What’s New: In Brief (January 24, 2008)

Faced with a high volume of policy requests and underwriting information, AXA Canada is turning towards an XML-based platform to automate its data systems, according to a report by ITWorldCanada.com.
The insurer has made the change as Canada’s insurance industry standards have moved towards XML regulations, such as those created by Canada’s Centre for Studies in Insurance Operations (CSIO). The Montreal-based insurer has chosen XAware Inc., based in Colorado, to install a more automated data transferring system and speed up the process towards compliance with CSIO XML standards, the Web site report notes.
AXA is “using XAware as a transformation service,” the company’s IT project manager, Yvon Lefebvre, told ITWorldCanada.com. “This reduces the risk of having different solutions for our data services.”

Based on preliminary figures, Allianz Group is confirming its forecast for the 2007 results, with operating profit expected to exceed EUR10.8 billion [about Cdn$16 billion] and profits to rise to EUR8 billion [Cdn$11.9 billion].
“In the property and casualty business, operating profit amounts to more than 6.2 billion euros [Cdn$9.2 billion] in 2007,” Allianz reported in an online statement.
“As a result, despite a difficult market environment, Allianz Group was able to further increase its net income from 7 billion euros [Cdn$10.4 billion] for 2006 to 8 billion euros for 2007.”
Allianz will publish full details for the fiscal year 2007 on Feb. 21, 2008.