CEFLI’s inaugural conference – well done!

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend CEFLI's (Compliance and Ethics Forum for Life Insurers) first annual conference in Orlando, FL. The event drew well over 100 compliance professionals from around the country, as well as numerous state and federal regulators.

The sessions offered were very relevant and valuable, and presenters were well versed in their subject matter. I was impressed by the amount of useful information I was able to take away from this event. One of my favorite topics was the opening session on the DOL fiduciary rule proposal. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about this issue, until I attended this session - where I think I learned more than I really want to know. The presenters, and in particular the moderator, David Cowart, a partner with the law firm Dentons, made it more clear to me just how much the proposed rule could affect the insurance business as we know it today. Opinions about whether or not something will pass, what it will look like and how long it will take to implement are all over the place, but this session outlined many key issues that insurance carriers and distributors will likely need to consider and potentially address in order to comply with the ruling.

Other sessions worth noting for their relevancy and useful information included third party vendor management, managing IMO distribution risks (moderated by our own Roger Hayashi), enterprise risk management and corporate governance, cybersecurity, and market conduct examination trends.

Having attended many conferences over more than 25 years in the industry, I was very impressed with this event, for the sheer number of great topics, the expertise of the presenters, and the bang up job CEFLI did with the event. The location was beautiful (at a Disney resort!), the event planners were on top of all the details, and the food was great - well done! I am honored to have been part of this inaugural event, and will definitely attend again next year!