Professional Farm Mutual Manager Designation (PFMM)
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Professional Farm Mutual Manager Designation
- Overview & Benefits
- In-Person Modules
- Virtual Module
- Maintenance
- Class of 2024
- Manager of the Year
- Emeritus Status
- Why PFMM
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Exclusive Sponsor:
PFMM in-person modules are offered on a rotating basis at Farm Mutual Forum each year. Credit is received based on attending an entire module at the event, not on a course-by-course basis. In order to earn the PFMM designation, you must complete all three of these in-person modules as well as the virtual module within five years.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT MODULE COURSES
- Understand the basics of insurance accounting, including assets, liabilities, and surplus
- Types of filed financial statements (yellow book, policyholder statement, etc.)
- Importance of utilizing the services of a well-respected CPA firm who specializes in P&C insurance
- Understand the importance of adequate surplus/reserves
- Understand the effect of unearned premium as a liability
- Understand the importance of rate adequacy
- Sample rate analysis
- Rate making methods
- Understand how to calculate loss, expense, surplus/premium ratios
- Develop a budget and monitor success
- Manage the growth of premium
- Mergers & Consolidations/Amalgamations
- Walk through the process of looking at the combined financials of the two mutuals coming together.
- What are some key things to look for?
- Understand how the idea of mutual insurance originated
- Understand the difference between mutual insurance companies and other companies
- Understand the operating structure of a mutual insurance company
- Understand how mutual insurance is affected by state and federal governments/ regulations
- Determine how companies will evolve and change to ensure a future in the insurance marketplace/industry
- Emphasize the future of farm mutuals and what they need to do to ensure a prosperous future
- What challenge are mutuals facing in today’s world?
- Managing the relationship with the state’s department of insurance
- Financial exam
- Market conduct exam
- Rates and forms
- Understand the purpose of reinsurance to the mutual company and give a general overview of what it is
- The history of reinsurance
- Broker market vs direct writer
- Capacity (domestic, international, London, Bermuda)
- Reinsurance is not a commodity
- Understand the partnership between the mutual company and the reinsurance company
- What data should be collected to maximize reinsurance meetings/cost
- Importance of quality data and how it relates to cost
- What systems are available to data mine (what are the BEST?)
- Basics of a reinsurance data report
- What you need to sell yourself to a reinsurer
- Understanding what is expected of the mutual company by the reinsurance company
- Predictive modeling
- What are they using this information for?
- Determine the need and type of reinsurance to purchase
- Understand the different types of reinsurance contracts and the basic language
- Understanding how the cost of reinsurance is determined
- Understanding the breakdown between homeowners and farms
- Exposure vs. experience rating
- Development/trending of claims; on-leveling of premium
- Catastrophe modeling
- Leveraging reinsurer-value added services
- Probable Maximum Loss (PML) Mapping
- Rate and form filing
- Special investigation services
- Additional adjusting services
STRATEGIC BUSINESS MANAGEMENT MODULE COURSES
- Know the importance of attracting qualified and professional insurance agents
- Understand the importance of agency contracts and agreements
- Contract development and review
- Individual agency, cluster, aggregator changes related to agencies
- Understand how to cancel an agency contract
- Determine the best means of offering products and services to the agency force
- Understand the importance of offering competitive commission and contingency bonus plans to the agency force
- Understand the importance of the agency force in regard to the appropriate spread of risk for the company
- Understand the importance of growth and the addition of new agents for the company
- Determine the needs of production and loss ratio requirements upon the agency force
- Determine the needs and requirements of technology in relation to the agency force marketing the company’s products and services
- Understand the importance of flexibility and ease of doing business in working with the agency force
- Understand the importance of underwriting, applications, rates and discounts in working with the agency force
- Understand the importance of keeping the agency force involved with the operations of the company by such means as surveys, training, and an agency advisory committee
- Rules and structure of mutual insurance companies
- Involvement of the policyholders in a mutual insurance company
- The structure of a mutual insurance company’s board of directors
- Conduct an efficient board meeting set an effective agenda
- Roles and responsibilities of the board of directors in the company’s operations
- What are the boundaries and limitations between the manager and board?
- What gets shared with the directors?
- Do you have a BOD manual and what should be in it?
- Director independence (from management)
- What’s the tone at the top?
- What’s a board evaluation?
- Who needs a mandatory retirement policy?
- Director and Officer liability
- Defining, setting, and monitoring internal control procedures
- Importance of the audit to ensuring proper control procedures
- Purpose and benefit of state and national trade associations
- Define the line
- Conflict of interest statements
- Board diversity
- Understand the importance of technology to company operations
- Review resource allocation for technology
- Understand how to develop a technology implementation plan and company website and social media
- Discuss technology and how it applies to all generations
- Review available technology options for underwriting, claims, and financial management
- What technology options are available for monetary transactions
- Mention that if you are paying claims with direct deposit, it cannot include the mortgagee
- Review rating and quoting systems
- Understand technology and equipment options to help create a paperless system
- Understand proper safety procedure when dealing with technology
- Examples: mails, client data, and payment information
- Understand different technology disaster recovery efforts
UNDERWRITING & CLAIMS MODULE COURSES
- Understand the proper handling of bad faith and fraudulent claims
- Understand how to reclaim your dollars after the loss (salvage, subrogation, and restitution)
- Understand the importance of conducting claims file audits and establishing a timeline for reviews
- Basic investigation/practices/steps to go through for a claim
- Customer service aspect of claims
- Developing a claims procedure
- Governance & Claims (how should you act and what is your authority?)
- Discuss auditors and what they’re looking for in reserves on claims after an adjuster inspects a property
- Review the basic adjusting procedures
- Understand the development of a loss control program (how to get started, the inspection process and claims files, creating consistency)
- Review basic inspection procedures and guidelines (items to include such as diagrams, photos, etc., and inspector/adjuster training options)
- Understand the process of estimating losses and establishing reserves
- Review plans for handling catastrophic events (available resources, testing back-up plans, emergency communication)
- Understand the importance of developing underwriting guidelines
- Transition from a paper manual to underwriting automation
- Overview of the tools available for underwriting (credit-based insurance scoring, insurance to value, CLUE report, protection class, surcharges, and discounts)
- Understand the importance of a complete and accurate application to the underwriting process
- Understand the risks associated with not completing an onsite review
- Know the types of questions to ask to properly underwrite the risk
- Understand the potential risks and exposures with underwriting property
- Understand the potential risks and exposures with underwriting liability
- Understand the philosophy of evaluating rate adequacy (pricing, coverages, insurance to value, actual cash value versus replacement cost)
- Actual cash value versus replacement cost
- Insurance to value
- Automatic inflation guard
- Different needs for different policyholders
- Understand the reasons for cancellations and non-renewals
- Review the process and importance of underwriting renewals
- Understand the importance for file audits
- Conduct new procedure and guideline reviews
- Updating files (photos, etc.)
- Re-underwriting your book of business
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About
Shaping Our Mutual Future.®
3601 Vincennes Road
Indianapolis, IN 46268
317.875.5250 20 F Street NW
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20001
202.628.1558
Indianapolis, IN 46268
317.875.5250 20 F Street NW
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20001
202.628.1558
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