Insurance federation of New York, Inc. Presents Free Enterprise Award to Steve Menzies, Public Service Award to William H. Frazier

New Supt. of Financial Services, Hon. Adrienne A. Harris, to address annual luncheon in first major appearance

New York, New York -- February 22, 2022 -- The 107 year old Insurance Federation of New York, Inc. will present its 2021 Free Enterprise Award to Steve Menzies, Chairman of Applied Underwriters, and its Public Service Award to William Frazier, Founder of American Veterans Group, Wall Street’s first public benefit corporation. New York’s new Superintendent of Insurance, Hon. Adrienne A. Harris, will participate in a “fireside chat” styled interview with Business Insurance Editor Gavin Souter before the anticipated 275 insurance leaders in attendance. The Annual event, postponed from November 2021 owing to the uncertainties of the COVID pandemic, will be held March 31st at 12:00 noon at the Union League Club on Park Avenue at 37th Street in Manhattan.

Mr. Menzies joins a most illustrious group of entrepreneurs in receiving the IFNY Free Enterprise Award, including Henry Ford II, Hank Greenberg, Red Motley, Greg Case, Brian Dupperault, Pat Ryan, Bill Flynn, Tom Moran, J. Carter Bacot, Hyatt Brown, Sandy Weill, Donald Trump, and many other iconic business leaders. Mr. Menzies is himself a serial entrepreneur who acquired Applied Underwriters in 2019, 25 years after he founded the Company, from Berkshire Hathaway. He has since grown the Company dramatically through several acquisitions in the US and abroad and through refined organic growth.

He is currently constructing the largest urban development in the US, Heartwood Preserve, in Omaha, Nebraska, where the Company’s operational headquarters is located. Founder of the Steve Menzies Global Foundation, Mr. Menzies has received numerous awards for his philanthropic work, notably for leading hostage rescue missions in Venezuela, for securing the return of Americans left in Afghanistan and for leading, by Papal appointment, the St. Francis Day Foundation to treat the concerns for human ecology as articulated in the Encyclical Laudato Si’. A trustee of colleges and other educational and cultural institutions, Mr. Menzies is Vice Chairman of the San Francisco Opera, one of America’s most important cultural institutions.

Mr. William H. Frazier is Founder of American Veterans’ Group, Wall Street’s first public benefit corporation, an enterprise that trains and employs veterans to ensure that they enter the financial world at a level that uses their potential fully rather than the roles that many were accorded because their skills were modest. The Company has been a success and has built a framework for veterans. Mr Frazier has served as Trustee and Treasurer of Northwell Healthcare Systems, a national leader in the provision of health services to millions of Americans.

Newly confirmed New York Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services, Hon. Adrienne A. Harris, will be interviewed during the IFNY gathering as head of the most important State insurance regulatory agency in the nation.

IFNY elected new officers and directors at its Annual Meeting held December 17th, 2021. The Directors elected the Officers of the Board led by President Howard Mills, elected President.

IFNY Directors elected to office: Chairman, Nick Pearson, Independent Consultant, Insurance and Reinsurance; Immediate Past Chairman, Lance J. Albright, Vice President, Claims Relationship Management, QBE North America; President Howard Mills, Independent Corporate Director and Sr. Advisor, McKinsey and Co.; Treasurer, Richard White, CEO, ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company; Secretary, Huhnsik Chung, Shareholder, Carlton Fields; Vice President, Amy Feller, Regional Chief Operating Officer and NYC Branch Manager, CHUBB; Vice President, Jeffrey A. Silver, Esq. Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Applied Underwriters; Vice President, K.J. Singh, President and COO, Maya Assurance Company; Vice President, Michael Fusco, Consultant, FCAS, MAAA, CERA; Vice President/Managing Director, Steve Acunto, President, CINN Worldwide, Inc.

Directors elected including the officers above are:

Kermitt Brooks, General Counsel, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America; Denise Campbell, Senior Vice President, Client Executive, MARSH; Michael Catina, Assistant Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, Zurich North America; Maura T. Clancy, President, Clancy & Clancy Brokerage, Ltd.; James P. Corcoran, Esq. James P. Corcoran Insurance and Related Legal Services; Regina Degnan, Executive Vice President, The Newman Team, AON; Eric R. Dinallo, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton; Frederic M. Garsson, Partner, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP; Douglas J. Hayden, President, Wright Public Entity, The Wright Insurance Group; Daniel F. Maher, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY); Roger M. Moak, Esq., Arbitrator; Manfred Ohrenstein, Counsel, Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C.; Kevin Rampe, General Counsel, CHUBB; Raul Rivera, Retired Chairman, President and CEO, National Benefit Life Insurance Company; William M. Savino, Partner, Rivkin Radler LLP; Francine L. Semaya, Legal Consultant in insurance regulation, reinsurance, and insurance insolvency; Wendy R. Shapss, Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting, Inc.; Maria T. Vullo, CEO, Vullo Advisory Services, PLLC; Hank Watkins, President, Lloyd’s America, Inc. James J. Wrynn, Esq., Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting.

For information on the annual luncheon, please call Ms Rebecca McLean at +1 (212) 880-5500 x113 or write Rebecca.mclean@cinn.com

About Insurance Federation of New York
The Insurance Federation of New York, Inc., since 1913, has been a force for communicating ideas among all sectors of the insurance industry, bringing public and private interests together for the benefit of all. The Insurance Federation of New York’s prestigious Free Enterprise Award—presented to some of history’s legendary entrepreneurs—continues to salute risk takers and leaders whose creativity and initiative has enabled the expansion of business throughout New York, across the country and around the world. In the insurance industry, it is the commitment and vision of these leaders that has created and refined the risk transfer mechanism to spur economic growth and contribute to personal and business financial security for countless millions.

Today, the Insurance Federation of New York’s annual calendar of events brings together the “best and brightest” to ensure that industry intelligence is shared and that support for best practices in insurance business, law and regulation earns the understanding of leaders across the spectrum. This shared goal draws business executives, legislators and regulators to our Annual Luncheon, our “Breakfast with...” programs, professional seminars, and other events. We also note the establishment of the IFNY Intern Summer Program. Federation members have given most generously of their time and finances to support this program that reaches out into the community and gives highly motivated teens, from challenging backgrounds, an in-depth opportunity to learn about the insurance industry in all its facets and to consider a career in insurance.

The Insurance Federation of New York, Inc., does not engage in lobbying activities and is open to professionals in every segment of the field.