From left, At AIDA Europe, Chris Rodd; Peggy Sharon, from Israel, who is AIDA’s immediate past president; Tim Hardy, from the UK, who was presented with the AIDA Medal; and Carlos Estebenet, from Argentina, the current AIDA president.
From left, Chris Rodd; Prof Oliver Brand, from Germany; and AIDA treasurer Jonathan Scragg, from New Zealand.

Customer needs in focus in Athens

By Chris Rodd, AIDA Vice President – Asia Pacific

In late May 2024, AIDA Europe conducted its 10th annual meeting in Athens.

The event attracted 230 registrations, primarily from Europe. The conference theme was: The growing challenge of meeting customer needs: Quo vadis insurance market.

Apart from meetings of all 12 AIDA working parties, the plenary sessions covered a diverse range of topics from emerging distribution models to catastrophe perils and insurance – increasing risk, changing dynamics to underwriting, policy wordings, and claims responses in a net zero directed world of climate change.

A full list of all the working party sessions and details of the speakers and their topics is on the AIDA website, under AIDA Europe.

The conference also included a presentation from the German chapter inviting AIDA members worldwide to come to Hamburg in 2027 for the next AIDA World Congress.

Preceding the AIDA Europe event, the AIDA Executive and Presidential Council met on 29 May. Two new chapters were formally approved for AIDA membership, Angola (sponsored by AIDA Brazil) and Canada.

A significant agenda item agenda, and one specifically raised by me and treasurer Jonathan Scragg, from NZILA, was the need to engage more closely with our global membership through regional events.

Currently AIDA comprises AIDA, AIDA Europe and CILA (the Latin American countries). We are advocating for a regional grouping that incorporates the Asia Pacific countries of Australia, NZ, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and possibly India.

This regional group reflects countries grappling with similar insurance-related issues and more appropriately reflects the constraints of the time zones in which we all work. Apart from India, for much of the year the time zone variation is 2-4 hours.

We are also focusing on joint seminars and events for the working parties of greatest interest and relevance to our region. Rather than trying to focus on all 12 working parties, our regional membership will select those of greatest interest to the greatest numbers.

More will be revealed when we communicate with our office bearers in the member countries and outlined in future editions of Resolve.

In the interim, as the AILA representative on the AIDA Executive and PC, I am always interested in your feedback and any contributions or suggestions you may wish to make as to how AIDA can best serve your interests. (See the board listing for Chris’s contact details.)