Beth Mercier of Travelers Elected as 2013-2014 IASA President

DURHAM, NC--(Marketwired - Jul 25, 2013) -  IASA, one of the insurance industry's largest and most well-represented trade associations, is pleased to announce that Beth Mercier of Travelers Companies has been elected to serve as president of the association for the 2013 - 2014 fiscal year.

Each year, at the business meeting for IASA, which is held during the association's Annual Educational Conference & Business Show, the members elect a new volunteer president. During the recent conference in Washington, D.C., Mercier took the stage to accept the honor bestowed on her by her fellow members.

"I'm honored to be the next president of IASA," said Beth Mercier, vice president, personal lines, for Travelers and newly-elected IASA President. "My volunteer experiences at IASA have allowed me to gain insights around industry issues and incorporate them back into the work I do at Travelers, and I have drawn on my strategic planning experience at work to assist in the enhancement of the IASA strategic plan. The integration of experiences has contributed to my career accomplishments and positioned me to take on this important role."

Like many people in the insurance industry today, Mercier did not set out to have a career in the insurance industry. However, after working as a staff auditor for Shawmut Bank in Hartford, Connecticut, she went on to hold leadership positions with Aetna, Cigna, and SS&C before joining Travelers. Her years at Travelers and volunteer experience with IASA have helped Mercier gain expertise in project management, enterprise program management, process improvement, portfolio management, strategy, execution and project delivery. 

During the coming year, and working jointly with an appointed volunteer management team, Mercier plans to take IASA to new technology heights. There are already initiatives underway to expand the association's delivery of education through web seminars, and to deliver the popular statutory accounting via an app with more interactive capabilities.

In addition to the election of Mercier as IASA president, the association's members nominated Forrest G. Mills Jr. of Guaranty Income Life Insurance as president-elect, Celeska Fredianelli of QBE as Chief Financial Officer, Mary Ellen Freyermuth of Catholic Mutual Insurance as Chief Information Officer, and Rex Bagwell of Salient Commercial Solutions, Sonia Cliffel of First American Equipment Finance, Tom Ewbank of The Ewbank Group P.C., Ed Kruger of Indiana Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company, Brian Ollech of The Warranty Group, and Linda Paolucci of TIAA-CREF, as board members at-large. As immediate past president for IASA and according to the association's bylaws, Louise Ziemann, now retired from State Farm, automatically becomes Board Chair for the upcoming fiscal year.

For more information regarding this release, please contact Jennifer Overhulse, Principal Owner of St. Nick Media Services, via email at jen@stnickmedia.com or via phone at (859) 803-6597.

About IASA
The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association, Inc. (IASA) is a non-profit, education association that strives to enhance the knowledge of insurance industry professionals, and participants from similar organizations closely allied with the insurance industry by facilitating the exchange of ideas and information. IASA is one of the insurance industry's largest, and most well represented trade association. IASA membership includes insurance companies of all types (Property & Casualty, Life, Health, Fraternal, HMO and others) as members, as well as companies serving the insurance industry, regulators and also organizations more broadly representative of the financial services industry, including banks and investment brokerage firms. Learn more about IASA by visiting our website at www.iasa.org, or by calling (919) 489-0991.