For several years, the IASA has eyed international expansion as part of its strategic vision. That vision took a step closer to reality over the past year when the association sponsored a dialog in November 2012 with U.K. companies that have a vested interest in learning more about the U.S. market and its standards.
“Because the U.K. represents such a big insurance market and has many companies that are subsidiaries or parents of U.S. companies, it was a natural location to take our first look at international expansion,” explains Joe Pomilia, Executive Director of the IASA International Office.
The IASA saw a particular opportunity in working with U.K. companies that are subsidiaries of U.S.-domiciled insurers. “Those U.K. operations have to provide statutory reporting information to their U.S. parents. Although parent companies certainly provide training resources, financial people who work for those U.K. insurers still struggle keeping current with updates on statutory accounting and the complex requirements of statutory reporting because there are few industry resources in their local market addressing educational needs,” he adds.
The IASA is able to bring that education to international markets. “We offer a vast network of knowledge experts about U.S. statutory issues and regulations, as well as technology solutions, that we can bring to bear for international insurers with U.S. operations,” Pomilia says. “Also, the IASA is a very inclusive organization, with solution providers, insurance carriers, agents and brokers, and regulators among our members.”
International expansion also makes sense organizationally for the IASA. “Our reasons for looking to international markets get to the heart of why anybody expands globally. It adds stability to the organization and provides a hedge against changing market conditions in one geographic region. It also allows knowledge experts to 'cross pollinate' and expand exponentially the opportunities we have to bring expertise to our constituents,” Pomilia explains.
Although the IASA's outreach is still in the information-gathering phase, Pomilia expects the pace of activity to increase in 2013 and beyond.
“Once we get a feel for the size of the market and the companies likely to benefit, we'll begin a series of activities to respond to the educational needs of financial professionals at those companies,” he explains. “From there, we will continue to look for ways to bring people together to share information, best practices, and expertise that can be used by individual companies and to build on our own continually expanding knowledgebase.”
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