On Our Mind: Coronavirus Concerns, Webinars, & Cancellation Policies

​​​​​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​​​​​ Ahhh, Risk Management… isn't that the core of what we do for a living? We help people and businesses manage risk. Well, over the past number of weeks, we've all been participating in, witnessing, or have been affected by risk management. Here at Big I NY we've had several meetings, phone conversations and desktop chats about the coronavirus. Questions include “How do we handle things like upcoming events, regularly scheduled education classes and visits to our member agencies? I can tell you that the opinions are at polar opposites, from “oh my, I don't…

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Breaking: Big I NY Files Appeal to Reg 187 Ruling

​​Today, Big I New York filed an appeal in our ongoing legal challenge against the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) over the first amendment to Regulation 187, which imposes a "best interest" standard for the sale of life insurance and annuities. We continue to believe this regulation is unwarranted, creates substantial compliance burdens, and will harm consumers by making it harder to obtain affordable life insurance coverage. Big I New York filed our initial legal challenge to the amendment in November 2018, asserting six key arguments, including that the Department exceeded its authority, failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures, and created a…

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On Our Mind: Careers in Insurance

​​​​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​ I want to share a bit about an event I was part of recently at SUNY Oswego. Working closely with their Career Services Department, we put on a "Careers in Insurance" workshop for some students in the college's Insurance and Risk Management major. I was fortunate enough be joined by one of our member agents as well as some staff people from Utica National and NYCM. I truly appreciate these professionals taking some time in their very busy schedules to help me with this event. Each presenter spent 15-20 minutes talking to the students about…

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