Buyers are pricing in potential future market disruption, such as online distribution, when buying a broker’s books of business, a P&C transaction advisor told Canadian Underwriter Wednesday. Mike Berris, partner and practice group leader with Vancouver-based Smythe Advisory said he…
Looking to sell your brokerage? Don’t assume your brokerage will eventually sell for an ever-increasing multiple of revenue, or that you will be able to sell at the high end of the current ranges, a P&C advisory and consulting firm…
Personal relationships with clients are a critical part of a broker’s business. So, when a broker decides to leave a brokerage, who owns the clients — the broker or the brokerage? “Really, the brokerage,” said John Elwick, a partner with Alexander…
Insurance companies or brokerages trying to prevent employees from poaching clients should include precise and specific employment restrictions on time and geography, a commercial litigation lawyer cautioned Wednesday. To draft an enforceable non-solicitation agreement, brokerages should provide realistic parameters on…
Brokerages looking to better motivate frontline workers should optimize play, purpose and potential, while reducing pressure, a recent experiment suggests. In a blog post for Harvard Business Review, authors Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi implemented an experiment to transform the…
Canadian P&C companies are increasingly targeting insurers and brokerages for mergers and acquisitions, although the interest in targeting insurtechs is rising, according to a new report from ratings firm A.M. Best Company. A.M. Best released its market segment report for…
Commercial insurance brokers will move beyond their sales role in the future and become true advisors on risk, industry executives predict. Signs of a hardening commercial insurance market provide one impetus for brokers to turn to risk advice to add…
A B.C. broker has had her sales licence suspended for three years after she took approximately $8,000 in premiums without authorization. The broker admitted she took the funds without authorization to pay for a relative’s medical expenses and her intention…
As cannabis comes closer to being legalized in Canada, Hub International told Canadian Underwriter the three major risks the brokerage has faced while writing cannabis insurance for the past four years. One of them is cash-on-hand, meaning pot producers have money…
If you’re looking to sell cyber coverage to big business, focus your efforts on utilities and retailers, suggest the results of a recent survey. The survey of companies with 500 or more employees also found that a growing number of…
Many brokerage offices are open for business outside of normal working hours but some question whether this is really necessary, given recent advances in web services. “It shouldn’t really matter if your technology is structured properly” whether your brokerage is…
Hub International Ltd. is planning to use the recent acquisition of a Windsor, Ont. firm to expand its online services with existing brokerages. “The reason why we bought Cypher Systems Group is we really felt that we wanted to have…