Features
Coming Events (December 01, 1999)
December 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterAnnouncements in Coming Events are run free of charge as a service to the industry. Items should be submitted by the first of the month prior to the month in which the announcement is to appear. Toronto Insurance Women’s Association:…
Letters (November 01, 1999)
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDear Editor, I was so pleased to read that Jan Lowther had received the “Golden Torch” award recently in Colorado. Jan has been the “guiding light” for risk management communications in Canada for many years and her trustworthy and interested…
Lloyd’s impacted by consumer technology
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterHeightened consumer expectations and the broader reach of technology are having a significant impact on the commercial market, says Andrew Duguid, director of development at Lloyd’s of London. Technology has broadened the choices in risk management, enabling for inhouse risk…
OLD DOGS LEARNING NEW TRICKS
November 1, 1999 Lowell ConnTaco Bell’s Chihuahua campaign, launched in late 1997, has become the pre-eminent brand recognition success of the late 1990s. The ad spots, featuring a talking Mexican dog whose only desire is to pursue Taco Bell food, has resulted in a…
Global brokers RESET TARGETS
November 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe wave of mergers and acquisitions which has occurred between the corporate national property and casualty brokers across North America appears to have reached an end, leaving a landscape occupied by two distinct camps: small regional operators and the new…
A Brave New World
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe term “globalization” has become yet another buzzword expression littering the field of industry jargon. Similar to other grand but ambiguous phrases like “business reengineering” and “corporate repositioning” (among a broad host too numerous to mention), the term globalization jumps…
Appraising the rocky shore of risk
November 1, 1999 Michael HlinkaCanadian corporations are facing an increasingly litigious environment resembling that of the U.S., delegates were told at the Canadian Risk & Insurance Management Society conference held recently in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Dubbed “Risk on the Rock”, the conference’s speakers portrayed…
THE HUB INVASION
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorWhile most of the public broker networks appear to have eased off on their acquisitional sprees, newcomer The Hub Group Ltd. has no intention of slowing down. In fact, the group’s president Rick Gulliver has announced plans of a major thrust into the U.S. brokerage market in the year ahead, with the recent acquisition of a leading Chicago-based broker signaling the beginning of an ambitious campaign.
News (November 01, 1999)
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterConsumers need better information when they buy insurance, provincial and territorial insurance regulators agree. “Consumers should get plain-language ‘disclosure’ documents when they buy life insurance,” the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) agreed at its two-day meeting in Charlottetown, Prince…
Broker networks position
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterBroker consolidator Equisure Financial Network Inc. (TSE: EFN) has in partnership with the ING group launched a new general insurance company to be licensed across Canada. Ownership of the new insurer, Northbrooke General Insurance Company of Canada, will be equally…
Harmonization drives Nova Scotia brokers
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterAtlantic harmonization was the big topic of discussion at the Insurance Brokers Association of Nova Scotia (IBANS) conference held recently in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. IBANS president Michael Brien says his constituents have a number of concerns heading into the coming…
Broker Networks PAUSE FOR BREATHER
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorAlthough the public broker networks almost overnight captured 5% marketshare of Canada’s property and casualty insurance market in a stunning succession of acquisitions, the recent poor results of many of the operators, combined with a more wary investor attitude to…