Main Street Industry News - December 2015

HAPPY

INSIDE Commercial Insurance: 2014’s Largest Markets » 7 ObamaCare & Small Business: Big Concerns Continue » 11

PIA’s Annual Holiday Party » 21

Berkshire Hathaway: Selling Business Insurance Online » 14 AIG: Pressure Continues as Hancock Shakes up Management » 18

Cover Photo Credit: The Morning After, Rich Herrmann www.richherrmann.com

December 2015 | Published Monthly

Insuring the Midlands Since 1891 Andy Kraus, CPCU Vice President of Agencies 800-742-7433 akraus@fmne.com

Did you know that PIA’s company council, The PIA Partnership, has conducted nationwide research about the insurance buying preferences of small business owners?

The research is encouraging because it found that small business owners strongly prefer independent insurance agents as they make choices in today’s online world.

However, the results also serve as a wake-up call that agents must take steps to continue to demonstrate their value and also be more engaged online.

PIA and the companies belonging to The PIA Partnership have created a public website that helps agents understand PIA’s findings.

PIA members also have access to a private website containing a series of strategies and tools to help them stay ahead of online competition in commercial lines.

To access the newest PIA Partnership project, Small Business Insurance & The Internet — The Voice of the Commercial Lines Customer, visit us at www.pianet.com/voiceoftheclcustomer.

If you are not a PIA member and want to access all of the tools available through this program, contact us for a membership application or visit us online at www.pianet.com/joinpia.

National Association of Professional Insurance Agents 400 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314-2353 www.pianet.com | membership@pianet.org | (703) 836-9340

Top Stories Commercial Insurance: 2014’s Largest Markets | 7 As you know, sometimes it takes awhile for statistics to be compiled. That’s the case of Finaccord’s new report on the largest commercial lines markets in the world.

Willis & Towers Watson: Will the Merger Happen? | 8 Towers Watson shareholders hired proxy advisor Glass Lewis & Company to advise them on what to do about the proposed merger with Willis Group Holdings.

Rating Insurance Regulation | 8 Every year the R street Institute rates the individual state insurance regulators on how they regulate property and casualty insurance.

Senate Repeals ObamaCare: Expect it to go Nowhere | 10 Last Thursday the U.S. Senate repealed the Affordable Care Act. It’s a milestone. For the House, it’s an ordinary business day.

ObamaCare & Small Business: Big Concerns Continue| 11 The point and purpose of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was to lower the cost of health insurance and to give affordable insurance options to the American public.

Last Week in ObamaCare: Cadillac Tax & By the Numbers | 11 Democrat congressional support of a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Cadillac Tax is growing.

Changes at Zurich | 12 Zurich’s CEO Martin Senn has resigned after

six-years at the company helm and 10-years with the company in total.

Berkshire Hathaway: Selling Business Insurance Online | 14 Berkshire Hathaway’s Direct Insurance is going to start selling business insurance and workers’ compensation online.

Flood Insurance Importance Grows As Wet Weather Pummels the West | 15 AIG: Pressure Continues as Hancock Shakes up Management | 16 Billionaire investors Carl Ichan and John Paulson want AIG CEO Peter Hancock and the company’s board to split up the company.

A New Sign of the Season: Fewer Company Holiday Parties | 18 The Society for Human Resource Management tracks all kinds of things business related.

PIA NE IA Events PIA’s Annual Holiday Party | 21 Upcoming Events Calendar 2015 - 2016 | 25

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Cathy Klasi, Executive Director (402) 392-1611

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 4

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Commercial Insurance 2014’s Largest Markets PIA for Nebraska and Iowa PIA Association for Nebraska and Iowa is committed to focusing its resources in ways that cast the most favorable light on its constituents. We are dedicated to providing the type of programs, the level of advocacy, and the dissemination of information that best supports the perpetuation and prosperity of our members.

We pledge to always conduct ourselves in a manner that enhances the public image of PIA and adds real value to our members.

SUBSCRIBE or comment Professional Insurance Agents NE IA Attention: Editorial Main Street Industry News 920 S 107 Avenue, Ste. 305 Omaha, NE 68114 Email: office@pianeia.com Ph: 402-392-1611 www.pianeia.com The PIA NE IA, Main Street Industry News reserves the right to edit your comments to fit space available. We respectfully ask that you keep the comments to 200-300 words.

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As you know, sometimes it takes awhile for statistics to be compiled. That’s the case of Finaccord’s new report on the largest commercial lines markets in the world.

Finaccord is an international market research and consulting company.

It says in 2014 the United States, China and Germany were — and no doubt still remain — the three largest commercial markets in the world and the U.S. is light years ahead of the other two countries in commercial lines gross written premiums.

• The United States generated $266 billion • China produced $63 billion • Germany accounted for $33.7 billion The report says the three nation total of $362.7 billion is almost half of the global total of $728.6 billion. It also said we need to keep in mind that emerging markets — however — are offering much higher growth rates.

Since 2010 when premiums totaled $596.3 billion, commercial lines premiums have grown 5.1%. And between now and 2018, Finaccord

expects commercial lines premiums to hit $895.1 billion.

Or if you factor in inflation, that figure — in today’s figures — would be $824.5 billion.

Looking at the emerging markets, Finaccord’s report notes written premiums saw compound annual rates grow from 2010 to 2014 by: • 24.5% in Argentina • 18.3% in Turkey • 16% in Thailand When you factor inflation into the formula, Finaccord said rates from 2010 to 2014, the fastest growing markets were: • Thailand — 13.7% • Turkey — 10% • The Philippines — 9.5%

Finaccord Managing Consultant David Parry said commercial liability premiums will rise at three-times the rate of commercial auto, commercial property and commercial MAT. And it will be the United States that drives that increase.

“This will essentially be a result of liability insurance growth in the U.S., which constitutes more than half of the global commercial liability insurance market.

While the commercial motor and property insurance markets are stable in the U.S., liability premiums continue to grow strongly, especially for workers’ accident insurance,” Parry said. n Source link: Carrier Management

IS YOUR E&O X-DATE HERE?

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December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 7

Top Stories

Willis & Towers Watson Will the Merger Happen?

Towers Watson shareholders hired proxy advisor Glass Lewis & Company to advise them on what to do about the proposed merger with Willis Group Holdings. Currently the price tag of the purchase is $8.9 billion.

A vote on the merger late last month was postponed and was rescheduled for the end of this week and negotiations began that brought the purchase price from $8.7 billion to the $8.9 billion just discussed.

Also in the agreement with Willis is a onetime cash dividend of $10 a share. That’s over double the original proposal of $4.87. But Glass Lewis says it — and the $8.9 billion — is still a bad deal and shareholders ought to vote it down.

In its December 2nd report to shareholders, Glass Lewis said, “We believe that the relatively small increase in the special cash dividend represents an insufficient improvement and that the merger under the amended terms continues to inadequately compensate Towers Watson shareholders. The merger of equals is not structured in a manner which is fair or appropriately attractive for Towers Watson shareholders.”

Glass Lewis concludes that Towers Watson is still more valuable as a stand alone company. n Source link: Carrier Management

Rating Insurance Regulation Every year the R street Institute rates the individual state insurance regulators on how they regulate property and casualty insurance.

The point of the yearly study is to help open up competition which R Street — a free market think tank — says gives us “an open and free insurance market [that] maximizes the effectiveness of competition and best serves consumers.”

The R Street philosophy is “limited, effective and efficient” government. “In this context, that means states should regulate only those market activities where government is best-positioned to act; that they should do so competently and with measur¬able results; and that their activities should lay the minimum possible financial burden on policyholders, companies and, ultimately, taxpayers,” the report said.

Once the smoke cleared and all was said and done, regulators in the PIA Western Alliance states of California and Montana didn’t do so well. California and Montana received Ds. Other states in the PIA Western Alliance fared better and received Bs and Cs. All but nine states received at least a passing grade of C or better. And 11 states failed to get a passing grade and two of those — as just noted — are California and Montana. Others not doing so well: Louisiana, New York, Texas, Florida and Hawaii — all received Ds. The states getting an A are Vermont, Utah, Iowa and Kentucky. North Carolina is the only state getting an F. The scores come from 10 areas including: • Solvency monitoring • Anti-fraud effort • Rating and underwriting freedom

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 8

Top Stories • The politicization of regulation • Consumer protection • Fostering competitive markets In addition to the 10 areas, R Street bases its grades on the answer to these three questions: • How free are consumers to choose the insurance products they want?

• How free are insurers to provide the insurance products consumers want?

• How effectively are states discharging their duties to monitor insurer solvency, police fraud and consumer abuse and foster competitive, private insurance markets?

More on the scoring: • The 11 states with elected insurance commissioners automatically lose points.

• The market-restricting laws passed by Hawaii and Texas caused them to lose points.

• Regulatory decisions that restricts markets were penalized, too.

• The PIA Western Alliance states of California and Washington are in that category for barring the use of price optimization.

• The PIA Western Alliance states of New Mexico was not penalized though its regulators are seeking information on price optimization.

• Regulatory fees also cost states points.

R Street Editor-In-Chief and Senior Fellow R.J. Lehmann said, “These surplus regulatory fees and assessments end up in state coffers to patch other holes in state budgets. They serve as a hidden tax on insurance consumers, raising the cost of coverage for everyone.”

In summary Lehmann said, “On balance, we believe states have done an effective job of encouraging competition and, at least since the broad adoption of risk-based capital requirements, of ensuring solvency.”

Here’s how PIA NE IA states fared: Iowa 2015 — A 2014 — A Score: 79.8 Rank 3 Strength: Low politicization, fiscal efficiency, workers’ comp market competitiveness Weakness: None Nebraska 2015 — A2014 — B Score: 77.8 Rank: 6 Strength: Low politicization, antifraud resources, fiscal efficiency, workers’ comp market competitiveness Weakness: None n Source link: Insurance Journal

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 9

Top Stories

Senate Repeals

ObamaCare

Expect it to go Nowhere Last Thursday the U.S. Senate repealed the Affordable Care Act. It’s a milestone. For the House, it’s an ordinary business day. It has repealed ObamaCare in part or whole over 50 times. The Senate never has.

Here’s what happens next. This bill goes to the House where it will have to be passed before it ends up on President Obama’s desk. For years Obama has promised to veto. And the numbers do not exist in either the House or Senate to override a presidential veto.

So experts say the whole process is an exercise in futility.

Still Republicans are crowing and say it is a political message victory, and fulfills their promise from the 2014 mid-term elections to repeal the law.

After passing the repeal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “For too long, Democrats did everything to prevent Congress from passing the type of legislation necessary to help these Americans who are hurting.

Today, that ends.”

Here’s what the senate bill does: • Repeals the federal government’s authority to run the state health insurance exchanges.

• It does away with the subsidies to help the poor purchase health insurance via those exchanges.

• It does away with the fines and penalties for those who do not buy insurance and for employers who don’t offer insurance.

• It eliminates the risk adjustment programs

that subsidize insurance companies that are losing money because of the law.

While critics are calling the Republicans cruel and heartless for repealing the Affordable Care Act, McConnell said the repeal will be phased in over a couple of years. That will give the federal government and the states time to come up with a replacement.

While it’s doubtful — at least while a Democrat is sitting in the White House — that ObamaCare will actually be repealed, Democrats and Republicans alike do agree on one aspect of the law that needs to go. It’s the so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost insurance plans.

Unions want the tax gone and so do other organizations and businesses.

Opponents complain the loss of the tax is going to put the Affordable Care Act in the hole.

The Congressional Budget Office said it will mean a drop of $93 million. And then there’s getting a repeal past the White House where President Obama — as with the Affordable Care Act itself — said he’ll veto.

PIA National said the organization strongly supports the repeal. “The Cadillac Tax provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would impose a 40% tax on so-called ‘overly generous’ health plans starting in 2018. The tax applies to fully insured and self-funded employer health plans on amounts that exceed annual limits of $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage. PIA opposes this tax because in actuality it will impact the vast majority of employer-based healthcare plans.”

PIA National has endorsed a bill in the Senate (S. 2045) by Sens. Dean Heller (RNV) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), along with a companion bill in the House (H.R. 2050) by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT). n Sources: PIA National & The Hill

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 10

Top Stories

ObamaCare

& Small Business Big Concerns Continue The point and purpose of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was to lower the cost of health insurance and to give affordable insurance options to the American public.

Is it working?

The National Small Business Association (NSBA) says at least it isn’t working for small business. NSBA members are small business owners and 90% of them say costs in 2015 are up over 2014 and 84% expect they’ll pay even more in 2016. The increases — the NSBA says — can be traced back to the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

That’s why companies offering health insurance benefits to employees fell in 2015 by 5%.

The figure is now 65% and the biggest drop comes from firms with 10 to 20 employees.

In that group 73% offered insurance this year compared to 86% in 2014.

This isn’t to say these small businesses don’t want to give their workers health insurance benefits. Close to 94% think it’s an important recruitment tool to attract top workers and to retain the top workers now working for them.

So about half provide health insurance to over 80% of their workers.

Another plus for employees. That small businesses want to attract and keep the best workers is keeping these same employers from passing more of the cost of health insurance onto workers. Just 34% are going to increase employee contributions in 2016.

That’s down from 42% in 2014.

Aetna and Kaiser Permanente figures support the NSBA’s conclusions. The two firms, says Kaiser’s Vice President Joe Smith think there is a decrease — as the NSBA concludes — in the number of small businesses offering health insurance. He terms the trend as modest with “some erosion” and “some contraction.”

Smith said companies offering higher premium plans are dropping them and pushing employees toward inexpensive individual plans. They’re seen as a positive alternative by business owners who can no longer afford to pick up a group plan. n Source link: Insurance Business America

Last Week in

ObamaCare

Cadillac Tax & By the Numbers Democrat congressional support of a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Cadillac Tax is growing. PIA National likes the idea of getting rid of the tax which is a 40% hit on high-cost health insurance. Association Executive Vice President Mike Becker said PIA supports two bills that will repeal the tax.

The ‘Cadillac Tax’ is a ticking bomb that is set to explode in 2018 and deny health coverage to millions of middle-class Americans. It has the potential to create more market disruption than we’ve seen since the inception of the ACA, all to benefit government programs,” Becker said.

Repeal supporters are in favor of at least a delay on the Cadillac Tax until either a compromise or a solution can be worked out.

President Obama and Virginia Democrat Sen. Mark Warner hate the idea. Obama says he’ll veto and says the $91 billion generated by the tax is needed for ObamaCare to work.

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 11

Top Stories Warner said, “A two-year delay, I’m concerned, turns into a permanent delay. It was one of the key areas of cost containment, and in a state like mine where we’re still trying to get Medicaid expansion, and state legislators say the federal government’s not going to keep the existing commitments, when you take away one of the substantial pay-fors for healthcare reform, you strengthen their case.”

Unions have joined Democrats in urging for repeal. PIA National Director of Federal Affairs Jon Gentile agrees, “because it will impact not just high-benefit plans, but moderate-benefit plans, and it could have an unequal impact based on the age, gender, family-size and geographic location of an employer’s workforce. This tax has the added consequence of punishing people enrolled in private sector health plans by hitting them with a 40% surtax, simply because they have good coverage. That’s inherently unfair.”

Speaking of unfair. Many having to pay fines for not having health insurance do not think the fees are fair. The point of the graduated fines in the Affordable Care Act was to give people some time to absorb the fact they’d have to put out cash for health insurance if it wasn’t available through their employers.

Or if they’re self employed.

A new factoid from the Kaiser Family Foundation says 3.5 million uninsured Americans will find the cost of health insurance in 2016 will be less than the ObamaCare penalty: • In 2016 the average penalty will be $969 • That’s the greater of 2.5% of a person’s income or $695 per adult • That’s up from the average of $661 in 2015 when fines were 2% or $325 whichever is greater Kaiser’s Larry Levitt said the big question now is whether the 11 million eligible for coverage who have not purchased insurance will be intimidated enough by the fines to make the

purchase. “That’s where the mandate matters the most, because it aims to bring healthy people into the risk pool, which will help keep premiums down.” n Source links: Business Insurance America, The Hill

Changes at Zurich

Martin Senn

Zurich’s CEO Martin Senn has resigned after six-years at the company helm and 10-years with the company in total. He’ll officially leave at the end of the year. The board of directors appointed Tom de Swaan — who is the board chairman — as the interim CEO. In his resignation statement, Senn said, “There have been some setbacks in recent months, but I am convinced that we have put in place the right measures for Zurich to reach its targets. I will remain closely tied to the company and am proud of what we have achieved together over the years.”

The comment about setbacks is part of the reason Senn is said to be leaving after the company. Outside analysts say Senn hasn’t hit projections since taking over and in the third quarter of this year Zurich saw a 79% drop in operating profit and net income. These same analysts say it is because of problems with Zurich’s General Insurance business.

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 12

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The company — meanwhile — has started the process of finding a successor. That person — de Swaan said — will be an entrepreneurial leader with deep knowledge about insurance.

The goal is to find someone to reverse the firm’s current course.

At about the same time Senn announced his resignation, the company said it will do job cuts and will abandon some of its businesses.

The cuts will number 1,800. At the beginning of 2015 Zurich had 55,000 employees. n Source links: Insurance Networking News, Insurance Business America, Carrier Management

Berkshire Hathaway

Selling Business Insurance Online Berkshire Hathaway’s Direct Insurance is going to start selling business insurance and workers’ compensation online. The firm’s chairman Warren Buffett hasn’t liked how his reinsurance ventures have worked out so he’s trying something new.

Reinsurance has always generated dollars for Buffett’s other investments. It has seen tanking numbers lately and he needs to find other sources of investment income. So Buffett hired several former AIG executives to handle underwriting for large, specialty business risk insurance. The new venture will also focus on business risks for mid-size businesses. Those lines will be sold on the Web. Details right now are sketchy but — as we all know — Buffett has done pretty well selling auto and other personal lines lines online with Geico. According to some statistics, Geico is the nation’s number-two auto insurer. n Source link: Insurance Networking News

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 14

Top Stories

Flood Insurance Importance Grows As Wet Weather Pummels the West FloodSmart — a program set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) — continues to work overtime to educate agents on the importance of flood insurance and how to best serve consumers who need such insurance.

The training modules in the links below will help you — if you’re in the program or want to join it — continue to get trained in flood and also will help you with eligibility in the FloodSmart Referral program which gives you free leads to grow your business.

machinery and equipment, and whether the building is with or without obstruction.

Insuring Condominiums (IS-1108)

Provides broad overview of the ways condominiums are insured through the NFIP and key elements for how to effectively write condominium exposures.

Writing Commercial Exposures (IS-1110) Offers practical insights designed to assist agents with identifying, targeting, and writing commercial risks through the NFIP.

FEMA Mapping Changes (IS-1106)

Provides a practical look at how changes in FEMA flood maps affect property owners, insurance agents, and others. The course explores the impact of map changes with interactive exercises to help learners navigate through these changes as they occur. n

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Here are the programs. Click the training module title to access the module:

Basic Agent Tutorial (IS-1101)

Presents flood insurance fundamentals, including information about flood zones, coverage, loss settlement, and underwriting rating concepts such as the FEMA Elevation Certificate. The course covers all training topics mandated by the Flood Insurance Reform Act (FIRA) 2004.

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December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 15

Top Stories

AIG

Pressure Continues as Hancock Shakes up Management

Peter Hancock

Billionaire investors Carl Ichan and John Paulson want AIG CEO Peter Hancock and the company’s board to split up the company.

So far both have withstood the withering criticism from the two investors.

But some key employees of AIG have not.

Hancock — last week — made some serious changes to the company’s leadership to combat the criticism of Ichan and Paulson and others. He replaced CFO David Herzog with Sid Sankaran who was the company’s chief risk officer.

While making changes, Hancock also replaced John Doyle who headed up the firm’s commercial insurance division. The Americas CEO Rob Schimek takes his position.

Gone, too, are Jose Hernandez who led AIG’s Asia-Pacific division and Eric Martinez who ran global claims and operations.

In a statement, Hancock said, “I am grateful for their years of distinguished service. Their leadership has been invaluable in positioning AIG for long-term growth and sustainable profitability.”

Hancock — with the changes — sees a brighter future for AIG. “Our new management structure will ensure we have strong end-to-end accountability within the customer segments, so we can transform into a more efficient, less complex organization with accelerated decision-making in response to our clients’ needs.”

And with this, Hancock said the company is reprioritizing some things. “We are moving forward with a continued sense of urgency on our four strategic priorities: Narrowing our focus on clients, products, and geographies where we can grow profitably; driving for efficiency; growing through innovation, and optimizing our data assets and client relationships; and returning excess capital to shareholders,” he said.

The New Team: • Douglas Dachille — chief investment officer. He will oversee AIG’s Science function. Murli Buluswar, chief science officer, will report to Dachille.

• Philip Fasano — chief information officer.

• Martha Gallo — chief auditor. She will continue to report both to the board’s audit committee, as well as Hancock.

• Kevin Hogan — CEO of Consumer. The Japan operations and the Consumer Claims organization will report to Hogan.

• Jeffrey Hurd — executive vice president for transformation, human resources and administration.

• Seraina Maag — CEO of regional management and operations. The regional CEO and president roles (Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific) will be consolidated into one role with oversight of country management. Maag will also oversee operations.

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 16

Top Stories • Thomas Russo — general counsel for legal, compliance, regulatory affairs, and government affairs.

• Sid Sankaran — chief financial officer.

Sankaran will oversee AIG’s Enterprise Risk Management.

• Robert Schimek — CEO of Commercial.

The U.K. operations and the Commercial Claims organization will report to Schimek.

• Brian Schreiber — chief strategy officer and head of corporate marketing and communications.

• David Herzog will remain chief financial officer through the filing of AIG’s 2015 Form 10-K.

To give you some background if you don’t know, the two investors want AIG to show better returns for investment dollars and want the company out of the federal government’s spotlight. Its size gave AIG a SIFI designation via the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reformation act.

SIFI — translated — is systemically important financial institution.

As you know from the Great Recession if a company as large as AIG collapses it could take the entire economy down. n Source links: PropertyCasualty360.com, Insurance Business America

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Top Stories

The Society for Human Resource Management tracks all kinds of things business related. Its newest survey involves holiday office parties. With a recovering economy, the restoration of benefits and happier employees and employers, you’d think those holiday parties that were cut during the Great Recession would be restored.

Not so says the survey. The reasons are surprising but first some statistics.

• 65% of companies report they’ll do a year-end party of some sort.

• That’s down from 72% in 2012.

• All that said, the 65% is an increase from the 61% in 2009.

• As a reference point, in 1998 a whopping 83% threw a holiday party.

• Just 6% say they won’t have one this year because of budgetary reasons.

• That’s down from 20% in 2009 when businesses were really cutting corners.

Evren Esen who heads survey programs for the Society noted what he thinks is the biggest reason employers aren’t throwing them. “Maybe they realized that nobody seems to be missing these.”

In other words, he suggests very few employees are whining about not having a holiday party and there is the intimation that some employees contend they have too much going on anyway and actually don’t want to have one.

Horrors!

Then there are some who find a holiday party and its required attendance a chore and not a perk or any kind of fun at all. A study the Society for Human Resource Management did on the same topic in 2010 suggests employees would rather have the money spent on a holiday party given to them as a bonus. n Source link: Carrier Management

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 19

PIA NEWS

HAPPY

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 20

PIA NEWS

On December 9, 2015 the Professional Insurance Agents of NE IA had their Annual Holiday Party.

Guests were charmed by the ambiance of the Champions Club, which was festively decorated for the Holiday Season.

Guests brought presents for “Toys for Tots� and several raffle prizes were awarded. The signed Husker football was won by Mike Bowman of Omaha Insurance Services. Holiday Wreath was won

by Mark Suhr of Suhr Lichty Insurance, Snow Man Christmas Countdown was won by Joe Bob Atkins of Arnold Insurance, and Holiday Door Mat was won by Julie Kasun with Gretna Insurance.

The entire evening was highly enjoyable and was a great opportunity for attendees to network with other PIA members. On behalf of the Professional Insurance Agents NE IA, we would like to thank everyone who attended and wish all of our members a happy and blessed Holiday season. n

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 21

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EARLY INTERVENTION. Call us about

incidents that could lead to a claim. Chances are good we’ve had experience with similar scenarios and can help you navigate to the best conclusion.

NEED LEGAL HELP? Should a claim

become a lawsuit, our in-house claims counsel and outside law firm partners understand the legal issues unique to agency errors and omissions litigation.

LASER-FOCUS ON AGENTS’ ERRORS AND OMISSIONS. Our E&O claims team

includes experienced attorneys and is focused solely on Agents’ E&O. Put your trust in Utica National’s Agents’ Errors and Omissions and get the help you need when you need it!

For more information, contact your Utica National Errors & Omissions agency representative or visit www.uticanational.com/EO for agent contact information.

THE NEW FORCE IN RISK PLACEMENT.

#ElevateExpectations

Workers’ Compensation • Personal Lines

For More Information Visit riskinnovationsllc.com/pianeia

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WEST DES MOINES, IOWA • 800.274.3531 • WWW.IMTINS.COM

On-Line Insurance Pre-Licensing ExamFX

Online Training & Assessment

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Insurance and Securities Pre-license Training

Professional Insurance Agents of NE IA visit us at www.pianeia.com

PIA NE IA Events

Upcoming

Events Calendar 2014-2015 For information and to register Click Here or call (402) 392-1611.

Date

Class/Webinar

Where

When

January 12, 2016

Life Insurance Concepts for the Property & Casualty Agent

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

January 19, 2016

Contractors: Insuring the Property Exposures

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

January 20, 2016

Ethics Taking it to the Streets

NE/IA

Webinar 1:00 PM - 4:00PM

January 22, 2016

Food Borne Illness & Insurance Coverage

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00AM

January 25, 2016

Get in the Ring: A look at Property Claims, Fights, & Decisions

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00AM

January 27, 2016

Social Networking: OMG or E&O?

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

January 28, 2016

Lawncare to Lipstick

NE/IA

Webinar 1:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 10, 2016

BIP(idy), BOP(idy), Boo(ze): Turning 3 Mundane Coverages into Magic

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 11, 2016

Personal Lines Complications: Because Simple is just too darn Easy

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 11, 2016

CISR: Commercial Casualty 1

West Des Moines

LaMair - Mulock Condon Insurance (LMC)

February 16, 2016

Seven Ways to get Sued and How to Avoid Them

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 17, 2016

CyberMaster: Recognizing & Insuring Digital Assets & Electronic Risk

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 18, 2016

Ethics For Insurance Professionals

NE/IA

Webinar 1:00 PM - 4:00PM

February 18, 2016

CISR: Commercial Casualty 1

Marion

Kirkwood Training Center

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News |www.pianeia.com| 25

PIA NE IA Events

February 22, 2016

CHAOS: Contracts, Hold Harmless, Additional Insureds and Other Stuff

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 23, 2016

The Ever-Evolving Affordable Health Care Act

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

February 23, 2016

Contractors: Insuring the Liability Exposures

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 24, 2016

What We Learned: Claim and Coverage Issues from Catastrophes

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

February 24 - 26, 2016

CIC: Commercial Casualty Institute

Omaha

Double Tree

February 25, 2016

CISR: Insuring Personal Auto Exposures

Des Moines

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

March 8, 2016

Words Mean Things & Insurance is a Foreign Language

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

March 15, 2016

Ethics: Taking it to the Streets

NE/IA

Webinar 1:00 PM - 4:00PM

March 22, 2016

Get in the Ring: A look at Property Claims, Fights, & Decisions

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

March 22, 2016

Social Networking: OMG or E&O?

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

March 24, 2016

Life Insurance Concepts for the Property & Casualty Agent

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

March 24, 2016

Food Borne Illness & Insurance Coverage

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

March 28, 2016

What We Learned: Claim and Coverage Issues from Catastrophes

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

March 29, 2016

Contractors: Insuring the Property Exposures

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

March 29, 2016

CPIA 1: Position for Success

March 30, 2016

CISR: William T. Hold: Advanced Learning Seminar

Des Moines

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

March 30 - April 1, 2016

CIC: Personal Lines Institute

West Des Moines

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites

April 4, 2016

The Ever-Evolving Affordable Health Care Act

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

April 7, 2016

Regarding Ethics

NE/IA

Webinar 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

April 13 - 15, 2016

CIC: Life & Health Institute

Lincoln

Marriott Courtyard

TBA

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 26

PIA NE IA Events

April 19, 2016

Leases & Contracts Vs. The Insurance Policy

NE/IA

Webinar 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

April 21, 2016

Managing E&O in A 24/7 World

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

April 21, 2016

CISR: Agency Operations

Marion

Kirkwood Training Center

April 25, 2016

Executive & Management Liability

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

April 26, 2016

CISR: Personal Lines Miscellaneous

Davenport

Saint Ambrose University

April 27, 2016

Lawncare to Lipstick

NE/IA

Webinar 1:00PM - 3:00 PM

April 27, 2016

CISR: Agency Operations

Des Moines

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

April 28, 2016

How to be the Agent Advocate at Claim Time

NE/IA

Webinar 12:00 PM - 3:00PM

April 28, 2016

CPIA 1: Position for Success

Omaha

Hilton Garden InnOmaha

May 17, 2016

CISR: Insuring Personal Auto Exposures

Marion

Kirkwood Training Center

May 18 - 20, 2016

CIC: Commercial Casualty Institute

Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids Marriott

May 24, 2016

CISR: Commercial Casualty 2

Des Moines

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

June 7 - 8, 2016

PIA Annual Convention

Omaha

Embassy Suites Omaha - La Vista

June 16, 2016

CISR: Insuring Commercial Property

West Des Moines

LaMair - Mulock Condon Insurance (LMC)

June 22, 2016

CISR: Agency Operations

Davenport

Saint Ambrose University

July 20 - 22, 2016

CIC: Life & Health Institute

West Des Moines

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites

July 6 - 8, 2016

CIC: Agency Management Institute

Omaha

Double Tree

July 21, 2016

CISR: Personal Lines Miscellaneous

Des Moines

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

July 27, 2016

CPIA 2: Implement for Success

Omaha

Hilton Garden InnOmaha

July 28, 2016

CPIA 2: Implement for Success

August 10, 2016

CISR: Insuring Commercial Property

TBA Marion

Kirkwood Training Center

August 23, 2016

CISR: Insuring Personal Auto Exposures

Davenport

Saint Ambrose University

August 24 - 26, 2016

CIC: Commercial Property Institute

Lincoln

Marriott Courtyard

September 15, 2016

CISR: Insuring Personal Residential Property

West Des Moines

LaMair - Mulock Condon Insurance (LMC)

September 27, 2016

CISR: Commercial Casualty 2

Marion

Kirkwood Training Center

September 28 - 30, 2016

CIC: Agency Management Institute

Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids Marriott

October 6, 2016

CISR: Insuring Commercial Property

Davenport

Saint Ambrose University

October 11, 2016

CISR: Insuring Commercial Property

Des Moines

Hilton Garden Inn Des Moines/Urbandale

October 12, 2016

CPIA 3: Sustain Success

TBA

TBA

October 12 - 14, 2016

CIC: Personal Lines Institute

Omaha

Double Tree

October 13, 2016

CPIA 3: Sustain Success

Omaha

Hilton Garden Inn Omaha

November 16 - 18, 2016

CIC: Commercial Property Institute

West Des Moines

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites

WWW.PIANEIA.COM

December 2015 | Main Street Industry News | www.pianeia.com | 28

Help Protect Your Most Valuable Asset - Earning a Living - With The PIA Trust

Short Term Disability Plan STD COVERAGE DESIGNED WITH LOCAL AGENTS IN MIND As a PIA Member* serving Main Street America, you and your employees** have access to a high-quality, competitively priced STD plan through the PIA Services Group Insurance Fund.

For many people, disability means an interruption in earnings that can put them financially at risk.

Even with group coverage, benefits may not be sufficient to cover the extraordinary costs of a severe disability. The PIA Trust Short Term Disability Income Insurance Plan can provide protection whether you are totally disabled or disabled and working.

For more information about the PIA Trust Short Term Disability Income Insurance plan, please contact your local PIA Affiliate or call the Plan Administrator at (800) 336-4759. Additional information is also available on-line at www.piatrust.com.

PIA SERVICES GROUP INSURANCE FUND

* PIA National membership, when required, must be current at all times ** No minimum participation required

The policy or its provisions may vary or be unavailable in some states. The policy has exclusions and limitations which may affect any benefits payable.

Underwritten by Unimerica Insurance Company, Association Administrative Address, P.O. Box 17828, Portland, ME 04112-8828, under Policy Form ADI-4001-A (UIC).

Insurance Program Administered by Lockton Risk Services.