Big Deal

There were four people waiting in front of us in the taxi line at Philadelphia Airport but the concierge waved us ahead of them. They were waiting for a van instead of a regular cab so that they could ride as a group, he assured me. So we hopped in the waiting cab where the driver explained why the party of four could not ride together. “Insurance won’t cover more than four people in a vehicle,” he maintained. He tried to tell them that they would not be able to travel together in a van either but they waited anyway.

This lesson in risk management occurred on our way to the annual Risk and Insurance Management Society meeting and we believe that the party of four was comprised of risk managers. If not, it was the only party of four in Philly that week that was not risk managers.

Within minutes of pulling onto the highway from the airport, we were entertained by signs welcoming risk managers to Philly. One was a very eye-catching billboard with an attractive, grinning woman proclaiming, “That’s why I’m proud to be with Marsh.”

Marsh billboards were to become a familiar site. Parked alongside the convention center was a mobile truck sporting double billboards with fresh-faced and smiling employees including CEO Mike Cherkasky expressing their pride in being part of Marsh.

There aren’t many conventions as big as RIMS these days, especially in insurance industry, whose own national conventions have been shrinking. RIMS remains a big draw and a drawer of big names. Marsh’s Cherkasky, Aon’s Pat Ryan, Willis’ Plumeri, Lloyd’s Lord Levene were just a few who made public appearances. Many other top names in the industry went about their business without fanfare. On the buyers’ side, Fortune 1000 name badges were everywhere.

The exhibit hall for this convention is like a small city unto itself, with some companies’ areas seemingly the size of football fields. A few have even built their booths skyward with stairs and several levels to gain an upper hand. Magic shows, espresso bars, video shows–you name it, some vendor was doing it. Who says the insurance industry doesn’t care about its customers?

These are sophisticated customers working for big organizations. They are the “victims” of the contingent commission scandal, yet they don’t act like victims. While there were promises of new business models and talk about brokerage fees and disclosure from the insurance industry side, RIMS leaders stood fast against dictating to their members what they should do.

“RIMS can’t do this for you,” RIMS President Ellen Vinck told the professional risk managers, in a statement that appeared to astound only the press. “You are the risk managers. You are the insurance professionals. You are the insurance buyers. You are the clients. You need to know what you are doing.”

RIMS is indeed big. And its corporate members are apparently big enough to stand on their own.