they grow, demonstrating the integration of risk management within an enterprise and the effectiveness of collaboration," the statement added.

Mr. Fleming concluded, "This debate on our logo and our brand has been going on at RIMS ever since I can remember. So I'm pleased we were able to make that commitment and move forward."

Special Reports /

RIMS Praises N.Y. Insurance Dept. For Work On Producer Comp. Reg.

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