Message from the President

 The start of a New Year marks a fresh beginning – and so it is for our national association. In early February, the CIAA membership concluded our mid-year meeting with the affirmation of our strategic plan. This will guide our activities and efforts for the remainder of 2015 and over the next three years.

Our strategic plan is not necessarily novel or earth shattering, but rather picks up on some key strands in the continuity of leadership set by past CIAA presidents. The main areas of focus will be greater brand awareness for our association, increased membership, partnerships with other industry organizations to enhance member value and promotion of continuing education and professional development.

We have seen, and will continue to see, practical examples of this strategic plan in action. For instance, CIAA announced earlier this year our partnership with Verisk Analytics and PCS Canada to provide comprehensive loss information and resources for catastrophe events. This collaboration will benefit both organizations.

Another example of thought leadership was the recently held 48th annual CICMA/CIAA Ontario Chapters’ annual joint conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre February 3. Not only was it a great opportunity to network and see some friendly faces, the conference also featured top-notch speakers who explored the issue of catastrophe management (also the theme of this Claims Canada magazine). Hats off to the many volunteers who helped to organize this well-attended gathering of insurance claims professionals and industry representatives.

We will continue to see more examples of partnership and professional development in the months and years ahead for CIAA. Whether it is continuing education opportunities across the provinces or the building of new bridges to existing industry organizations, we will be active in promoting the role and visibility of our association. These efforts are a critical part of breathing life into our strategic plan.

However, we also need to be flexible in our approach. The property and casualty insurance market is evolving and we will certainly see more change in the years ahead. That change may come in the form of increased consolidation, revamped insurance company claims handling strategies, new service initiatives or continued cost pressures on claims departments and their partners.

Our strategic plan is only as good as the commitment, dedication and creative efforts of our national executive leadership – and the input of our members. As always, if you have thoughts or ideas about how we can add value to our association, feel free to contact me.

I would like to end by quoting Carol Kreiling, Vice President, Swiss Re and one of the presenters at the CICMA/CIAA conference. She was speaking about the topic of cyber risk, but I think her final message also applies broadly to our association:

“We’re smarter together.”