LIMRA and LOMA ink merger

LIMRA International and LOMA, associations of the insurance and financial services industry, signed off on their merger agreement today at the 2007 LIMRA annual meeting. Robert A. Kerzner, president of LIMRA International, and Thomas P. Donaldson, president and chief executive of LOMA, signed a final unification agreement, signifying the combination of the two industries. With member approval, LIMRA and LOMA will come together under the umbrella of a new not-for-profit organization to be called LL Global Inc., which will provide a unified management structure. “This signifies the coming together of two great organizations under a unique structure,” said Mr. Kerzner at the LIMRA annual meeting in Boston. Effective Jan. 1, 2008, the two entities will form LL Global Inc., uniting LIMRA’s research capabilities with LOMA’s specialty in education. “Together we will have the capability to do more for clients than ever before,” said Gary T. Huffman, chair of LIMRA’s board of directors and chief executive of The Union Central Life Insurance Co. in Cincinnati. However, Atlanta-based LOMA and LIMRA of Toronto will still keep their distinctive identities, and members of either association can either choose one or join both, Mr. Kerzner said. As part of LL Global’s new structure, Mr. Kerzner will helm the association as president and chief executive. Mr. Donaldson will become chairman of the executive committee of the Windsor, Conn.-based group.