On August 27, 2026, the NOLHGA Board of Directors held its most recent quarterly meeting in Reston, Virginia. Relevant portions of the management report provided to the Board at the meeting are included in this issue of GA Update Online.

Since the May 28 Board meeting, significant staff time has been devoted to (1) coordination and support for insolvency task force activity, including staff support for the PHL Variable Insurance Company, SHIP, Global Bankers Insurance Group, and North Carolina Mutual task forces; (2) executing the Legal Seminar, July MPC meeting, and State GA Board Chairs Conference and planning for the Annual Meeting; (3) NOLHGA all-employee Business Continuity and Incident Response tabletop exercises; (4) the continuing development of AssessConnect and onboarding of states; (5) moving forward on the data and reporting project; (6) supporting member associations with business services, in particular technology hosting; and (7) participating in and providing expertise and support to many MPC Executive Committee–chartered committees and subgroups and other Board and MPC committees, subgroups, and activities.

2026 Legal Seminar

The 2026 Legal Seminar was held at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile on July 30–31. The Planning Committee was chaired by Tamara Kopp (MO), and the agenda included presentations on the life/annuity and health markets, AI, private equity’s role in the insurance industry, and more. Speakers included NAIC President Scott White (VA), NAIC President-Elect Beth Dwyer (RI), Illinois Director of Insurance Ann Gillespie, Nebraska Insurance Director Eric Dunning, and Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Nathan Houdek. The Seminar received a rating of 4.74 (out of 5) on meeting evaluations. 

State GA Board Chairs Conference

A State GA Board Chairs Conference was held on July 28, in conjunction with the Legal Seminar and the July MPC meeting. The conference was designed to familiarize Board Chairs and other attendees with implementation of NOLHGA’s Strategic Plan, the resources available from NOLHGA, and the work of the Members’ Participation Council (MPC) and its committees and subcommittees. In addition, there was a GA Board Chairs Panel Discussion featuring Ted Kennedy (Corebridge Financial; Chair of the Florida association), Gerrie Marks (Prudential Financial; Chair of the Arizona and New Mexico associations), and Julie Mix McPeak (USAA; member of the Hawaii association Board), moderated by Amanda Barbera (MPC Chair). The conference received a rating of 4.08 (out of 5) on meeting evaluations.

2026 Annual Meeting

Work continues on the program for the 2026 Annual Meeting, which will be held at the La Fonda on the Plaza hotel in Santa Fe, NM, on October 21–22 (an MPC meeting will be held on October 20). Confirmed speakers include John Barrett (President, Chairman, and CEO of Western and Southern Financial Group) and Juhi Dhawan (Senior Managing Director, Partner & Macro Strategist with Wellington Management). Additional speakers will be added in the next few weeks.

Constituency Relationships

Trade Associations

In June, NOLHGA Chief of Staff Jenn Webb presented to the BCBS association about what NOLHGA does, how assessments work, and AssessConnect.

In July, Amanda Barbera (MPC Chair), Pamela Epp Olsen (MN, NE, and NM), and Lindsay Crawford (NOLHGA) presented at the Society of Financial Examiners’ Career Development Seminar. Their presentation included a panel presentation with Nebraska Chief Financial Regulator Tadd Wegner to provide financial analysts and examiners an end-to-end view of the insolvency process, as well as a “fireside chat” session with Ms. Olsen, which included an in-depth view into the guaranty association administrator’s role, discussion of the common challenges in pre-liquidation planning, and the importance of collaboration.

Also in July, Bill O’Sullivan (NOLHGA) reported to the NAIC’s Receivership Insolvency Task Force (RITF) on NOLHGA’s coverage analysis, based on the NAIC Model Act, of funding agreements issued in connection with funding agreement–backed note (FABN) transactions. At its meeting in August, RITF announced it would include NOLHGA’s analysis in its report to the Macroprudential (E) Working Group on the receivership treatment of such funding agreements.

In August, during the NAIC’s Summer National Meeting, NOLHGA President Katie Wade spoke to the ACLI’s Receivership Committee about certain insolvency cases.

Member Support & Collaboration

NOLHGA and the NCIGF held a Guaranty Forum Lunch at the NAIC’s Summer National Meeting. The Forum included remarks from Utah Insurance Commissioner Jon Pike.

MPC Activities

MPC Meetings

The July 2026 MPC meeting was held in Chicago in conjunction with the Legal Seminar. The meeting featured closed-session presentations by four insolvency task forces (Global Bankers, North Carolina Mutual, SHIP, and PHL) and other MPC updates. The meeting received a rating of 4.53 (out of 5) on meeting evaluations.

MPC Executive Committee

In response to a request from the Executive Committee earlier in the year, NOLHGA developed a set of principles and recommendations for policyholder communications with input from the Communications Committee. NOLHGA is currently developing key message and FAQ template documents. This work is expected to continue through the end of the year.

MPC Best Practices Subgroup

The subgroup reviews the GA Best Practices document annually and makes changes as needed. For 2026, the subgroup is finalizing changes to: (1) make the use of AssessConnect a best practice for managing contacts and assessments; (2) include information to help with managing minimum insurance requirements for the associations; and (3) update information regarding cybersecurity and the use of technologies such as AI. To assist with understanding guaranty associations’ current insurance coverages, the subgroup will issue a survey this fall.

MPC Security Advisory Committee (SAC)

In July, the committee circulated its annual compliance questionnaires to guaranty associations to confirm compliance with the MPC Security Procedures. Once the committee has received all required responses, it will meet to discuss the responses and confirm compliance.

Committee Activities

Administrators Education Committee

While the committee is focusing on in-person education in conjunction with MPC meetings in 2026, an online interactive educational webinar on generative AI was held on June 2 in conjunction with the TCC, and a webinar entitled AI in the Life Insurance Industry—Current Applications & Future Opportunities will be held on September 22. An AI-use case tabletop will also be held at the October MPC meeting.

Communications Committee

The committee met in August to draft a comprehensive list of key terms (insolvency, receivership, moratorium, etc.) and their definitions as part of its continuing work on the MPC Executive Committee’s task force–related policyholder communications project (see the MPC Executive Committee report, above). Once completed, the list will be forwarded to the MPC Executive Committee.

GA Laws Committee

Apart from the legislation enacted in Wisconsin earlier this year, we have not seen legislation to enact the 2017 Model Act amendments introduced or advancing in the states this year. To date, forty-three states and the District of Columbia have enacted the key provisions contained in the 2017 GA Model Act amendments. Staff will continue to monitor developments and offer support with respect to potential GA Act legislation in the remaining states.

Technology & Cybersecurity Committee (TCC)

For 2026, the TCC has formed three subcommittees—cybersecurity, guaranty association use of AI, and industry use of AI and the implications to the guaranty system. As noted above, the TCC, in conjunction with the Administrators Education Committee, held an educational webinar in June, with another planned for September and a tabletop exercise planned for October. The Guaranty Association Use AI Subgroup also developed an AI use policy template and an “AI for beginners” resource. The TCC is currently reviewing the technology lexicon for 2026.

Financial Activity

The Accounting Department completed the year-end audit of the 2025 NOLHGA Financial Statement and provided a draft statement for the Audit Committee meeting on May 27. The department also calculated and distributed the first quarter 2026 Class B assessments in mid-March and will received NOLHGA Board approval of the second quarter 2026 quarterly assessments at the August Board meeting.

The department coordinated the following insolvency-related account transactions through July:

• Global Bankers (Bankers Life & Colorado Bankers Life): $52,679,463 in prefunding was returned to several guaranty associations.
• Southland National: $180,202 in collected premium was distributed to guaranty associations. A $110,584,401 wire payment was made to Continental General for assumption funding. Also, $194,228 in excess funds was returned to guaranty associations.
• Life & Health Insurance Company of America: $627,192 was wired to the TPA to fund claims.
• National States: $62,488 in collected premium was distributed to guaranty associations.
• North Carolina Mutual: $992,805 was sent to the TPA to fund claims and cash settlements
• Penn Treaty/ANIC: $45,820 was wired to the TPA to fund claims. A final estate asset distribution of $185,405 was distributed to guaranty associations. A total of $28,965,227 in LTC Re premiums was returned to guaranty associations.
• Universal Life/Booker T. Washington: $123,902 was wired to the TPA to fund claims.
• Thunor Trust: $17,875 for a restitution distribution was made to several guaranty associations.

Operations

AssessConnect

AssessConnect’s Universal Company Database, launched in 2025, enables companies to update assessment, proxy, and tax contact information across multiple states at one time. This functionality represents a significant step toward standardizing and streamlining contact information across the guaranty association system. Currently, all states except Alabama, Idaho, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Wyoming participate.

Assessment Services continues to gain momentum. Thus far in 2026, six associations have administered assessments through AssessConnect, with two additional associations planning assessments later this year. Approximately 21 associations have now been onboarded. Based on current implementation plans, slightly more than half the member associations are expected to be onboarded by year-end. Given the pace of adoption and level of interest to date, approximately two-thirds of states are projected to be onboarded by the end of 2027.

NOLHGA also continues to expand AssessConnect’s functionality related to insurance company membership. Since the launch of proxy notices in April, two associations have utilized this functionality. Additional membership management capabilities were released in July and August.

Development is currently underway on several additional enhancements, including tax certificates, data scaling, and improvements to NOLHGA user functionality. These enhancements are intended to increase efficiency, reduce staff time, and further strengthen AssessConnect as a centralized platform supporting guaranty association operations.

Assessment Data Survey (ADS)

The ADS Task Force review of the 2025 Assessable Premium Exhibit is underway, with significant progress to-date. Initial filing reviews are complete, with 267 follow-up letters sent to request additional clarification and/or amendments; these letters have resulted in over 50 amendments. Task Force review of the correspondence and final recommendations is in progress, and the Task Force Co-Chairs are receiving frequent updates from Strohm Ballweg to ensure common issues are identified early. Further, efforts to utilize new AssessConnect system capabilities continue. The Task Force expects to make all premium data available to all participating guaranty associations by October 1, 2026.

In addition to work on the 2025 Annual Survey Review, initial follow-up on the 2024 material outstanding exceptions is complete, including outreach to the applicable member insurers. A survey was also sent to the top 85 annuity writers and any company taking a line 15 deduction to better understand how insurers are reporting Stable Value Contracts. An update was provided at the July MPC meeting, and a call will be held with the guaranty associations to discuss recommended next steps based on what we have learned from the outreach and survey. This process is being handled outside of the ADS Task Force, with appropriate coordination with the Task Force as necessary.

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Planning

Since the last management report, staff has worked closely with a representative from the cybersecurity firm Pondurance to complete work on an updated and substantially revised Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for NOLHGA. NOLHGA’s new BCP was developed following completion of a Business Impact Analysis and interviews of key staff members. It identifies NOLHGA’s critical functions, vendors, and systems applications and outlines response and recovery priorities and procedures to aid in responding to a disaster or significant business interruption. That work was completed at the end of June, and the new BCP was distributed to staff on July 1. A tabletop exercise was held on July 14 to familiarize NOLHGA staff with the new plan and its implementation.

Data and Reporting Project

Following an initial assessment of NOLHGA’s current reporting environment by Alexis Comrack and Adam Solove (consultants who helped with AssessConnect), NOLHGA developed a phased plan to improve reporting and capitalize on several opportunities identified in the assessment. For the next phase of the project, NOLHGA engaged 3Pillar Global to conduct a two-week data architecture assessment. 3Pillar will catalog NOLHGA’s structured and unstructured data sources, including databases, documents, and Excel-based reference data, and make recommendations for a system requirements specification, a proposed technical architecture and security design, a phased implementation roadmap, and a proposal for potential follow-on work.

Technology, Systems & Documentation

New Annual Financial and Assessment Activity Survey for GAs

A new consolidated online survey was developed for the 2025 reporting year, combining the guaranty association annual financial and assessment activity surveys into a single form. The enhanced survey streamlines reporting for member associations by allowing users to save and resume their progress, upload supporting financial statements, and submit all required information through one centralized process. The information collected is used to report on the financial condition and assessment activity of the guaranty system.