In two days, Iowa’s capital city will see more than 300 insurance professionals flood its downtown for a first-of-its-kind industry conference.
They’ll come from across the U.S., India, Japan and Germany to discuss regulatory issues and the sector’s best practices.
Organizers hope the Global Insurance Symposium will give the Des Moines area a new notch in its marketing belt, providing another reason to call the region the “Hartford of the Midwest.” They also hope some of the insurance executives will consider calling central Iowa home.
“This is shaping up to be one of the more unique opportunities where we can distinguish the state-based (insurance) systems and how it works and how it protects consumers, and also we’re going to highlight the state of Iowa and the city of Des Moines,” said Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart.
In the last few months, Des Moines’ image as an insurance hub has been bolstered by moves within the industry, including Fidelity and Guaranty Life coming here from Baltimore, and Symetra Life Insurance moving its official headquarters from Seattle. In addition, Athene USA decided to move 220 jobs to West Des Moines from its offices in Topeka, Kan.
“Those are three huge economic development wins all within insurance and financial services, and all within a short amount of time,” said Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership.
Greater Des Moines Partnership CEO Jay Byers and Iowa Economic Development Authority Director discuss the first Global Insurance Symposium. The insurance-industry conference is scheduled for May 21-23 in downtown Des Moines.
With 81 insurance company headquarters and 24,100 people employed in the sector, the Des Moines area is one of the nation’s more insurance-heavy regions.
The employment figure — which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics defines as “insurance carriers and related activities” — is an 11.5 percent jump in the last 10 years. The increase has brought Des Moines closer to Hartford, Conn., which historically has been known as the nation’s insurance capital.
To bring in new companies, representatives from the Partnership and the state have taken trips to other financial centers, such as New York.
In February, Partnership staff took New York business leaders to see the premiere of “The Bridges of Madison County” on Broadway, using the opportunity to discuss how moving to Iowa would benefit their firms. They promoted Iowa’s lower business and living costs, its 1 percent insurance premium tax and its more favorable regulatory environment for insurance firms.
“It was another opportunity” to connect with prospects, Byers said.
Symetra Financial Corp. cited that regulatory environment as a main reason it was moving to Iowa from Washington.
Its president and CEO, Tom Marra, said in a January statement that the firm’s move would further its growth “by permitting the company to take advantage of the state-of-the-art statutes and regulations governing the life insurance industry in Iowa, where some of the industry’s biggest players are domiciled.”
The company said it would open an office in Des Moines, hiring between 20 and 40 employees during the next two to four years.
While Des Moines’ insurance-related employment has increased in the last decade, the Hartford area has seen a 16 percent decline in that sector’s employment from March 1994 to March 2014. The Hartford metro area had 38,800 insurance employees in March, down from 46,300 10 years ago.
Iowa also has Drake University and the University of Iowa, which have two of the top programs for actuarial science, a field of study that uses math and statistics to assess risk. Those programs, officials have said, make it easy for insurance companies to recruit the talent they need.
“It’s people, people, people. That’s why we came out there,” Paul Tyler, senior vice president of strategy and communication for Fidelity and Guaranty Life, said of the firm’s move to Des Moines.
The Iowa Insurance Division partnered with the Greater Des Moines Partnership and the Iowa Economic Development Authority to host the event.
The symposium, which is only open to those who registered, starts with a reception at the World Food Prize building on Tuesday. Most of the event, including speakers and panels, takes place Wednesday at the Marriott in downtown Des Moines.
Byers said the insurance conference allows the partnership to show the leaders of the world’s insurance companies that Des Moines is worth knowing about — or expanding to.
“We think we can make the case that if you’re in the insurance industry, you can make a very compelling case that if you don’t have a presence in Iowa, you should,” he said.
Iowa’s insurance sector
7.8 percent of Iowa’s GDP in 2011*
19.2 percent of the Des Moines metro’s GDP in 2011*
213 insurance companies in Iowa
81 insurance companies in Des Moines area
41,600 employed statewide as of March 2014*
24,100 employed in Des Moines area as of March 2014*
*Defined as “insurance carriers and related activities”
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis/U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Central Iowa’s major insurance and financial employers
Wells Fargo & Co. …13,500 employees
Principal Financial Group … about 6,100 employees
Nationwide/Allied Insurance … about 5,000 employees
Marsh … 1,800 employees
Athene USA … 1,400 employees
EMC Insurance Cos. … about 1,200 employees
Source: The Greater Des Moines Partnership
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