Including Zenrosai and JCIF, many cooperatives in Japan look forward to seeing all of you in our city, Tokyo. Tokyo is one of the biggest cities in the world, but also the city which can bring you many cultural and historical experiences.

In Japan, the cooperative insurance industry doesn’t treat coops and mutuals equally. Mutuals set up by cooperatives in Europe and US have mutual mind and history, we think mutuals there are brothers and peers.

This conference is a great opportunity for you to understand this unique identity in Japan.

Finally, I would like to thank Kathy Bardswick, The Co-operators staff and the ICMIF staff for this fabulous and successful 30th ICMIF conference.

We look forward to welcoming you in Tokyo.

As ICMIF’s 2009 conference draws towards its close, Kathy Bardswick, retiring chair of ICMIF and CEO of host company The Co-operators, has spoken of the energy she has sensed at the conference over the past three days.

Delegate feedback will, she says, be carefully assessed, but her impression has been of a conference with plenty of highlights and stimulation.  She has reiterated her opinion of the high value which participation in ICMIF and in its events brings to her own cooperative business.

Shaun Tarbuck looks back on a successful conference with strong sessions and a commonality of purpose amongst the member delegates.

Incoming Development Chair Nelson Kuria looks forward to his term of office.

Nelson Kuria talks about how CIC are exceeding customer expectations.

Nelson Kuria, CEO, CIC Kenya talks about why ICMIF members philosophies are the perfect vehicle for microinsurance products.

Following his presentation outlining the member engagement programme at Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society and second largest UK mutual, Alan Oliver, Head of Media Relations and Member Engagement, explains the thinking behind their member engagement programme and, in particular, the new members web site.

Session chair, Roger Belot (MAIF) reflects on the key issues from the “Building reputation, creating value” session.

Session chair, Alex Dimaculangan (CARD MBA) reflects on the key issues from the “Improving access to protection” session.

Returning sponsor at conference, Inter Mutuelles Assistance (IMA) has implemented a new strategy to address the provision of assistance services to the international mutual and cooperative insurance sector.

CEO Jean-Dominique Antoni talks about that strategy and of IMA’s plans to deliver assistance services to the international market outside of its traditional French markets …

The decision by three major French mutuals, MAIF, MACIF and MATMUT to come together in a formal alliance creates an intriguing alternative model to merger for mutuals seeking the benefits of size.

MAIF, MACIF and MATMUT already collaborate in a number of informal partnership arrangements, but as MAIF’s Roger Belot explains, the new alliance will enshrine the principle of financial solidarity between the three organisations and offer the prospect of growing their combined market share. Each mutual will, however, retain its autonomy, its brands and products and its democratic accountability to its own members.

The alliance makes use of a specialist French legal form, the SGAM, which Roger Belot sees as potentially valuable for mutuals elsewhere in Europe as well. (In French)

Session chair Alfredo González Moledo (AACMS) recaps the key ideas from “Mutuality in the Macroeconomic and Competitive Contexts”.

John Balmforth (AMI, New Zealand) comments on the opportunities for cooperative and mutual insurers to use values-based branding.

Comments on the “building for the future” session

Comments on the session “Mutuals and cooperatives building for the future”

Session chair Greg LeGuier (Capricorn Mutual) shares his perspectives and key highlights from “Strengthening the Mutual & Cooperative Concept for the Future”.

Lindsay Sinclair (NFU Mutual) talks about transparency in mutuals and how we can be relevant to young people.

Session chair Lindsay Sinclair (NFU Mutual) recaps the key ideas from “Growth Strategies for Mutuals”.

Nektaria Bessa (Syneteristiki Insurance) has unforgettable experience as panel member in “Tomorrow’s leaders” session.

The first day of conference was concluded with a panel of CEOs, chaired by Nigel Waite of the UK’s Financial Services Research Forum.  The panellists discussed current challenges in their respective markets, their views on consumer behaviour and the opportunities they felt cooperative and mutual insurers had in the future.

Consumer trust and confidence was a key theme underpinning much of the discussion. In general it was recognised that there has been a crisis of confidence but a strong brand and good reputation can overcome this, it was felt.  John Balmforth (AMI, New Zealand) attributed the growth in his business to this factor. Nelson Kuria (CIC, Kenya) added that consumers are often willing to pay higher prices for financial products if they have confidence in the insurer they are buying from.

Investment was also discussed. Jacques Forest (P&V, Belgium) felt that this was the riskiest part of any business, backed up by René Hamel (SSQ, Canada) who asked “Are we here to take insurance risk or investment risk?” Kazumi Imao (Zenkyoren, Japan) agreed that cooperative and mutual insurers should use the lessons learnt and be cautious with investments.

Nelson Kuria went on to say that “This is the best time for cooperatives and mutuals to rise and shine, we need to utilise our competitive advantage and make noise about ourselves. No-one will do this for us!” Juan Carlos Godoy (Rio Uruguay, Argentina) concluded, to applause from the conference delegates, “We have to recognise that cooperativeness was born at a time of crisis. We have altruistic objectives and the ability to survive when others cannot.”

High on the agenda of the first day of ICMIF conference was the theme of sustainability and after lunch the presentations looked at measures mutual and cooperative insurers can take. The common theme coming from the session was that on this issue mutuals and cooperatives are ideally placed to be leaders.

Paul Kovacs, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (Canada), told conference that ICMIF members needed to be leaders in working to reduce climate change.  By taking actions and listening to what customers want he felt that sustainability could be built into corporate strategy. Insurers should be conscious to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Bob Burlton, and Niall O’Shea from CFS, UK, went on to make presentations on their company’s initiatives and strategies. Niall O’Shea told conference that responsible investing is good for the marketplace, for investment performance and for enhancing customer relationships.  In a vote on the subject, nearly 80% of members in conference said they would be willing to form alliances together to develop their socially responsible investment practices.

The World of Change session this morning contained much food for thought, some frightening statistics, but also many reasons to be optimistic.

The session focused on sustainability, defined more than twenty years ago by the Brundtland commission as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Mark Way of Swiss Re (USA) delivered a number of sobering statistics.  If there was a six (or more) degree Celsius rise in global temperatures, it would have a 20% impact on GDP yearly, he said. (To put that into perspective, the current economic crisis has had a 1- 2% impact on GDP.)   He added that from 1970 – 1989, losses due to weather related events were $5 billion a year; since 1989, they have ballooned to $28 billion a year.

Faye Lageu (ICMIF) and Barb Turley McIntyre (The Co-operators) introduced a major new ICMIF report on sustainability,  focusing on six main areas: governance, policies, stakeholder engagement, operations, products and services and human resources. Examples of good practice from ICMIF members included a number of green products and services, values based investing (SNS REAAL) and The Safer Living Home (The Co-operators), which is designed to withstand winds of 200 km/hour.

Mark challenged insurers to think about how we can apply the knowledge we have in insurance to climate risk.  “The insurance industry has a low carbon footprint. We are not part of the problem but we have the potential to be part of the solution,” he said.

Bob Burlton, Chair of  Cooperative Financial Services (UK), told ICMIF conference of the need to put sustainability at the heart of business strategy.

The issue of climate change, he said, was an important social responsibility and mutuals and cooperatives had the opportunity to be leaders in this field. He felt the focus should be to concentrate on three areas: cooperatives and mutuals should reduce their own emissions and focus on renewable energy, educate members and policyholders to do the right thing, and lobby and campaign on policy issues.

Bob told conference about the web site www.actonclimate.coop, launched to encourage cooperatives and mutuals to encourage members and policyholders to become involved and work together on the issue. The web site includes a petition which will be sent to the UN for the Copenhagen climate change summit in December.

This could be the time for mutual and cooperative insurers to take the initiative and regain market share from shareholder-owned competitors, Patrick Thiele, President and CEO of reinsurers PartnerRe suggested today at the ICMIF conference.

Banks in particular had allowed short-term profit imperatives, driven by compensation structures, to lead their businesses, and it could be ten or twenty years before they fully regained public confidence. The opportunity was there for mutuals to capitalise on the situation, but it would need collective endeavour, not just the efforts of individual businesses, to make the case effectively.

This year’s ICMIF conference has continued the tradition of inviting responses from delegates to a set of questions on the topics under discussion, and this morning’s session on sustainability was enlivened by a series of votes, undertaken by interactive keypad.

“The questions are a good way of testing the waters as to what people are actually doing. I find it interesting that 93% of people feel sustainability is an important issue for cooperative insurers, and that we should have a leadership role,” said Dennis Deters (The Co-operators, Canada), who chaired the session. “But it is a bit discouraging in that some don’t see it important at all.”

He went on to say he finds it exciting that there are really significant insurance and business opportunities for mutuals and cooperatives in sustainability issues, which can offer a competitive advantage and a distinct difference in the marketplace.

One of the benefits of ICMIF is that it provides not only a meeting place but also an opportunity for organisations to share information, Dennis added. “Just as ICMIF was instrumental in The Co-operators starting down the sustainability path, I’m sure that all ICMIF organisations will share real information and help those that are a bit behind or are already underway and want a new or different perspective,” he said.

Associated with the cooperative movement for 20 years now, Tony Phillips, Managing Director, Willis (USA) cites the ICMIF conference as an important vehicle for mutual and cooperative insurers to exchange ideas.

As one of this year’s conference sponsors, Tony believes that ICMIF is at the forefront of grassroots insurance development worldwide. From both a business perspective and altruistic reasons, Willis’s involvement is connected with their goal to develop access to insurance in Latin, Central and South America, via the cooperative movement. “Being here allows us to learn about cooperative experiences and solutions all over the world and adapt those for our region,” says Tony. “This event offers the best forum for us to gather information and share it with the people we want to do business with.”

About Willis
Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team of approximately 20,000 Associates serving clients in some 190 countries.

It was little surprise that ICMIF’s world conference in Toronto began this morning with a focus on the financial crisis.

Though mutual and cooperative insurers have generally avoided the disasters when, in the words of Canadian insurance regulator Danielle Boulet, the ‘global financial system cracked last Fall’, there was nevertheless recognition of that financial institutions are now locked into one global system. ICMIF chair Kathy Bardswick, opening the session, asked one important question of delegates: “How do we use our mutual and cooperative identify more effectively to take advantage of the opportunities now open to us?”

In her keynote address activist Ann Pettifor of Advocacy International warned that the risks facing the world remained grave. She called for a Green New Deal and for the rebuilding of the economic system on new values.  Coops and mutuals had a particular role to play here, she argued.

In the session’s second keynote address, Patrick Thiele, President and CEO of PartnerRe argued for a return to intrinsic value in investment. Risk management needed to be embedded within organisations, he said. He too saw opportunities for mutuals, including the chance now to attract high quality employees who might previously have graduated towards the banks.

Rebuilding the world’s financial system means focusing in on values, Ann Pettifor of Advocacy International said today at ICMIF’s conference in Toronto. Ann, who came to international prominence in the millennium campaign to cancel the debt to the world’s poorest states, spoke out strongly against the idea simply of maximising shareholder returns. She also criticised the high pay and bonus culture in banking. “We have to make greed unfashionable,” she said.

Speaking to delegates from over ninety of ICMIF’s member companies, she highlighted the opportunities for mutual and cooperative businesses. But there was a task of communicating the mutual difference to customers, she added.

“The whole notion of mutuality is about making sure the business is well grounded and well founded. Mutuality has the sense of looking at the long term, about not sacrificing the long term interest for short term greed,” said Nigel Waite, of Financial Services Research Forum (UK) and chair of ICMIF conference session on current challeges and strategies.

Talking to the proposition that “market share is vanity and profit is sanity,” he argued that often market share is achieved at the expense of the underlying book of business. Very often, companies value market share at the expense of the underlying quality of their business. “I believe growth has to be qualified, it has to be a more rounded, balanced score card of what represents long term success,” he maintained.

“I am also fascinated by consumer behaviour in the context of price. During the past two years, price has been the only game in town.  I have a feeling consumers are beginning to think differently about financial services than they are about consumer goods. They are asking if the provider will be around in 40 years.  Service is increasingly important as is the integrity of supplier,” he said.

ICMIF’s Asia and Oceania Association (AOA) general meeting was held today, with more than forty people from nine countries present.

Following opening remarks by the AOA chair, Mr Kazumi Imao (Zenkyoren, Japan), the meeting reviewed what the organisation has achieved in the recent two years and what is planned for the two years to come.  Highlights have included regular AOA Forums and Seminars.

In the general meeting, the elections of directors were held and the following executives were elected: Mr Kazumi Imao (Zenkyoren), Mr Md Adnan Md Zain (MCIS Zurich), Mr John Balmforth (AMI),  Dr Podi Appuhami Kiriwndeniya (Sanasa Insurance), Mr Alexander M. Dimaculangan (CARD MBA). In the following board meeting, Mr Kazumi Imao, was elected as AOA chair, and Mr Md Adnan Md Zain, and Mr John Balmforth, as Vice chairmen.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Kazumi Imao expressed his satisfaction at the contributions made by participants.

AGILE, a new training tool which gives people the opportunity to understand how insurance companies operate in a competitive environment, has been put through its paces yesterday and today, in a special event for mutual and cooperative insurers linked to ICMIF’s conference.

Jim O’Loughlin, who has worked with ICMIF on the tool, said the highlight of the past two days “was how collective intelligence – which is a principle we use to improve group performance – improves a group’s ability to arrive at informed decisions.”

AGILE is a simulation which combines the new insights in neuroscience with new science on how the brain learns to deliver shared experiences, generate emotions and stories that people can take back to their office.

Delegates were encouraged to work upon real world strategic challenges that their companies face and present real world strategic solutions using their collective intelligence.

David Crowther, CEO of The Simulation Business, another partner in the development of AGILE,  explained that “by understanding how the brain works, managers can become better managers so companies can become better companies.”

ICMIF’s incoming Chair, John Balmforth of New Zealand mutual insurer AMI, has welcomed the eight new member organisations who are joining the international federation. It takes the number of mutual and cooperative insurers in membership to close to 220, in 74 countries around the world.

ICMIF’s membership has grown markedly in recent years, with growth of 81% in the past decade. The new members are from Algeria, Canada, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Sénégal, the UK and USA.

Mutual and cooperative insurers have increased their market share, ICMIF’s Board was told today.

ICMIF research has revealed that 26.5% of the world’s insurance market in 2008 was in the hands of insurers structured as mutuals and cooperatives, as opposed to shareholder-owned competitors. This represents an increase over 2007 figures (25.2%) and 2006 (24.06). “These data are extremely interesting, and to our knowledge don’t exist anywhere else,” Intelligence Committee Chair Tony Craig (NFU Mutual, UK) told the Board.

The data come from analysis of 1,048 mutuals in the largest ten countries. The complete report will be made available to delegates at ICMIF’s conference in Toronto, which begins tomorrow.