Views (November 01, 2007)

More than 130 delegates attended A.M. Best Company’s inaugural Review & Preview Conference–Canadian Update in September. Hosted at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, the conference featured interactive discussions with prominent leaders in the Canadian market, as well as A.M. Best’s senior ratings experts to address the issues currently shaping the Canadian insurance industry.

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The Fellows of the CIP Society, Toronto Chapter recently hosted its annual golf tournament at Wyndance Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ontario. The event raised funds for The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada. Prestige tournament sponsors included Aviva Canada; The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company; The CG&B Group; Canadian Underwriter magazine, as well as a number of generous hole and event sponsors.

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Risk and Insurance Management Society Canada Conference, Halifax

Dalhousie University’s Campus Quad was a sea of nervous faces as students tested their skills playing Risk, the classic game of strategy, for their chance to win up to Cdn$5,000 towards tuition from Aon.

Billed as “Halifax’s largest game of Risk,” the Sept. 17 recruitment event during the RIMS Canada Conference was created to introduce Aon as an employer of choice, as well as award academic bursaries to the top three players.

As the clock ticked down, the numbers were reduced to the final six battling it out for the top spot. A large crowd of students and faculty gathered to cheer them on, as commerce student Kyle Moore emerged as the ultimate winner.

“I was literally walking by and decided to take part at the last minute,” said Kyle. He said the $5,000 will go a long way to paying off his student debt. Although he’d never heard of Aon before the event, he was thrilled they chose to give back to the community in this way; now he is considering a career in risk management. “I called my parents after I won, and they were pretty confused at first,” he said. “But they were really happy for me when I finally explained what had happened.”

Faced with an increased need to hire for junior positions, the event served to connect with students who might not otherwise have considered a career in the field of risk management. “It was a great platform to get in front of future leaders in our industry, and offer up the best of what Aon can do for them as an innovative employer with boundless opportunities,” said vice president, national talent and regional human resources manager, Noula Kondovski.

Kondovski has since received multiple inquiries about applying for a job with Aon. “If someone had the creativity to do something like this, then they are probably a creative company in other aspects, and that would be someone that I would be happy to work for,” said Mark Manser, a Dalhousie student who participated in the tournament.

Senior vice president and national director of group risk solutions, Paul MacDonald was also on hand to meet with the students. In his mid-thirties, MacDonald is himself a Dalhousie graduate who rose through the ranks at Aon, attaining the role of national director in only five years. He served as a role model for new graduates who start their career with the company.

David Wheeler, dean of Dalhousie University’s faculty of management, and Peter Shelton, senior vice president and Aon Halifax branch manager, were on hand to present the bursaries to David MacDonald, who won Cdn$2,500 for taking second place, and Blair Salter, who won the Cdn$500 prize for third place.

Local band Little Fish provided live entertainment, and lunch was served to more than 300 students who participated in the event.The winners were then invited to attend the Canadian Risk and Insurance Management Society dinner at Pier 21, where they were formally recognized by Aon president and CEO, Chris Fawcus.

Fawcus said the event would be replicated at universities across Canada during the coming year.

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A flock of runners and walkers stretched and breathed in the ocean air before charging through Point Pleasant Park in support of the McGannon Foundation’s 4th Annual Fun Run/Walk, sponsored by FM Global and held at “Halifax Beacons 2007.”

Thirty-six runners and walkers laced up their shoes. Those with the quickest feet were: Ante Petricevic (1st place, male runner); Drew Kilback (1st place, male runner over-40); and Theresa McMullen (1st place, female runner). McMullen was followed closely by Holly Lister.

Wayne Snow proved to be the quickest male walker and Elizabeth Condax the quickest female walker.

The Fun Run/Walk, organized by McGannon Foundation board member Joe Hardy, raised Cdn$2,000. The contest is one of several sources of support for the Foundation. This year the annual SARIMS golf tournament raised more than Cdn$21,000, noted board chair Joseph Restoule.

Last year, with the support of perpetual donors, additional donations and Cdn$2,500 from the Calgary Fun Run, the Foundation raised more than Cdn$84,000, increasing the fund to approximately Cdn$450,000. Six scholarships were awarded in 2006; to date, a total of 12 scholarships have been handed out.

Restoule also announced the launch of a new program, ‘The McGannon Student Involvement Program,’ which will be unveiled at the RIMS Canada Conference, Toronto 2008. The Foundation will sponsor worthy students enrolled in post-secondary risk management programs, so that they may attend the conference, Restoule says. “Each student will be paired up with a mentor to guide them through the conference and help them to make new connections in the industry,” he says.

Restoule said the foundation also donated another Cdn$5,000 to Junior Achievement (JA) of Ontario, a non-profit organization that helps high school students learn about the business world through hands-on seminars.

Working with JA will allow the Foundation to not only create an awareness of the risk management profession at a younger age, but will also allow the foundation to track how many of those students enter the field, Restoule says.

“It’s a really great partnership and will hopefully help with succession and recruitment issues in the long run.”

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This year, RIMS Canada executives stepped into their new roles on Sept. 1, as opposed to being sworn in on the traditional March date. Nevertheless, despite the later start, they are already planning how to deliver “tangibles” for the year ahead.

Their docket includes ramping up their Risk and Insurance Management Society [RIMS] awareness campaign in Canada for both members and non-members. This will be done through advertising and educational opportunities, pushing for a full-time risk management course at a Canadian university and further developing relationships with government and non-government bodies.

Kim Hunton, RIMS Canada chair, said the later date for swearing-in executive members is part of an effort to move to a calendar-year cycle. “This current executive has an extended sentence,” she laughs. They’ll serve until Dec. 31, 2009, at which point the next council will come in on Jan. 1.

Rounding out the rest of the executive is Bruce Tainsh, vice chair; Charlie Parker, treasurer; and Susan Meltzer, secretary. Heading up the three subcommittees — the national conference committee, the national external affairs committee and the national education committee — are Marley Drainville, Lance Kayfish and Jeff Schaafsma, respectively.

One thing the group is working on, Hunton says, is trying to establish another full-time risk management program at a Canadian university. “Since the current program is in Calgary, we’re trying to set one up in the East,” she said. “Where that will be, we’re not quite sure yet.” In the meantime, the council is also striving to bring CRM courses online to improve accessibility.

This isn’t the only initiative aimed to draw new recruits into the industry. The council has also launched an advertising campaign to promote risk management as a profession, and the CRM designa
tion to accounting professionals in Canada. The campaign began in early 2007; by mid-August, there were 227 Web inquiries, Hunton says.

She stressed that all of the initiatives are interwoven through the subcommittees, with the council working as a whole to further the profession. “It’s an amazing group of volunteers that we have this year,” Hunton says. “The fact that they are all working so tirelessly, in addition to their day jobs to deliver these initiatives is really inspiring.”

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Nowell Seaman of Saskatoon is the 2007 recipient of the Donald M. Stuart Award, originally created by the Ontario Chapter of RIMS [Risk and Insurance Management Society] in 1979. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the Canadian risk management community.

Seaman, manager of risk management and insurance services at the University of Saskatchewan, received the award at a special awards presentation at the 2007 RIMS Canada Conference in Halifax.

Erin Magilton-Morneau, president of RIMS’s Ontario chapter, presented the prestigious award to Seaman. In her speech, Magilton-Morneau told of inspiring and touching letters from Seaman’s peers and colleagues.

“The letters spoke of a person who serves his community by inspiring and motivating his peers with his leadership, his openness and his vision for RIMS in Canada,” she said.

During his tenure as chair of the RIMS Canada Council, Seaman addressed issues head-on, and in a professional and pragmatic manner,” she added.

Seaman also led his local chapter in 2002, holding a successful RIMS Canada Conference, Magilton-Morneau noted,. She said the reasons why Seaman is worthy of the award extend beyond his involvement with RIMS.

On behalf of his employer, Seaman has developed a benchmark for the practice of enterprise risk management. He is always willing to share his experiences and ideas for the benefit of other risk managers, she said.

“What I find personally most inspiring is the fact that in addition to his outstanding contribution to the field of risk management in Canada, he also manages to fit in a full and interesting life that has nothing to do with risk management,” Magilton-Morneau said.

Seaman began his career in risk management in 1983, after a successful career as a guitarist in a Grammy-nominated band. In addition, he is the father of five children ranging in ages from three to 19.

Seaman extended his thanks to his RIMS colleagues for “this extraordinary award” in a speech.

“I didn’t have the pleasure and privilege to know Don Stuart personally, but I gained a glimpse of him through a letter I received from his wife while I was chairman of the Canada Council at the time of his passing,” he told the crowd.

In her letter, Stuart’s widow told Seaman of the countless hours Stuart dedicated to the society, and the enjoyment he gained from his long association with RIMS.

“I am so honoured to receive this award in his name,” Seaman said. “I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve the evolving risk management community in Canada, and to be associated with such a fine group of people. I have received far more than I have given.”

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Sails were set and anchors were away at the RIMS Canada Conference in Halifax, as The ARC Group Canada (a national network of independent law firms) hosted clients and guests for a memorable evening sailing aboard The Bluenose II in Halifax Harbour.

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Catlin Canada entertained guests at the RIMS Canada Conference in Halifax, hosting a Maritime-style evening of East Coast cuisine and excitement at Tribeca Bistro & Bar.