For several years, the IASA has eyed international expansion aspart of its strategic vision. That vision took a step closer toreality over the past year when the association sponsored a dialogin November 2012 with U.K. companies that have a vested interest inlearning more about the U.S. market and its standards.

“Because the U.K. represents such a big insurance market and hasmany companies that are subsidiaries or parents of U.S. companies,it was a natural location to take our first look at internationalexpansion,” explains Joe Pomilia, Executive Director of the IASAInternational Office.

The IASA saw a particular opportunity in working with U.K.companies that are subsidiaries of U.S.-domiciled insurers. “ThoseU.K. operations have to provide statutory reporting information totheir U.S. parents. Although parent companies certainly providetraining resources, financial people who work for those U.K.insurers still struggle keeping current with updates on statutoryaccounting and the complex requirements of statutory reportingbecause there are few industry resources in their local marketaddressing educational needs,” he adds.

The IASA is able to bring that education to internationalmarkets. “We offer a vast network of knowledge experts about U.S.statutory issues and regulations, as well as technology solutions,that we can bring to bear for international insurers with U.S.operations,” Pomilia says. “Also, the IASA is a very inclusiveorganization, with solution providers, insurance carriers, agentsand brokers, and regulators among our members.”

International expansion also makes sense organizationally forthe IASA. “Our reasons for looking to international markets get tothe heart of why anybody expands globally. It adds stability to theorganization and provides a hedge against changing marketconditions in one geographic region. It also allows knowledgeexperts to 'cross pollinate' and expand exponentially theopportunities we have to bring expertise to our constituents,”Pomilia explains.

Although the IASA's outreach is still in theinformation-gathering phase, Pomilia expects the pace of activityto increase in 2013 and beyond.

“Once we get a feel for the size of the market and the companieslikely to benefit, we'll begin a series of activities to respond tothe educational needs of financial professionals at thosecompanies,” he explains. “From there, we will continue to look forways to bring people together to share information, best practices,and expertise that can be used by individual companies and to buildon our own continually expanding knowledgebase.”