In keeping with the trend of Canadian commercial insurance brokerages offering expanded financial services, Westland Insurance Group yesterday acquired one of Ontario’s largest employee benefits consulting groups, The Winch Group. The Winch Group is a full-service brokerage specializing in employee…
A year after RSA Insurance Group plc was acquired by Intact Financial Corporation, nearly all personal lines broker policies, and commercial lines small business and fleet policies in Canada, have been converted to Intact systems, the insurer reported. “I’m pleased…
A bevy of challenges, including M&A frenzy, rapidly evolving technology, automation and directs, has spurred some independent brokerages to focus on specialization. And some are even divesting of personal lines. “From a client perspective, it’s great to have a broker…
PartnerRe Ltd. made a few executive-level shuffles Wednesday, marking the close of a December 2021 deal in which Covéa agreed to buy Partner Re from Exor for $9 billion in cash. Thierry Derez, CEO of Covéa Group, is replacing Brian…
Building relationships across the industry and offering consistency can help brokers overcome a slew of future challenges, including quickening market consolidation, an impending recession, diminished capacity and the hard market, say broker executives. “In order to be able to meet…
Canada’s largest insurer thinks 15% of insurers will undergo ownership changes in the next five years. “We predict that about 15% of the existing market shares will change hands in the next five years,” said Louis Gagnon, CEO of Intact…
Expect the quickening pace of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity to present a big challenge — or advantage — to brokers, Joseph Carnevale, president at Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario, said at the Young Brokers Conference. The Insurance Broker…
Large Canadian P&C brokerages continue to make national expansion a component of their acquisition strategies. National brokerage Navacord partnered with Abatis Risk Management (Abatis Gestion de Risques inc.) in March, which was Navacord’s first partnership in Quebec, according to Navacord…
M&A insurance can help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) avoid the need for an escrow agreement, but many small business owners aren’t aware of this possible solution. Escrow agreements are commonly found in M&A deals in the SME segment (deals…
Westland Insurance Group Ltd. has broadened its place in commercial and personal lines with the recent acquisition of two Ontario-based brokerages: MCR Insurance in Aurora and Walter Roberts Insurance in Richmond Hill. Ontario is an area of strategic importance, Westland…
For years, insurers have poached commercial underwriters from one another amid M&A activity, an aging population and hard/soft markets. But that’s left the industry with less seasoned talent and slower investment in acquisition, training and retention. “Suddenly, more so than…
The industry’s heavy reliance on outdated legacy systems may be holding it back from modernizing, panellists note during a Canadian Underwriter webinar — and this could be a problem for attracting IT talent. “Legacy platforms are a big challenge for…