Dan Lance, who had been director of advertising sales and marketing for all five of NU's magazines, has been named publisher of NU's Life & Health/Financial Services edition, as well as Technology Decisions, a monthly targeting the industry's chief information officers.

The changes were made to provide more focused management of the business side of The National Underwriter Company's magazines.

Mr. Friedman joined NU in 1981 as a staff writer covering the independent agent beat. He was promoted to assistant editor in 1994, managing editor in 1986, editor in 1996, and editor-in-chief in 2000. He is also a member of The National Underwriter Company's Board of Trustees.

Before coming to NU, Mr. Friedman was an associate editor at Modern Grocer, a newsweekly covering the supermarket industry, as well as managing editor of a number of community newspapers and a reporter for the Associated Press.

Ms. Sclafane came aboard NU as a staff writer in 1995 and quickly rose through the ranks. Before joining the magazine, she had a long career in the insurance industry as an actuary and consultant, starting out with the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

Ms. Sclafane remains a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She has specialized in financial reporting and coverage of the excess and surplus lines markets for NU, and has managed the magazine whenever Mr. Friedman was absent in the past two years.

“We've already made some bold moves this year and last,” noted Mr. Friedman, citing:

The redesign of National Underwriter as a newsmagazine.

The launch of the daily Web-based “NU Online News Service” at www.NationalUnderwriter.com.

The successful introduction of the “NU Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year” award program.

The debut of “Agency Technology: On The Cutting Edge”–a special monthly section devoted to the nuts and bolts of getting agents up to speed on the latest hardware and software, as well as how to most effectively employ tech.

“We'll have an even more exciting story to tell in 2003,” Mr. Friedman added. “For one, National Underwriter is boosting agent/broker circulation from 33,000 to 46,000 readers as of the Jan. 6 edition, and we'll be adding features that agency principals can use to better manage their businesses and increase sales.”

In addition, Mr. Friedman noted that NU will launch a monthly “Corporate Insurance Buyers Report” in the Jan. 6 edition, with bonus circulation to 15,000 risk managers, CEOs, CFOs and other top company executives who make the final decisions on purchasing insurance coverage, risk management services and employee benefits.

“Each month, top corporate insurance buyers will get an edition in which the overall theme is of keen interest, not only to risk managers, but to our agent/broker and insurance company readers as well,” he explained. “However, the cover theme will be supplemented by a variety of regular and semi-regular features targeted specifically at risk managers and others in big companies whose job it is to limit losses and either transfer or self-insure whatever exposures are left.”

He added that “when packaged with our state-of-the-market reports on insurance, reinsurance and specialty lines, our state-of-the-art technology reports, our industry-leading coverage of legislative and regulatory developments in Washington and key states, and our original 'Hot News' coverage on the Web as stories break, we offer both readers and advertisers the most comprehensive and compelling information service in the industry for insurers, agents and brokers, and corporate insurance buyers.”

Sam Friedman

Susanne Sclafane

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, December 8, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.