President's Message
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President's Message Archive
November 22, 2005 Matt Douris Ladies and Gentlemen, We can identify some successes: Participation in our sponsorship program has doubled in the past year, to a total of eight sponsors: These sponsors have not only made a financial commitment to the CBMU, but a "sweat" commitment. Look at today's program and look at the composition of our technical committees, and you will see that these sponsors actively contribute to our work and support the people who support the CBMU. We have engaged in dialogue with government agencies, representing the interests of our membership: We have participated in discussions with the Department of Finance concerning Insurance Company Act amendments to remove exemptions currently applicable to marine insurance. These discussions are ongoing. On the international front, we have maintained, in accordance with the express wishes of our membership, our customary high level of commitment to IUMI, the International Union of Marine Insurance. Canada was well represented at this year’s conference in Amsterdam, led by Bernie Cissek, who serves on the IUMI Cargo Committee, and Claudio Verconich, who chaired the IUMI Cargo Loss Prevention Committee. Claudio has reached the end of his tenure on that committee, and I would like to express, on behalf of all of us, our gratitude for his representation and our congratulations for his successful term. I am also pleased that our nomination of Alan Murray, based in Vancouver with St. Paul, to move into the resultant vacancy, has been accepted by the IUMI executive. For those of you who are unaware, I point out that all of the material presented in Amsterdam has been posted on the IUMI 2005 web site, and can be accessed through cbmu.com. You’ll learn more about these and other exceptional accomplishments from our committee chairs, and we can look forward to hearing and reading their reports. In 2005 we held two successful golf tournaments in the Toronto area. New this year was the participation of corporate sponsors donating door and competitive prizes. This is a planned growth area, as we try to turn these tourneys into “wouldn’t miss it” events. Our Semi-Annual General Meeting in Mont-Tremblant was, once again, a well-received and well-attended success. It featured 6 technical sessions, evidence of the CBMU’s commitment to increasing the knowledge base of its members. Today, for the first time, we introduced technical sessions to the program of our Annual General Meeting. This innovation was extremely well-received, with over eighty registrations, and our guest panelists presented on a wide range of interesting and relevant topics. Later in this session, committee chairs will report on their own activities. It will become clear that they have been active and insightful throughout the past year. I cannot overstress the importance of our technical committees and the people who lead them and contribute to their work. Virtually all product and results that you see with the CBMU brand have their origins in these committees. Annual and semi-annual reports reveal constant and continuous effort throughout the year. Committee chairs and members deserve our thanks and support, and, on behalf of all of us, I would like to thank them all for their efforts this year. I want to make note of a couple of commercial issues: Law & Practice of Marine Insurance in Canada, written by George Strathy and George Moore…to be succinct: buy it! This is a fantastic resource, and every one of us would gain by having a copy on his or her desk. The Silent Export: This has proven to be an extremely popular publication over the years. Unfortunately, our remaining stock has been lost, having apparently been inadvertently discarded by the party to whom it had been entrusted for safe-keeping. To make matters worse, the original records of the content, prepared for the actual printing, have also been lost, so it is not merely a matter of printing additional copies. The publication would have to be re-created. We are currently pursuing financial recovery from responsible parties, however regardless of the outcome of that activity, we have to give consideration to issuing a Third Edition, whether with recovered or new funding. Earlier, I spoke of the challenges the Board has taken up. I what might be termed a passion to succeed, I have often felt a certain frustration with the pace of change. I still think, and I know that there are many who agree, that we have a long way to go before we achieve our ambitions of a secure future, with a strong financial base, unquestioned day-to-day relevance, and wide and committed support. But in preparing for today, I realize that we can be proud of what progress we have made. We have quite a list of achievements, some of which I have described here, and some of which will be revealed as the day unfolds. We have plans in place for an unprecedented multi-partner Semi-Annual General Meeting in Halifax in June, 2006, and for the IUMI Annual Conference in Vancouver in September, 2008. I am optimistic. It has been my pleasure and honour to serve as your president. I thank the executive, the committee chairs, our secretariat and the membership for their commitment and support. I wish the incoming officers and executive every success, and commit my own continued support of this organization. Thank you
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The challenge that your executive has set for itself over the past few years has been to raise the profile of the CBMU, increase participation in its activities, and increase its relevance to its members.
Platinum Corporate:
Avec Insurance Managers
CNA Canada
Gold Associate:
Aon Reed Stenhouse
Marsh Canada
Silver Associate:
Atlantic Marine Underwriters
McLarens Canada
Metcalf & Co.
Robinson Sheppard Shapiro
We have responded to a request for input following Transport Canada’s publication of its Discussion Paper on Maritime Law Reform, specifically with respect to compulsory insurance and adventure tourism.
I urge you all to consider participating in or leading one of these committees. While we are all aware of the benefit to the market of their work, I can also offer that participation benefits the individual: not merely technically, but in enhanced leadership skills and presentation skills, increased personal profile and in the esteem with which one is held in the market.
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Matt Douris
November 2003 I find it hard to believe that my two year term as President is over. The past 24 months have been rewarding and challenging. I have noticed a new level of passion and commitment to the marine insurance industry in Canada. But I have also noticed how much more work we have to do. My term began with a Revolution, as members were called upon to raise the level of participation in our industry. We needed revolutionary ideas and commitment to ensure that we were prepared for the future. You rose to the challenge, and not only told us what was important, but you were also prepared to do it. Education and Knowledge Sharing were identified as the two important priorities of the CBMU. You also told us that we needed to able to better demonstrate the value of the CBMU within your organisations and the maritime industry in general. I look back over the last two years, and see these as our major accomplishments: In my first address as President two years ago, I talked about the uncertainty in the marine insurance market – shortage of capacity, rising costs, and continuous years of underwriting losses. And now, can we report that our future is certain? Absolutely not. But can we report that we are better prepared for it? Absolutely yes! I am still convinced that we will not be ‘swallowed’ up into the general insurance market – but only if we do not allow it to happen. In order for us to continue as a specialist marine market, we must continue to develop our expertise. And that has to continue to be the CBMU’s focus for the future. Despite the accomplishments in the last two years, I do have one disappointment – and that is the speed of change within the CBMU. It is not happening fast enough. The Educational program was a success, but we need a full time Educational Academy for the learning needs of the entire maritime industry. The new Website is user friendly, but we need people to use it and populate it.
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CBMU Presidents Report
Annual Meeting November 6th, 2003ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MARKET CONDITIONS
YOUR CHALLENGE
So my challenge to the incoming Executive, and to you our members, is to increase the pace of change. To do this, we need to make better use of resources available, and reduce our expenditures on things that do not really deliver value. Your new President will outline his plans to do this.
FINAL THOUGHT
Finally, I hope in 10 years from now, people will look back at 2002 / 2003 as the time that we began a Revolution. A time when the marine insurance industry showed leadership and commitment. A time when we all took personal accountability for our future success.
The new President and his Executive team have their work cut out for them. And one thing I know for sure – they can not do this alone – they need your help.
As my final act a President, I would like to thank a few people:- the Executive for their support of me in the last two years, Isabelle Therrien for her innovation and drive, Matt Douris for his leadership and hard work, Dave St. Martin for his passion for our industry, and Amanda Curtis for her guidance and support.
I would also like to thank the Committee Chairs and Committee members. As everyone should know, I view the committee work as the life blood of the CBMU. Chairing a Committee is a rewarding experience, but much of the work that they do sometimes goes unnoticed. So I ask you to get involved in a Committee, and read about their activities on the Web.
Finally, I would like to thank you. The highlight for me for the past two years has been your feedback that the CBMU has really undergone a revolutionary change. I thank you for that.
I will leave you my favorite famous quote – “The Price of Greatness is Responsibility”. It is up to you to continue to make this Association great.
[Collapse -]Mike Wills
President,
Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters
June 2003
This year's Semi-Annual was a great success. Over 90 of our members met in late May to begin the final stage of our Revolutionary change. The morning session set the scene. A panel of distinguished guests shared their views on the future of global transportation. While a number of topics were covered, the major theme that came out was that global transportation is complex, growing, exciting, and potentially dangerous (if we are unprepared!). The stimulating conversation also illustrated that we need to conduct these type of sessions more often. Then we took some time to celebrate some of our successes. A brief summary of Committee activities was delivered, illustrating the high degree of performance from our Committees. After that we took pleasure in announcing the completion of the Marine textbook (order forms are available from the CBMU office) - it serves as an educational and/or reference tool for the marine insurance professional. The morning session was completed by the launch of our new Website. An excellent presentation demonstrated the ease of use, and the effectiveness it will serve as our primary knowledge sharing vehicle. We invite all members to use it, and contribute to it. The afternoon began with three excellent workshops on timely topics - Maritime Security, Compulsory Insurance, and Education. We received excellent feedback from these sessions, and will continue to hold further seminars and workshops in the future. The day ended by bringing back the theme from the opening session - the Future. Leading up to the Semi-Annual, we were able to identify the strengths and weakness of the CBMU, and potential threats to our future. The threats were summarized, and set the scene for three workshops - Finding solutions to a potential shortage of expertise, lack of participation, and lack of value. We are very pleased that these workshops have resulted in a number of initiatives that will enable us to deal with these threats: Broader participation on the Board at the leadership level - We need to be able to better represent the transportation industry. Bring 'Value' to the whole maritime industry - We will define value, prioritise our initiatives, allocate funds accordingly, and generate new funds where necessary Attract Capital and resources to our industry - We will create a 'business plan' for the marine insurance industry, which will include market opportunities, our capabilities, new products, trends, actions, etc. Over the next several months we will begin to deliver these Action Plans. In this time, we will involve many of our members. If you have any suggestions and/or comments, or just want to get involved, please contact me. Thanks to all the members who participated in the Semi-Annual this year, as you made this the most successful Conference ever! All the Best Mike Wills
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CBMU Mandate - An Update
Our Next StepAction Plans for 2003/2004
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President,
Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters