BMI sees Canadian P&C premium growth expanding to $70.8 billion by 2014

Business Monitor International (BMI) is predicting premium growth in Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry will expand from $55.1 billion to $70.8 billion by 2014.
“In terms of the key drivers that underpin our forecasts, we are looking for non-life penetration to remain constant at 3.5% of GDP through the forecast period,” BMI stated in a release of its third, most recent report on Canada’s insurance sector, available at companiesandmarkets.com
BMI noted Canada’s property and casualty sector is more fragmented than its life insurance industry, consisting “mainly of mutuals and co-operatives that have not needed to raise capital from global markets.”
BMI cited The Economical Insurance Group, The Co-operators Insurance & Financial Services, Desjardins Group and Wawanesa Mutual as examples, in addition to the fact that Canada has four state-owned monopoly automobile insurance companies.
“No single player appears to have a double-digit market share,” BMI noted. “One consequence of the fragmentation and lingering mutualization of the Canadian non-life segment is that the Canadian property and casualty insurers have had less desire and need than the life companies to seek challenges and opportunities in other countries.”