Business interruption claims arising from the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to cost Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. nearly Cdn$300 million. Toronto-based Fairfax released Feb. 11 its financial results for 2020, reporting US$669 million in COVID-19 losses across all of its insurers.…
Craig Pinnock, chief financial officer of Toronto-based Northbridge Insurance, is heading the Black Initiatives Action Committee for Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Northbridge’s corporate parent. The Black Initiatives Action Committee has one representative of the Black community from each of the…
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. announced Monday that former Governor General of Canada David Johnston is back on its board of directors. Johnston had to step down from the Fairfax board when he became Governor General of Canada in 2010, the…
Steep price increases that have hit brokers’ commercial clients will not continue for the long term, but the current hard market is reminiscent of the period after Sept. 11, 2001, when two planes destroyed the World Trade Centre in New…
By selling a good chunk of its runoff business to one of Canada’s largest pension plans, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. is allowing that business to buy discontinued Lloyd’s books while still allowing Fairfax to invest in its other insurers, CEO…
Northbridge Insurance’s premiums are up 20% compared to early 2019 and hard market conditions will continue, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. officials said Thursday. “The hard market conditions that we have been experiencing through 2019 and into the first quarter of…
The COVID-19 pandemic was one of three “black swans” to hit the industry so far in 2020 but despite the uncertainty and panic, things will return to normal, suggests Prem Watsa, CEO of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. “The U.S.…
If laws get passed retroactively changing business interruption policy wording so that pandemic losses now get covered, insurers will likely launch legal challenges that will be looked at by high court judges, Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa suggests. During Fairfax’s…
Commercial rate increases gradually became steeper in 2019 and should continue like this for some time, says Prem Watsa, chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Toronto-based Fairfax, the parent company of Northbridge Financial, recently reported a 21.6% increase…
Asbestos-related commercial liability claims could soon reach a peak, but they continue to be a concern for the property and casualty insurance industry, suggests Prem Watsa, founder and chairman of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. “Asbestos has been a problem…
Insurance premiums are up nearly 14% for carriers owned by Fairfax Financial, and much of that is due to price increases, the holdings company’s president suggests. “In my career here – 16 years – I haven’t seen anything quite like…
If a blockbuster insurer merger gets announced tomorrow, it probably won’t involve Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which has grown steadily through insurer acquisitions over the past 34 years. “We are not looking to add in a significant way from…