Moves (July 01, 2007)

The Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) went to Parliament Hill on June 12 to emphasize the importance of more than 30,000 independent brokers across the country. Members of Parliament and senators met with 50 insurance brokers across the country, as brokers sought to build an awareness of the role they play in small communities and the importance of small business. “Brokers are the backbone of so many community endeavours across Canada,” IBAC CEO Dan Danyluk said in a release. “Not only do our members support charity and community events, but we also financially contribute to the viability of thousands of small communities from coast to coast.” IBAC presented to Parliamentarians its recent findings in a socio-economic study the association conducts once every two years. “Ensuring brokers play a viable role in the ever globalizing financial services market is an important role for government to play,” Danyluk said. “When the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-37 this spring, they ensured that there continued to be a level playing field between the banks and small business when retailing insurance. We applaud the government of Canada for keeping a promise made to maintain the rules governing insurance retailing.”

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Frank Rieder, senior vice president at Benfield, has been appointed to the company’s international reinsurance and non-marine retrocession team. “With his extensive industry experience and strong relationships throughout the reinsurance community, Frank will be a tremendous asset to Benfield and our customers,” Dominic Christian, chief executive of Benfield’s international division, said in a release. “I am excited to be part of the team,” Rieder said.

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Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) vice president Peter Blodgett was in Peter- borough on June 7 to kick off the launch of the Drive Safe Campaign, led by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP). Blodgett participated in the launch with Monte Kwinter, Ontario’s minister of community safety, Donna Cansfield, the province’s minister of transportation, and a Peterborough representative of the IBAO. In a speech, Blodgett said IBAO was very pleased to be associated with this campaign. “The safety of our children and families is without a doubt a cause that is very important to our member brokers,” Blodgett said. “That is why we feel very strongly about partnering to promote the Drive Safe message.” In its eighth year of participation, IBAO has donated Cdn$10,000 this year to the Drive Safe Campaign. The proceeds will go towards producing traffic safety booklets to be handed out during R.I.D.E spot-checks, at collision reporting centers and at high schools. In addition to its monetary donation, IBAO will help distribute Drive Safe booklets and post Drive Safe signs throughout many of its member brokerages in Ontario.

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The curtain has lifted on FOCUS Entertainment Insurance Brokers Inc., British Columbia’s first locally owned and operated insurance brokerage firm exclusively servicing the film industry. Launched by business partners David Hamilton, a senior film insurance broker in Western Canada, and his long-time associate Bob Adams, FOCUS Entertainment’s primary goal is to service the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton film industries. The brokerage arranges insurance for feature films, television series, documentaries, commercials and movies-of-the-week, among other productions. Film production insurance includes coverage for the cast; special effects and stunts; props, sets and wardrobes; rented filming equipment and vehicles; locations; and the negative, as well as errors and omissions coverage while the production is in distribution or broadcast.

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PPG Canada Inc. has announced a shuffle within its automotive refinish group, with five staff members receiving new appointments. The appointments include: Lee Smith, current director of Refinish Canada, has been promoted to director of strategic growth and acquisition for PPG Automotive Refinish, North America; Brian Roberson, will serve as Smith’s replacement; Denis Cloutier is the new insurance services manager for Eastern Canada; Jennifer Rosiak-Wong, has become Canadian advertising manager; and Bruce Young is district manager of collision programs. In his new position, Smith will be responsible for developing growth strategies for short- and long-term objectives. Roberson will oversee the CertifiedFirst Network for PPG Canada. Cloutier will work with the Canadian insurance industry to communicate the value- added services the network can provide to insurers and their policyholders, throughought Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Rosiak-Wong will assume the responsibility of coordinating and implementing marketing and advertising programs for the automotive refinish division, including public relations, trade show activities and internal communications. As district manager of collision centre programs, Young will manage the company’s value-added programs for the western region (Manitoba to British Columbia), including TPS and Lean Six Sigma training for collision repair facilities, as well as ongoing support for the region’s MVP and CertifiedFirst program members.

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Vito Pisano, an agent with Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, spoke recently at Alexander MacKenzie High School as part of MADD Canada’s Mind Control – a multimedia show for the Youth Assembly Program being presented at high schools across the country. The program is intended to show students the effects of impaired driving. “Allstate Insurance Company of Canada is extremely proud to bring the fight against impaired driving to the students at Alexander MacKenzie HS,” Pisano said. “The anecdotes [presented in the video] are real and they are tragic. I am confident that this video will serve as a strong reminder of the potential consequences the next time someone gets behind the wheel impaired.”

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Travelers has enhanced its SelectOne liability policy for investment advisors and funds in Canada by protecting independent review committee (IRC) members.

National Instrument 81-107 requires the creation of an IRC for each investment fund that is a reporting issuer. The Instrument prescribes the functions of the IRC and requires that fund managers submit conflict of interest matters arising out of fund management to the IRC for review. IRC members make recommendations to the fund manager as to how these conflicts may be resolved. “IRC members may face liability for breaches of their obligations under National Instrument 81-107, as well as potential for negligence, negligent misrepresentation and/or breach of fiduciary duty,” said Phil Baker, vice president of Travelers Financial and Professional Services in Canada. “Traditional management liability insurance will not adequately protect the unique needs of the IRC members. Travelers created this policy to protect the personal assets of the IRC members by providing the comprehensive dedicated coverage.”

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The Co-operators Group Ltd has donated more than Cdn$220,000 to 183 different charities across the country. The donations were made on behalf of staff members, each of whom contributed $75 to the charity of their choice. “We’re proud to stand behind the dedicated men and women who work tirelessly to improve the lives of people in real and measurable ways,” Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, said. “With so many of our staff
using their paid volunteer day and much of their own time to serve at charities and other worthy organizations right across the country, we see very clearly how much of a positive difference this kind of assistance makes.”

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Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has launched a software platform that aims to enable insurance industry professionals to gain a more comprehensive view of their portfolio risk. “The Reinsurance Platform will help insurance, reinsurance, and catastrophe management professionals to reduce uncertainty in modelled losses, build a deeper understanding around regional accumulations of risk, and make better-informed decisions about how to allocate capital,” an RMS release said. The software is designed to handle large quantities of data and is fully integrated into RMS’s RiskLink modelling platform. By capturing the RiskLink output and conducting a number of post-analysis functions, the Reinsurance Platform enables users to gain a complete view of their current contracts and model the impact of adding complex new treaty types and conditions to a portfolio. “The RMS Reinsurance Platform represents a significant development in the way risk is managed, and provides a means to analyze and price a wide variety of reinsurance contracts,” said Christine Ziehmann, director of reinsurance solutions at RMS. “The powerful and robust analytics behind the Reinsurance Platform allow users to quickly and efficiently answer more business questions that can be answered through model output alone.”