OLD DOGS LEARNING NEW TRICKS
November 1, 1999 Lowell ConnTaco Bell’s Chihuahua campaign, launched in late 1997, has become the pre-eminent brand recognition success of the late 1990s. The ad spots, featuring a talking Mexican dog whose only desire is to pursue Taco Bell food, has resulted in a…
FOCUSSING EDUCATION
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe IBAO will continue pursuing its provincial “off-site” education program, which was launched at the association’s 1998 Convention, says Rodney Hancock, education chair. And, while the program has proven “highly successful” for a first year, he adds that some fine-tuning…
Global brokers RESET TARGETS
November 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe wave of mergers and acquisitions which has occurred between the corporate national property and casualty brokers across North America appears to have reached an end, leaving a landscape occupied by two distinct camps: small regional operators and the new…
A Brave New World
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe term “globalization” has become yet another buzzword expression littering the field of industry jargon. Similar to other grand but ambiguous phrases like “business reengineering” and “corporate repositioning” (among a broad host too numerous to mention), the term globalization jumps…
INDEPENDENCE or INTERDEPENDENCE?
October 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorDespite the recent and resounding victory of independent property and casualty insurance brokers in blocking banks from branch retailing of insurance, Canada’s brokerage community faces many challenges on the road ahead. Even without the bank threat, the distribution end of…
Going for Wholesale or BROKE
October 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe recent acquisition of insurance wholesale broker KMS Insurance by consolidator The Hub Group emphasizes the change consolidation is bringing about throughout the broker distribution channel. Wholesale brokers and managing general agents have been brought into the market fray of soft rates and the eternal drive for cost-efficiency. Is there a future for this particular breed of broker — most of the players believe so, but each appears to be taking a different course.
IBAC’s “Wave of Change”
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterJim Ball, appointed president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) for the 1999/2000 term at the association’s recently held annual general meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, predicts a secure future ahead for independent brokers. However, like the inevitability of…
RAISING the tide of EDUCATION
October 1, 1999 Lowell ConnKen Orr, incoming president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), believes brokers need to invest further in continuing professional development. Despite a successful launch of the IBAO’s “travelling education road show” in the past term, early returns suggest…
Hub acquires wholesale specialist
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterIn a move paralleling Equisure Financial Network’s 1997 acquisition of wholesale broker South Western Group, broker network The Hub Group has purchased KMS Insurance. Terms and the value of the transaction were not released. Rick Gulliver, president of Hub, says…
Money Laundering Legislation with BITE
October 1, 1999 Nikki McManus, a freelance writerCanada is big business — amounting to some $17 billion each year. And, although Canada’s money recycling black market is minor in global terms (which the U.N. estimates to be $1 trillion worldwide), there are weaknesses in the current financial…
INDEPENDENCE ALIVE
October 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorIf anyone harbored doubts of the political clout capable of the independent broker movement in protecting its business turf, such a notion would have been soundly thrashed by the highly effective campaign wielded against the banks in the latest round…
The Peripatetic Rep: Four disciplines, one vision
October 1, 1999 AxiomAs we completed our tour of the brokerage’s renovated offices, Saul led me into a small boardroom on the second floor. Three men sitting around the table rose to their feet. “Dave,” he said with a smile, “meet my three…