All In for NASBP and Surety!

Thank you, Nick and Jenny, for putting on a fantastic 2023 NASBP Annual Meeting on Marco Island!

I am looking forward to serving as your NASBP President this year. Setting my theme was easy for me. One must go “All In” for NASBP if one really wants the greatest experience out of NASBP. I personally have found that this Association gives back way more than any of us could accomplish on our own. When you look at the servant leaders and volunteers on all our Committees and definitely at our Surety School, you start to realize most folks that are tied to NASBP have been doing so on an “All In” basis for years and years.

My term will be no different, as our Committee and Surety School efforts will be as focused as ever on bringing you, our members, the services, education opportunities, and information you deserve and should expect.

We are going to spend the next year diving into my theme of “All In.” For our East Meeting that will be held in Nashville, September 13-15, we have secured a rising country music artist who will share her story of having to go “All In” in order to grow her music career.

For our West Meeting in Las Vegas, October 18-20, we have secured a professional poker player who will certainly talk to us about going “All In” in that line of work.

While the surety industry has enjoyed record profitability for several years, I often wonder where the next “shock” loss will develop. Earlier in the year, when we saw how fragile the financial sector could be with the run on Silicon Valley Bank and the fall of FTX, all coupled with the amount of exposure both industries have to the surety space, I reverted to the shock loss of Enron.

For those who may not remember, Enron was and still is the largest single surety loss our industry has ever seen. Does history have a way of repeating itself? I hope not, but I can’t help but wonder with some of the very large financial guarantee placements we are currently seeing in the market—does another Enron-type loss loom around the corner?

For both our East and West Fall Meetings, our very own General Counsel, Martha Perkins, will be tasked with taking a deep dive into the Enron loss from back in the early 2000s. She has already formed a group of experts for each Fall Meeting that will review the Enron situation and the profound impact it had, not only the surety industry, but also on the broader financial markets. I provide this level of insight to prepare you for the 2024 NASBP Annual Meeting’s headline speaker, Andy Fastow. For those of you who followed the Enron story, Andy’s name will be familiar to you; and for those of you who don’t know much about Enron, Andy was its CFO at the time of Enron’s bankruptcy.

While Nick and I love being in bars! … Andy went from being named CFO of the year to being behind bars in less than 12 months. Andy will provide us with his side of this story and then answer any questions we have.

Through the remainder of this year and beginning of 2024, NASBP will prepare you for his presentation on how this lone bankruptcy devastated the surety market. The Enron loss experience from some 20 years ago is something we cannot forget.

The Association is blessed to have Mark McCallum and our experienced staff of professionals leading our way, supported by the NASBP Executive Committee, Surety School Faculty, Committee Chairs, Vice Chairs, Directors-At-Large, and Regional Directors, who are all supported by dedicated volunteers—all of whom are going “All In” for our Membership.

One final insight into the 2024 NASBP Annual Meeting, which is being held April 14-17, at the JW Marriott Austin in Austin, Texas: in lieu of a NASBP-sponsored afternoon golf event, we will be hosting a free “Texas Hold’em”-themed event for all attendees to enjoy and participate in games, drinks, and snacks as well as an opportunity to win fabulous prizes!!

When it comes to your efforts on behalf of NASBP, please do your fair share and a little bit more; and if you do, the future of NASBP will be bright for future generations. If you are so inclined, go “All In,” and I promise you won’t regret it. #AllIn4NASBP #AllIn4Surety

Patrick Pribyl is National Surety Team Leader, Lockton Companies, LLC, Kansas City, MO. He can be reached at ppribyl@lockton.com or 816.960.9017.