Recent events in Japan necessitated ICMIF taking a decision to relocate the biennial conference from the city of Tokyo to Manchester in the UK. Naturally our sympathies are with our cooperative colleagues in that country after all they have suffered.
But the move to Manchester means that we locate the event in the UK's second city and also the city which was the birthplace of the cooperative movement and the home of ICMIF since 1993 when it started down the route to the vibrant organisation which it is today.
The conference is timely for we are truly at a turning point from which the cooperative and mutual insurance sector will go forward renewed and reinvigorated. Cooperative and mutual insurers around the world are benefiting from the trend towards organisations with values and social purpose rather than the shareholder-based models that have largely been blamed for the recent global recession. Our figures show that the sector is capturing more and more market share in the last two years as customers look to us as a better alternative for their insurance needs.
The conference slogan 'It's our time...' refers to the opportunity for our sector to meet the challenges head on and to reinvigorate the sector like never before. It also refers to the fact that 2012 is the UN International Year of Cooperatives and we need to maximise the awareness of the cooperative and mutual sector globally and show our business model is the one for the future and that it truly is our time.
The ICMIF Conference brings together our industry leaders to discuss, debate and share new strategies and insights that make our businesses the leaders which they are today. It's the one event you cannot afford to miss.
We are grateful to our Japanese members for all the work which has gone into the initial planning for the event in their country and there can be no better tribute to the spirit of the sector than for the conference in Manchester to be successful and well supported by members from around the globe.
Shaun Tarbuck, Chief Executive of ICMIF
