NAPSLO Presents ASLI Academic Awards and Diplomas at Chicago  Meeting

MALVERN, Pa.—The National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) recognized the top four graduates of the Associate in Surplus Lines Insurance (ASLI) program at its annual convention on September 15, 2006, in Chicago, Ill. The Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation sponsors the awards, which were presented by Andrew S. Frazier, CPCU, a member of its board of directors. Joseph D. Timmons, CPCU, ASLI, president of the Foundation, also participated in the ceremony.

The top four graduates in ASLI’s 2006 class are Chad M. Raver, CPCU, ASLI, underwriter, General Star, Stamford, Conn.; Katherine E. Connolly, CPCU, AIM, AAI, ASLI, executive account manager, Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance LLC, Memphis, Tenn.; Kelly A. Hadiaris, ASLI, underwriter, James River Insurance Company, Richmond, Va.; Robert P. Sandblom, CPCU, ARM, ALCM, AMIM, ASLI, ARC, fillings analyst II, Scottsdale Insurance Company, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Raver, the Distinguished Graduate, won $500 and a commemorative plaque. Connolly, Hadiaris, and Sandblom won Awards for Academic Excellence, which include a cash award of $250 and a commemorative plaque. 

NAPSLO also presented ASLI diplomas to members of this year’s class of 159 new ASLI designees who attended the convention.

The Insurance Institute of America (IIA) developed the ASLI program for surplus lines professionals with support from NAPSLO and the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation. 

The ASLI program consists of four courses and national examinations. The courses cover the purpose, evolution, regulation, and distribution of surplus lines insurance. They also cover surplus lines marketing issues, products, underwriting, and risk financing. Topics relating to broader insurance industry topics include ethics; insurance contract analysis; and insurance operations such as underwriting, loss control, premium auditing, reinsurance, and claims practices.

Background: NAPSLO is a national trade organization representing the surplus lines industry and the wholesale insurance marketing system. The NAPSLO board of directors established the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation in 1991 to improve education about the surplus lines industry for members of the insurance industry. NAPSLO, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., has 800 members and 1500 member office locations in the United States, Bermuda, England, and Germany.

The American Institute for CPCU and the Insurance Institute of America are independent, nonprofit organizations offering educational programs, professional certification, and research to people who practice or have an interest in risk management and/or property-casualty insurance. The Institutes offer the CPCU professional designation program; associate designation programs in areas such as claims, risk management, underwriting, and reinsurance; introductory and foundation programs.