Disruption by fintechs will be one driving force behind mergers and acquisitions among insurance brokerages, industry executives say.“I think fintech will help perpetuate this continued consolidation trend because I think at the small end of the market, fintech is viewed…
Concerned about whether “black box” underwriting methods based on artificial intelligence are good for your clients? So is Canada’s federal insurance regulator. “We get a lot of questions around AI and what are we to do about it,” said Neville…
When private equity players are looking to buy firms they think are “recession proof” and brokerage owners reach retirement age, it’s a recipe for more mergers and acquisitions, insurance professionals heard last week at KPMG Canada’s 28th annual insurance conference.…
If you manage a brokerage that has merged, don’t forget to tell every employee why the transaction took place and what the end goal is, brokerage leaders who have been through the process said Thursday. “I don’t think, in any…
The federal insurance regulator – silent during the election campaign on proposed changes to reinsurance – plans to talk to the industry after the holidays, a senior official with the federal Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said…
Risk managers using colour-coded heat maps may be pressed by their bosses for more specific information on their exposures, a new risk management expert at KPMG Canada suggests. Heat maps are a way for risk managers to report risks to…
There is a direct correlation between scalability of intelligent automation (IA) technologies and financial performance, a new KPMG International study has found. Based on a survey of nearly 600 business leaders (including 100 top-level executives) across 13 countries, including Canada,…
Properly segmenting data within an “ocean” of information can make the difference between champ and chump, speakers suggested at KPMG’s recent insurance conference. “I think the biggest change that most people are grappling with is the amount of data that…
Amazon and Google may disrupt the insurance industry some day, but don’t expect either of these firms to start underwriting, suggests the head of one of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurers. “The Googles and Amazons of this world might…
Brokers looking for new large cyber accounts might want to knock on doors of companies who look after other people’s money. More than half (55%) of Canadian asset managers surveyed said they intend to purchase insurance to protect themselves against…
A US$6-billion merger between Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. and Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Plc could form the world’s largest commercial brokerage, and more mergers and acquisitions among commercial brokerages will likely to follow, a Canadian M&A expert suggests. Marsh…
Improving distribution and exploring sophisticated technologies such as artificial intelligence are among the major reasons why insurance CEOs are looking to make deals such as mergers and acquisitions these days. But some of these objectives can be accomplished through other,…