Features
U.S. Insurers look beyond the ratio
March 1, 2000 Lowell Conn & Sean van ZylU.S. insurers are fortifying themselves for lower profitability and a higher operating ratio in the coming year, a survey revealed at the 2000 Property & Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum recently in New York City. Industry chiefs insist that, despite heightened merger and acquisition in the year ahead, the overcapitalized insurance environment could soon be swept away by an abundance of cost-absorptive changes.
U.S. fin-reform focuses CEO strategy planning
March 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe repeal of the U.S. Glass-Steagall legislation toward the end of last year has opened what many in the property and casualty insurance industry see as a “Pandora’s box”. The legislation was replaced with the Financial Services Modernization Act of…
Regulators circling THE ADJUSTERS
March 1, 2000 Lowell ConnHarmonization efforts on the east coast have not gone unnoticed by regulators nationwide, with most provincial legislators carefully watching Insurance Act rewrites across the country in an effort for more standardized rules and regulations. Most recently, the regulatory sights have…
Liberty Mutual joins aftermarket fray
March 1, 2000 by Canadian UnderwriterOnly days after class action suits were started in Quebec against insurers AXA Canada and ING Canada, Liberty Mutual General Insurance in Canada became the next victim of the aftermarkets parts legal fever sweeping North America. With its American parent…
The Political Lobbying War Heats UP
March 1, 2000 Sean van ZylControl over the distribution of insurance products is once again back on the property and casualty insurance industry’s radar screen as the federal government’s proposed white paper on financial services competition is set to go forward before parliament for legislative…
Undercurrents
March 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe friendly bout gloves seem to have been removed in the latest acquisitional match of industry consolidation, namely the less-than-friendly bid made by listed Equisure Financial Network in the beginning of this year for its public-traded rival, Canada Brokerlink Inc.…
Developing niche lines of business: The garage sale closed
March 1, 2000 by Lowell ConnWhen the “garage sale” begins and market players undercut one another, nowhere is the reverberations felt any stronger than the specialty lines business. Niche operators want the message to be clear: “Stay out of out of our business”. More to…
Kingsway reports fourth quarter loss
March 1, 2000 by Canadian UnderwriterKingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSE: KFS) has announced a fourth quarter 1999 loss of 40 to 45 cents per share. The company expects to report a combined ratio of approximately 102% for fiscal 1999, a marked increase from 1998’s year-end…
Car thefts Top Cop
March 1, 2000 Lowell ConnTen years ago, auto theft was not big business organized crime that it has become today. About 97% of stolen cars were recovered then. Today, that figure has dropped to 60%. Some attribute the change to a more organized crime…
Digital sharpens adjusters’ focus
March 1, 2000 Lorne Montgomery, Crawford Adjusters CanadaEmerging technologies are having a great impact upon the insurance industry, in particular the adjusting field. One innovation that is leaving its mark on adjusting in particular is digital photography. Incorporating photos into insurance reports is critical to developing comprehensive…
Second quarter mergers escalate global scene
March 1, 2000 by Canadian UnderwriterIn a move that has escalated global primary company consolidation, CGU Group and Norwich Union announced they will merge their operations. The new company, CGNU, will form the UK’s largest insurance group and feature worldwide premium income and retail investment…
RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES BEYOND
March 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorSusan Meltzer, president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) for the 1999/2000 term, bridled in her opening comments in the panel discussion to a previous reference made by a seminar speaker at the RIMS’ “Operational Risk Management” conference…