NAIC Sees Big Turnover In Commissioner Ranks

This years meeting was set to tackle issues including brokers compensation and disclosure, the interstate compact, company and producer licensing, and responding to the potential re-introduction of the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency draft law in Congress.

The slew of departures comes at a time when state insurance regulation is facing criticism and a call among some for more federal oversight. But Koken says the turnover has more to do with opportunities that have come up for commissioners as well as the demands of a “rewarding but challenging” job.

She says the depth of talent in the current commissioner pool will offset any talent lost by departures. Periodically, Koken says, there is a turnover within the ranks of commissioners, but even with the current turnover, “there is still a lot of institutional knowledge and experience among commissioners.” She notes longtime regulators, such as George Dale, who has been Mississippi commissioner since 1975, and Jim Long, who has been North Carolina commissioner since 1984.

Long says there have been several previous large turnovers of commissioners, such as in 1995 and 2002. But, he says there is still a good balance of longtime regulators and new commissioners with a fresh approach.

There is a mentor program for new commissioners, Long says, because becoming accustomed to all the issues the NAIC addresses can be like “taking a drink of water from a fire hydrant.”

John Oxendine, Georgia insurance commissioner since January 1994, says each new group of commissioners brings “new talents” to the NAIC. “I dont think it will have any effect on the NAIC.” He notes that large commissioner turnovers occur when many new governors are elected.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, January 27, 2005. Copyright 2005 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.