Delegates and presenters at the 9th AIDA Europe Conference in Zurich.

AIDA welcomes return to face-to-face events

By Chris Rodd, AIDA Presidential Council Representative – Australia

With the general lifting of Covid-19 travel restrictions in most countries, it was a great relief to finally meet face to face at an international AIDA event.

The occasion was the 9th AIDA Europe Conference in Zurich on 5-7 October, which coincided with an AIDA Presidential Council meeting.

Despite global trials and tribulations, it is encouraging to see that international interest in participating in AIDA has not diminished. At the Presidential Council meeting we admitted another African chapter – Angola. AIDA now has four chapters in continental Africa – South Africa, Morocco, Angola and Togo.

Work has started on a cornerstone project of an AIDA insurance encyclopedia with the appointment of an editorial board of Prof Rob Merkin, Assoc Prof Kyriaki Noussia, Prof Pierpaolo Marano and Prof Ozlem Gurses. The encyclopedia, when completed, will be available to members in hard copy and digitally.

The first European meeting in three years was a great success and attracted more than 230 registrants, which was an encouraging return to face-to-face events.

The highly relevant program was themed Getting fit for an unsettled future. Topics presented included the ESG footprint for insurers, regulatory challenges for insurers of insurance ecosystems, insurer responses to Covid-19, navigating and mitigating sanction rules in insurance and reinsurance in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, and the humanitarian, economic and governance challenges arising from climate catastrophes.

There were meetings of nine AIDA working parties – financial lines and cyber, reinsurance, civil liability, climate and catastrophic events, dispute resolution, motor, new technologies, prevention and insurance, and general principles of insurance.

A group of Australian colleagues and I had the opportunity to present to the meeting about the upcoming AIDA World Congress in Melbourne in late August next year.

There was a great deal of interest in coming to Melbourne not the least of which is the opportunity to attend an exceptional event with an excellent and highly relevant program but also to visit a country many have never been to before.

As we continue to work on the program we can advise potential attendees of the topics and speakers, a great many of whom will be highly credentialed international experts.