NU Online News Service, Sept. 30, 2:12 p.m.EDT

The new executive director of the National Risk RetentionAssociation, appointed in July, says multiple projects are in theworks for the organization.

“You're going to start seeing an even better NRRA than you sawbefore,” says Joseph E. Deems, who is also general counsel forCPLIC, an RRG in California.

“We have great plans for raising money, great plans for raisingfriends, great plans for building the coalition, great plans formore expanded advocacy,” He tells NU Online News Service.

Deems says he is building a program specifically for purchasinggroups as well as an expanded plan for RRGs.

NRRA also will announce an alliance with the Risk RetentionReporter to produce “The compendium,” a compilation of newspaperarticles on key legal cases affecting the RRG industry in the last25 years.

His main focus has been on NRRA's annual conference, Oct. 5-7,in Washington, D.C., which will include a web conference with theInternational Center for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE).

“It's an exciting, upbeat conference with more speakers andsponsors than ever before,” he says, adding that attendance shouldbe more than 150, making it NRRA's biggest conference to date.

“It's an excellent program with a large group of speakers,”discussing a variety of topics unique to RRGs and purchasinggroups, he says.

The keynote speaker on Thursday is Graham White, deputychairman, Lloyd's of London.

A panel on Wednesday will discuss how Lloyd's reinsurers assessRRG exposure; and getting a better reinsurance deal. The lineupalso includes a regulators panel, a session on litigation trendsand a session on how A.M. Best views RRGs.

Jennifer Williamson, who previously was president of NRRA andorganizer of the conference, left in July to form DevelopmentAllies Inc., for nonprofit organization management, NRRA says.

More information about NRRA is available at www.nrra-usa.com.