CAS Members To Hold Annual Gathering at
California Desert Resort

Dry Desert Locale Belies Lush Variety of CAS Meeting Sessions
by Daniel A. Crifo

The 1997 CAS Annual Meeting will be held November 9-12 at Marriott's Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, California.

The featured speaker for the meeting is the renowned management consultant Oren Harari, who will offer provocative perspectives on competitive advantage, organizational change, and transformational leadership. Mr. Harari spent more than 12 years with The Tom Peters Group, and he co-wrote the best-selling Jumping the Curve: Innovation and Strategic Choice in an Age of Transition.

Highlights of the meeting include four general sessions - one each on Monday and Wednesday, and two offered concurrently on Tuesday. "Banks in the Insurance Business" will review banks' expansion into the risk-taking arena and insurers' moves to start up their own banking operations. Another general session will analyze "The Effects of Mergers in the Insurance Brokerage Industry." Panelists will discuss why mergers have occurred, how insurance buyers as well as insurers have been affected, and how antitrust issues have been resolved.

The Tuesday general sessions will have an international flavor. "Actuarial Work Around the World" will provide a forum for actuaries who have pursued business opportunities outside North America. Panelists will explain the work that actuaries do in finance and strategic planning in foreign corporate and regulatory environments. "Catastrophe Handling Around the World" will focus on how actuaries deal with megacatastrophes. The panel will discuss models of such events, financial structures, reinsurance techniques, and regulatory mechanisms.

Concurrent sessions have been scheduled to discuss insurance risk related to the year 2000, emerging insurance markets in the Pacific Rim, and recent efforts in property loss mitigation and anti-fraud activity. Attendees will also be able to participate in sessions on quality assurance, dynamic financial analysis, and merger/acquisition situations. Other sessions will cover the recent activity by the Committee on Theory of Risk, and the continuing evolution of opportunities and responsibilities that challenge the members of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

An optional golf tournament will be held Tuesday afternoon, November 11. That same evening, surf's up! Members, guests and accompanying persons can make a splash at the "beach party" bash at the Resort. Plan on good food, excellent music and great fun for all.

The preliminary program for the 1997 Annual Meeting, with registration information and tentative meeting agenda, will be mailed to members in September.