Canadian Underwriter


John Morin
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Canadian Insurance Congress 2001: A CULTURAL CRISES

July 1, 2001 Sean van Zyl, Editor

“We haven’t seen [adverse financial] conditions such as this in the last 50 years,” says the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC) chief economist Paul Kovacs. As one of the opening speakers at this year’s Canadian Insurance Congress, Kovacs points out

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MAKING THE CALL ON OUTSOURCING

June 1, 2001 Paul Kowal, president of Kowal Associates

With the rise of the insurance call center environment, companies are seeking a direct, and cost efficient line to customers. But whether or not this core function should be outsourced is a subject of hot debate. Concerns about outsourcing are not without merit, but with proper planning including specification goals and a willingness to delegate responsibility, this can be an efficient and effective vehicle for insurers.

ILLUSTRATION: BY JAMES WARDELL
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LEGAL COUNSEL COSTS: VALUE OR NOT?

April 1, 2001 Paul Iacono, a senior partner at Iacono Brown

Insurers today do not retain trial counsel. They retain counsel to prepare a case for settlement with the view that the appropriate legal resources will be available if ever needed. Unfortunately, the current working relationship of hourly billing that exists between insurers and their outside legal counselors has created an ineffective and costly process which cannot go unresolved. However, there are alternative fee solutions which can work for all parties.

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Has the “Cycle” broken?

December 1, 2000 Steve Hammond, leader of commercial underwriting practices at Ro

There is evidence to suggest that the traditional business planning cycle has been bent so far out of shape as to become irrelevant to property and casualty insurance. Faced with the “end of the cycle”, insurers need to find a new barometer.

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Empowering leadership in the “technology millennium”

August 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, Editor

Reforming company management structures to deal with the rapidly evolving marketplaces of financial services formed the central focus of the International Insurance Association Inc.’s (IIA) 36th annual conference, which was recently held in Vancouver. The prime drivers of change impacting

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Turning a slow corner: Canadian Insurance Congress 2000

July 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, Editor

The 2000 Canadian Insurance Congress — which this year celebrated its tenth anniversary as Canada’s premier annual reinsurance/primary company CEO forum — drew together a strong cast of speakers from across the sectors of the North American property and casualty

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Learning From the Masters

January 1, 2000 Lowell Conn

The independent adjuster faces an array of challenges in the year ahead, concedes new Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association (OIAA) president Christina Welton. Greater regulatory scrutiny on licensing, a pending court case that could introduce more liability for claims professionals, and

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COUNTDOWN to a new era

December 1, 1999 Lowell Conn and Sean van Zyl

The 1990s will likely go down as the most momentous period in the modern history of the property and casualty insurance industry, a senior executive with experience dating back to the post WWII era recently stated. From “riches to rags,”

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Disaster Loss mitigation: Great Balls of Hail

August 1, 1999 Alan Pang, managing director at the Institute for Catastrophic L

Over recent years the largest catastrophic loss payments of most insurers have resulted from prairie hailstorms. During the 1990s, there have been six major storms, each causing catastrophic losses in excess of $50 million. The National Hail Conference, recently held

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The right adjuster FOR THE JOB

July 1, 1999 Lowell Conn

National harmonization of the licensing and regulation of the adjusting profession has become a hot topic for regulators and the insurance industry in Canada. Alberta’s recent Insurance Act rewrite included a step-licensing structure as well as a provision for mandatory

CEO panel, from left to right: Vincent Dowling, managing director of Dowling & Partners Securities L.L.C. (moderator), Heidi Hutter of Swiss Re America, Thomas Crawford of Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance Co., James Matschulat of Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co., Ramani Ayer of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Maurice Greenberg of American International Group.
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Batten down the hatches FOR 99

March 1, 1999 Lowell Conn and Sean Van Zyl

Reduced profitability, rising underwriting losses, increased competition and higher technology costs are likely to form the stage for the North American property and casualty insurance industry in 1999, according to the vast majority of respondents in an Insurance Information Institute (III) survey conducted at the annually held Joint Industry Forum which recently took place in New York City.

illustration: gerald heydens
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A RISKY BUSINESS

March 1, 1999 Axiom

As I approached the first aisles of the “Exhibitors’ Showcase” it occurred to me for perhaps the sixth or seventh time just how technologically advanced our business had become. The three-day-long brokers’ convention had started, and half of the convention