2008-10-29 23:01:02 -

www.cpcusociety.org - CPCU Society Stephen Young, 610-251-2738 syoung@cpcusociety.org In a historic action underscoring its support for ever-increasing levels of professionalism throughout the property and casualty insurance industry, the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters) Society is opening its registration for its next Annual Meeting and Seminars. Throughout its previous 64-year history, only Society members and

their guests had been permitted to register for this event. The new policy, announced by 2008-2009 Society president Marvin Kelly, CPCU, MBA, becomes effective with the Society's Annual Meeting and Seminars scheduled for August 29-September 1, 2009 in Denver.

"The Society must venture outside its comfort level and embrace the future by expanding its base of potential participants," said Kelly. He also noted that with thousands of Baby Boomers eligible to retire each year, it is critical that the skill levels of the industry's workforce be replenished. By holding the doors wide open for its Annual Meeting, the Society hopes the exposure of non-CPCU attendees to the CPCU community will fulfill that need by introducing them to the prestigious CPCU designation and to those who have attained it.

Kelly said the Society's action focuses on the entire CPCU experience, which begins with the American Institute for CPCU, the group that creates the curricula and examinations for CPCU candidates and participates in the planning for the Annual Meeting. "The Institutes and the Society are partnering to assure that the CPCU experience is so valuable that a growing number of people will be persuaded to earn the CPCU designation and join the Society," Kelly explained. He added that the Society's new policy will give previously-excluded attendees the opportunity to observe first-hand the quality of the seminars and services the Society provides, and offer them a first-hand look at the professional expertise of its members.

Kelly added that the Society's action will assist in the critical need to increase minority participation in the ranks of the industry's premier professionals. He noted that only 1.9 percent of the Society's nearly 28,000 members are African American; only 1.7 percent are Hispanic; and only 1.4 percent Asian. "Our new policy supports the Society's 2008-2009 Annual Meeting theme of 'Embracing Changes' by creating a new avenue of outreach to the minority community," he said.

The Society is making plans for an aggressive multifaceted campaign over the next several months to assure widespread awareness of this new broadly inclusive approach to its Annual Meeting and Seminars.

About the Society

The CPCU Society is a community of credentialed insurance professionals who promote excellence through ethical behavior and continuing education. The Society's nearly 28,000 members hold the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU(R)) designation, which requires passing eight rigorous undergraduate- and graduate- level examinations, meeting experience requirements, and agreeing to be bound by a strict code of professional ethics. The CPCU designation is conferred by the American Institute for CPCU.

Innovation for CPCU Society Event First Such Policy Change in 65
Years