As part of an ongoing effort to streamline the insurance standards development process, ACORD announced a redesign of its ACORD standards committee. ACORD's committees are made up of members who guide the standards development process as well as resolve issues, establish subgroups, and work to support implementation initiatives. The ACORD board of directors approved these changes making the ACORD standards committee more agile and able to meet the specific requirements of diverse member communities.

“In looking at ourselves and our structure, it was clear that we needed to take a more holistic approach to our standards across groups. What we've done is modify our existing ACORD standards committee infrastructure to address the growing and diverse communities that ACORD serves. Our ASC chairs have the knowledge, the expertise, the strength, and the experience that will guide our ongoing development efforts more efficiently than ever before,” says Gregory A. Maciag, president and CEO, ACORD. Chairing the committee is Monique Hesseling, head of personal lines/small commercial segment development for Zurich. She has been actively involved with ACORD for many years and previously headed the reinsurance domain steering committee.

Her vice chairs are Joan Falcetta, vice president, information technology group for MetLife and prior chair of the ACORD life and annuities domain steering committee, and Anne Rannie, manager, market operations for Lloyds' of London and previously subcommittee chair for ACORD's reinsurance steering committee. “This new alignment of committees will enable us to more quickly and appropriately respond to industry needs and improve the overall process of developing ACORD's standards,” said Hesseling. “Over the years I've been involved with ACORD, I've seen both ACORD and its standards expand in scope, depth, and geography. By reexamining and redesigning the committees in this way, we hope to be more in tune with industry needs and get even more people involved in the process. It will further enhance the Standards while making us more proactive.”