Topic
Insurance
What’s New: In Brief (May 21, 2008)
May 21, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterA.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) to Echelon General Insurance Company (Echelon General).Concurrently, A.M. Best assigned an ICR of “bb+” to Echelon General’s publicly traded parent, EGI Financial Holdings Inc. (EGIFHI).The outlook for…
What’s New: In Brief (May 21, 2008)
May 21, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Autorit des marches financiers (AMF) ordered Courtage d’assurance Claude Htu inc. to pay a Cdn$3,000 penalty for failure to file financial statements. The brokerage firm was ordered to pay the penalty after it belatedly filed financial statements for fiscal…
Traffic Injury Research Foundation launches new driver resource centre
May 21, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterA Young and New Driver Resource Centre has been launched by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), with funding from Toyota Canada, to serve as a one-stop shop for young and new driver issues. The Web site is designed for…
Credit crunch and hurricane forecasts converging at wrong time for insurers
May 20, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterThe credit crunch related to the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, as well as the higher-than-average hurricane forecasts for the eastern seaboard, might be converging at the worst possible time for insurers, according to A.M. Best.“Turmoil in the…
What’s New: In Brief (May 20, 2008)
May 20, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterPolicy Works has launched the first commercial management system that allows brokers to exchange commercial-lines data electronically with four insurers.With the company’s eMarketing version 6.2, brokers can upload and download commercial policy and quotation information with ING Insurance Company of…
What’s New: In Brief (May 20, 2008)
May 20, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), The Co-operators and the Downtown Guelph Business Association have partnered in the creation of the disaster-planning program called Open for Business.Launched in Guelph, Ont., the pilot program consists of a disaster planning folder,…
What’s New: In Brief (May 16, 2008)
May 16, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is calling for a national action plan to upgrade water and sewage infrastructure across Canada. The country’s critical infrastructure, particularly water and sewage systems, were built according to weather pattern assumptions that have become totally…
Executive changes at Kingsway to formulate future strategies
May 16, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterKingsway Financial Services Inc. has made some executive changes to create its leadership team, align management responsibilities and formulate Kingsway’s strategy for the future.Shelly Gobin has been appointed senior vice president and CFO. She will assume overall responsibility for reinsurance…
PartnerRe report assesses strengths, weaknesses of risk transfer mechanisms
May 16, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterThe choice of whether to use traditional reinsurance or capital markets to transfer risk “will depend on careful consideration of a number of different factors, including the risk, size of insurer and ability to absorb basis risk,” PartnerRe says in…
Subprime financial losses expected to be huge, but mitigating factors may temper insurance losses
May 16, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterProjected to be bigger in scope than the savings and loan crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the subprime mortgage and credit derivative fiasco currently embroiling the United States is merely in its infancy, panelists told people attending…
Zurich reports US$1.4 billion profit in Q1
May 15, 2008 by Canadian UnderwriterZurich Financial Services Group reported a net income of US$1.4 billion, an increase of 3% in its 2008 Q1 earnings over 2007 Q1.The general insurance unit of the company saw a 10% increase in gross written premiums and policy fees,…
What’s New: In Brief (May 15, 2008)
May 15, 2008 by Canadian Underwriter*** CORRECTION This item contains a correction of an item that was originally posted on May14. Please note the contact information for the Guy Carpenter & Company Casino Night has been amended. Peter Phillips has been appointed managing director of…