Mission & History

Brief History

The public decided long ago that fair, firm, honest insurance regulation is in everybody’s interest. The job of protecting consumers and preserving a robust, competitive marketplace was delegated to the states, where individual state insurance departments have built a strong and enduring foundation upon which all insurance now thrives. The Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (IRES) is an important part of that foundation.

IRES was established in 1987 as a nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Missouri operating in accordance with its Articles of Incorporation and its bylaws under the guidance of its Board of Directors. IRES works to enhance the efforts of insurance regulators by ensuring professionalism and integrity among the men and women who serve with state or federal insurance regulatory bodies.

The objectives of IRES are:

  1. To establish a high code of professional standards for members engaged in the regulation of the insurance industry.
  2. To promote uniform ethical standards that will engender employer and public confidence to the degree that those interested can identify professionally qualified practitioners.
  3. To promote and enforce minimum requirements of conduct, training and expertise for members.
  4. To develop educational and training programs on a continuing basis modeled toward the specialized field of insurance regulation.
  5. To obtain and provide nationwide recognition and respect for members upon whom the Society has bestowed the title of Accredited Insurance Examiner (AIE®), Certified Insurance Examiner (CIE®), Market Conduct Management (MCM®), or Certified Insurance Consumer Service Representative (CICSR®).
  6. To inform the public of the value of highly trained and professional insurance regulators who hold the AIE®, CIE®, MCM® or CICSR® designations.
  7. To provide mutual benefits usually available to a large organization whose members have common interests.
  8. To actively promote the general and specific interests of all members.
  9. To perform such other acts and to carry on such other lawful activities as may be incident to, or as may be necessary or convenient to effectuate the foregoing purposes and objectives.

To help achieve these objectives, IRES adopted a Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics on July 9, 1990. IRES has also established a professional designation program designed to demonstrate the Society’s belief that insurance regulators, like other professionals, must continually commit themselves to education and training in order to stay abreast of the complex issues. The professional designation program consists of four nationally recognized professional designations: Accredited Insurance Examiner (AIE®), Certified Insurance Examiner (CIE®), Market Conduct Management (MCM®), and Certified Insurance Consumer Service Representative (CICSR®). To learn more about the professional designation program and how to earn one or more of the IRES designations, click here.

Furthermore, IRES sponsors an annual Career Development Seminar (CDS) to help insurance regulators from all areas of expertise keep informed on issues and topics with which they deal every day.