What’s New: In Brief (December 08, 2008)

Women In Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC) Ontario has announced its goal to field 50 teams in the 2009 Canadian Cancer Society’s ‘Relay for Life.’
The Ontario Relay for Life is a 12-hour non-competitive relay on June 19, 2009. It takes place at 110 designated community sites across the province, with approximately 65,000 participants (11,000 cancer survivors and 11,000 volunteers) organized into teams of 10.
 “WICC invites your company to participate and show Canadians in your community that the property casualty industry is a caring and socially responsible group,” a WICC release says. “Insurers, reinsurers, brokers adjusting firms and other partner vendors will each be able to raise their firm’s brand awareness, and indeed our industry’s brand, in local communities.”
Contact Lyna Newman at execdirector.wicc@sympatico.ca if you are interested in submitting one or more teams.

In times of global financial crisis, members of the insurance industry — and in particular, risk managers — have an opportunity to shine, said Joe Plumieri, chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings.
“The only stable capital has been insurance capital,” Plumieri said in a speech during the annual dinner of the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in London, UK. His comments were posted on Willis’ Web site.
“The failure of investment banks and capital markets means that today insurance may be the only capital available for risk,” he said. “Companies are quickly realizing that strong risk management can help them gather that insurance capital at a lower cost.”
There will also be a renewed interest in enterprise risk management, Plumieri predicted, with CEOs keeping a closer eye on their balance sheets “and where all the risks in their businesses are.”