Candidates for the 2013 Insurance Hall of Fame Awards have been announced by the International Insurance Society. The Insurance Hall of Fame award honors insurance leaders who have made a lasting contribution to the insurance industry and who are recognized by their peers as successful leaders, innovators and visionaries.
“This year we are again honored to put forth a fantastic slate of candidates for the Insurance Hall of Fame, representing the very best in our industry”, said Bernhard Fink, chairman of the IIS Honors Committee. “It is a rare and true honor to be considered for the Insurance Hall of Fame and we warmly congratulate our diverse and distinguished group of insurance leaders and innovators.”
The 2013 laureates will be elected from among these candidates:
• Dr. Marius Barnard, South Africa. Dr. Barnard is a South African heart surgeon whose work made him realize the need for financial protection for people who are seriously ill. Recognizing the financial plight of his patients led him to design, with South African Insurer Crusader Life, the first insurance to pay out on different types of critical illness in 1983. His many contributions included the development of the original ‘dread disease,’ the blue print for critical illness insurance.
• Robert Benmosche, president and CEO, AIG, USA. Over the past three years, Benmosche has been responsible for AIG’s recovery from near collapse during the worldwide financial crisis, which started in 2008, and its return to financial stability and profitability. As chairman and CEO of MetLife, he previously was responsible for overseeing the demutualization of the company and leading it to growth as a public company.
• J. Barry Griswell, chairman, Principal Financial Group, USA. Griswell has more than 36 years of experience in financial services and more than 20 in executive management at Principal Financial Group, where he retired as chairman, president and CEO. Prior, he served as president and CEO of MetLife Marketing Corporation. Griswell has also served the insurance industry in major leadership roles including chairman of LIMRA International and as chairman of the American Council of Life Insurers, and spoken on regulatory and market practices issues and threats in the United States and internationally.
• Donald Kramer, chairman and CEO, ILS Capital Management, USA. Kramer formed and led several successful insurance and reinsurance companies over a 54-year span and is recognized as an innovator in several fields, including: investment banking, rehabilitating and/or liquidating troubled insurance companies. He has also established new companies, including NACPAC, Tempest Re and Ariel Re. Currently he is chairman and principal owner of ILS Capital LLC and ILS Capital Limited, which specializes in creating and managing investments in Insurance Linked Securities companies. He also has a long history in the arts and the non-profit sector.
• Jong-won Park, CEO, Korean Re, Korea. Park developed Korean Re into a prominent global company and has been influential in the reinsurance field in Korea and throughout Asia. He took the helm of Korean Re during a managerial crisis, but has revitalized the company through the implementation of innovative management principles. Under his leadership, Korean Re has broadened its overseas business and expanded its domestic customer base. Korean Re has an annual growth rate of more than 12 percent and was listed in 2011 by A.M. Best as the 10th largest global reinsurance company.
Nominees for the Insurance Hall of Fame are selected by the IIS Honors Committee, a body of senior insurance executives and academics. IIS membership then votes by secret ballots, which are tabulated and conducted by Deloitte & Touche. The winner will be announced in January and the award will be presented June 17 during the IIS 49th Annual Seminar gala dinner, at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Seoul, Korea.
