Next year brings an exciting milestone with IUMI celebrating its 150th anniversary. This year, the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) marks its 125th anniversary, founded in 1898. Both organisations are steeped in history and can be traced back even further, in AIMU’s case to the Board of Underwriters of New York in the early 19th century.
Over the 125 years, AIMU has served its membership in much the same way as IUMI – through committee work, providing quality education, holding events, forging relationships with key maritime industry partners, and providing statistical data. Like IUMI, AIMU has significantly benefited from dedicated volunteers who take an interest in the marine insurance business and generously give their time to make a better and more informed industry.
AIMU and IUMI have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years of shared history. We have hosted seven annual IUMI Conferences, including last year in Chicago (thank you to all who attended).
We proudly have contributed two former Presidents of IUMI, Richard DeSimone (2000 to 2003) and Deirdre Littlefield (2006 to 2010) – the first woman to hold this role.
I was honoured to serve as the first chair of the Education Forum, with education now being an essential pillar of IUMI. The newly launched Cargo Masterclass has been a huge success and a superb addition to the webinars and online tutorial courses also offered.
Most IUMI committees and forums have a representative from an AIMU member company, and many individuals from AIMU have served as committee chairs and members of the Executive Committee.
AIMU regularly sends many delegates to the annual IUMI conference, and this year in Edinburgh should be no exception.
AIMU is planning a special 125th-anniversary annual dinner on 1 November in New York City. While that event will be for the AIMU members, we look forward to having special guests in attendance, including the IUMI community. Thank you very much to everyone who has served AIMU in some way over our 125-year history!
