MARKETING MANAGEMENT: The SAME PRODUCT, but the SAME SERVICE?
October 1, 1999 Chris MacKechnie, a consultant at Information DesignWorksAs an industry within the personal financial services sector, our customers don’t like us very much. To tell you the truth, I don’t blame them.; The SAME PRODUCT,
Underwriting performance HERE, and SOUTH
October 1, 1999 Gary Ketchum, managing senior financial analyst at A.M. Best Co.Investment gains have kept Canadian property and casualty underwriting results afloat, but conservative leverage — combined with signs of a market price hardening — now look to provide some additional comfort to the market. However, a comparison of business strategies applied by companies in Canada and their counterparts south of the border suggests that the former will have to place greater emphasis on reducing operating expenses.
On The Move (October 01, 1999)
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) has announced Christine Zahn has been named as the new director of events management and Mary Roth has been named to the newly created position of deputy executive director. Zahn, who joined RIMS…
Industry looks outward to control auto costs
October 1, 1999 Lowell ConnA recent Competition Bureau decision favoring “insurer preferred bodyshops” has provided auto property and casualty insurance companies with much needed ammunition in a pending court battle with the City of Toronto to overrule a longstanding by-law prohibiting the establishment of…
INVESTING in a low interest market
October 1, 1999 Cameron Laird, senior vice president of securities investment atWith the potential of gaining profit on underwriting limited by the soft market, property and casualty insurers are increasingly looking at ways of boosting their investment earnings. However, in today’s volatile investment markets, coupled with a low interest rate environment, the task of achieving an above average return is easier said than done — but not impossible. Appropriate risk rating and investment strategy implementation can generate higher gains.
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…
Balancing the books on Y2K LITIGATION
October 1, 1999 Steve Hammond, leader of commercial underwriting practices at RoDoes the next millennium begin officially on January 1, 2000 or January 1, 2001? That debate is better left to the academics. What is certain is that January 1, 2000 is the date computers must recognize. It is also the…
Provincial Regulatory Harmonization: Cutting the RED TAPE of classes
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterIs a new subsidiary, new product or policy form on the horizon for your company? If so, better be prepared for slippery target dates. Lengthy delays in licensing can occur when companies or their brokers develop new products which don’t…
Data privacy issue reaching apex
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterData security consultants NCR Corporation recently held a meeting for Canada’s business leaders in the retail, financial, telecommunications, insurance and government sectors, entitled “Consumer Privacy: Good for Business”. The session examined how Canadian organizations can balance the global demand for…
CGU snaps up GAN Canada
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterIn a deal valued at $139.5 million, CGU Canada Ltd. has purchased The GAN Company of Canada Ltd. from its French owner GAN International. GAN Canada is the 22nd largest property & casualty group in the country with net written…
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…