The President of Barnert Associates
Doug Barnert is President of Barnert Associates, Inc. formed in 1986, and of Barnert Global Ltd. formed in August of 1999. Both companies provide national and international consulting services. He is also Publisher of The Barnert ReportsTM, a monthly commentary on investment and other asset related issues in insurance regulation. (www.barnert.com)
Barnert is deeply involved in efforts to coordinate the development of international accounting and solvency standards. Barnert is the executive director of the Group of North American Insurance Enterprises, (www.gnaie.net) a group of Chief Financial Officers committed to influencing the development of international accounting standards. (www.gnaie.net)
The firm also coordinates the activities of the Global Communications Group, a group of insurance company trade associations from around the world that share ideas and strategy on a regular basis.
In order to accomplish this Barnert have regularly attended IASC/IASB Board and Committee meetings around the world since the meetings were opened March 1999.
Barnert is an Official Observer to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). For two years he coordinated presentations of international observers to the Accounting Subcommittee of the IAIS. He reports regularly to the Implementation Subcommittee of the IAIS on accounting developments in the world.
In addition to Mr. Barnert’s participation in the development of international insurance standards, he also advises insurers and others on a variety of assets and investment related insurance regulation issues such as recommendations for investment valuation, reporting, accounting, capital and reserving requirements.
For example, Mr. Barnert is participating in a project by the NAIC to potentially reopen the Investment of Insurers Model Act. The effort will allow Barnert to draw on years of previous experience when the first model was developed and he worked with interested parties in drafting industry position papers and rationale for the NAIC Investment of Insurers Model Act – Defined Limits Version or the Pigeonhole Model Investment Law – with specialization in the sections on mutual funds, real estate and mortgages, and government sponsored enterprises. When that was completed, he coordinated the industry efforts to obtain adoption by the NAIC of an alternative model using the Wisconsin format of a more prudent approach to investments.
Barnert’s experience was also drawn upon in 2000 when he was asked by the Georgia Insurance Department, the Georgia Legislature, and the Georgia Insurance Industry to coordinate the drafting, presentation, and resolution of issues on the rewriting of the state’s thirty-year-old insurance investment law. It resulted in the enactment of H.B. 43, a balance between prudence and definitions that preserved much of the historical patterns of Georgia regulation.
Barnert serves on the Board of Electric Insurance Company and is the Chairman of its Audit Committee.
The foundation for these accomplishments was built on many years of previous experience including his work as a consultant to the Investment Committee of the National Alliance of Life Companies (NALC). As part of that work he represented insurers who were not able to attend the multiple meetings and conference calls each month on asset valuation, invested asset, risk based capital, securitization, actuarial opinions, and life insurance products.
Prior to forming all three companies Barnert served as Chairman of the New York Chamber of Commerce Workers Compensation Committee and was active on the Committees of Health, Insurance, Workers Compensation, Financial Services and Construction of the Business Council of New York State. Mr. Barnert was Chairman of the Business Council Task Force of Long Term Care and served on the Task Force on Hospital Reimbursement.
Earlier in his career Mr. Barnert was Vice President-Eastern Region of the Alliance of American Insurers, a trade association of more than 175 property and liability insurance companies.
Before joining the Alliance Mr. Barnert was Assistant Deputy Commissioner for the Texas State Board of Insurance where he created the Legislative, Research and Compliance sections of the agency that, among other things, supervised the reorganization of the insurance department.