Two Quebec brokerages will be merging to create the “second largest player” in personal and commercial insurance brokering in the province, the companies announced Thursday. PMT ROY Assurances et services financiers announced its merger with PMA Assurances. The deal…
Private equity firm Southampton Financial Inc. has announced its acquisition of Ontario-based digital insurance brokerage aha insurance. Launched in 2017, Waterloo, Ont.-based aha insurance offers consumers the ability to quote, purchase and manage car and home insurance policies entirely online.…
With so many NatCats affecting the real estate property insurance sector, catastrophe (Cat) modelling is becoming a fixture for clients seeking coverage in a tightening market, a Hub International report states. “Catastrophe (CAT) modeling is…becoming essential in real estate resiliency,”…
Insurance Council of British Columbia has fined a former broker $1,500 for failing to notify his commercial client that the company’s address change — which located the business in a floodplain — triggered a lack of coverage during a subsequent…
Persistent labour shortages, forecasted lower levels of travel, elevated inflation and rising property insurance rates will threaten the hospitality industry’s profitability in 2024, Hub International predicts in its 2024 Outlook series. Yet, with prolonged periods of government mandated shutdowns, low…
Underwriters can use generative AI to help speed up their turnaround times with their broker partners, says an insuretech executive. Underwriters can use insurtech platforms, or generative AI tools like Chat GPT, to input their submissions, along with a…
How can consolidators afford to buy brokerages when interest rates on bank loans to finance deals have steeply increased? Firms that are actively engaged in brokerage buying and selling told CU they have become more selective. “We are getting a…
Selectpath Insurance, a Navacord brokerage, has partnered with Myers Insurance to enlarge the southwestern Ontario presence of each brokerage. Headquartered in Wallaceburg, Ont., and with an office in Corunna, Myers Insurance is a second-generation multi-lines brokerage run by president Jim…
Aviva Canada is acquiring Optiom O2 Holdings Inc., a managing general agent (MGA) that specializes in vehicle replacement insurance in Canada. The $170-million Cdn deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of…
Car thefts began rising across Canada in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been climbing ever since – fuelled by organized crime rings using new technologies to steal key fob codes and take vehicles while their owners are asleep.…
Don Thompson has been appointed Westland Insurance Group’s new chief operating officer (COO), the brokerage announced. Thompson will assume the role effective January 1, 2024. He has over 30 years of experience in the P&C insurance industry and is…
Rising interest rates are changing the brokerage M&A environment and giving sellers a shorter timeline to produce the projected earnings. And chances are, if they haven’t produced reliable returns already, the buyers may balk on a purchase, said Yan Charbonneau,…