NAIC President Honors 2 State Insurance Regulators with 2024 Robert Dineen Award

On Nov. 17, during the Opening Session of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) 2024 Fall National Meeting, NAIC President and Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais recognized two state insurance regulators for their exemplary service with the NAIC’s Robert Dineen Award.

The Robert Dineen Award was established in June 1989 for Outstanding Service and Contribution to the State Regulation of Insurance and named in honor of the founder of the NAIC’s Support and Services Office.

You can read more about each recipient below:

Matt Gendron, Esq.

Matt serves as General Counsel and Chief of Regulatory Compliance at the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, which he joined in 2015 as an entry level legal counsel.

During his time at the Department, where he currently oversees the Market Conduct division, Matt has earned a reputation as a dedicated, passionate regulator who is always volunteering to take on more responsibility and who attacks the most challenging issues with hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication.

At the NAIC, Matt has been a valuable member on many working groups and task forces, including Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (H), Restructuring Mechanisms (E), Pet Insurance (C), and more.

Among his accomplishments, he worked for several years to draft model acts on pet insurance (#633) and travel insurance (#632) and then worked to implement annual statements or standardize data requests for them with various market conduct working groups.

He also assisted in drafting the "Best Interest" updates to the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation (#275) and has helped interpret that regulation as the working group has drafted several rounds of FAQs.

Along the way, he has earned designations including LOMA’s Fellow, Life Management Institute and the NAIC’s Professional in Insurance Regulation designation.

John Rehagen

John has worn many hats at the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI), where he started in 2003 as a financial analyst. In the 21 years since, he has also been a financial examiner, captive program manager, and deputy division director. In 2017, he served as acting department director until Director Chlora Lindley-Myers was appointed. He currently serves as the division director of company regulation, which he became in 2014.

He serves as both a member and Director Lindley-Myers’ representative on numerous NAIC working groups related to solvency monitoring, group supervision, reinsurance, captives, and international matters, and he acts as chair of the Reinsurance (E) Task Force on the director’s behalf.

One of John’s most notable contributions to the Missouri DCI has been the transformation of his division’s processes and procedures.

John encourages open communication among his team, resolves problems and issues quickly and efficiently, and has established a stellar reputation as both a leader in the Department and a knowledgeable regulator, nationally and internationally.

(Top L-R: Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance Director Chlora Lindley-Myers; John Rehagen; NAIC President and Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais; Matt Gendron, Esq.; and Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation Director Elizabeth Kelleher Dwyer)