Canadian Underwriter


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Brokerlink consolidates Vector

September 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

Listed broker consolidators Canada Brokerlink Inc. and Vector Intermediaries Inc. have announced their intention to merge operations with netpremium volume of $277 million. The newly formed corporation — expected to retain the Brokerlink brand name — will trade shares with

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The Ball in IBAC’s Court

September 1, 1999 Lowell Conn

Property & casualty insurance brokers are breathing a collective sigh of relief as the federal government’s discussion paper on the future of financial institutions in Canada effectively put a moratorium on the banks’ entry into the retail insurance market. Despite

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U.S. Reinsurance Market PRICING STABILIZES

September 1, 1999 Sean Mooney, senior vice president at Guy Carpenter & Company In

Following a lengthy period of stagnation, pricing within the U.S. reinsurance market seems to have stabilized, with even some evidence in the market of rate increases. However, until the market’s excess capacity is depleted, buyers of reinsurance will continue to enjoy the benefits of highly competitive pricing.

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Corroon sells Ottawa business

September 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

Global broker Willis Canada has divested its Ottawa area commercial accounts to regional broker Binks Insurance Brokers Ltd. in a move industry observers suggest could be a sign of things to come in the commercial brokerage sector. Terms of the

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Y2K: rollingthe dice

September 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, Editor

With year 2000 reinsurance treaty negotiationscurrently in full swing, there is a desperate hope among the players that rates will return to moresensible levels. However, faced with increasedcompetition, both locally and globally, reinsurersanticipate a long road ahead before the soft

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LONDON calling

September 1, 1999 Glenn McGillivray, head of corporate communication at Swiss Rein

Since reforms in the mid-1990s, more and more corporate capital is flowing into Lloyd’s of London — much of it from some of the world’s most noted reinsurers. Could this injection of new capital forge the rebirth of the world’s most unique insurance market?

How fast will the "net" change business
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“DO or DIE”, strategy message is to embrace the TECHNOLOGY FUTURE

September 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, Editor

Whether traditional players in the property and casualty insurance industry continue to hold the lion’s share of business will depend on their willingness to embrace consumer-driven technologies and boost productivity, delegates attending the recently held Strategy Institute conference were told. In particular, the pressure of higher consumer expectations coupled with increased competition from new players to insurance will be felt mostly in the personal lines arena, the speakers warn.

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REINSURANCE BROKER VIEWS

September 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

Donald Alexander, senior vice president of Guy Carpenter & Company Ltd. (Canada). My instincts tell me that the reinsurance market is under-priced. Rating models strongly indicate that market prices are below what they should be. This is not surprising, given

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Marketing Strides – getting ON TOP

September 1, 1999 Shelley Boyes

Given the breath-taking surroundings, subjects like e-commerce, branding and reducing work-related stress should have been far from the minds of delegates at the 76th Annual Insurance MarketingCommunications Association conference.

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RISK MANAGEMENT ‘DOWN UNDER’– a Canadian perspective

August 1, 1999 Lovel Vining, risk manager at Mayne Nickless Ltd. (Canada)

Webster’s New Collegiate dictionary defines the word “risk” as being “the chance of loss or the perils to the subject matter of an insurance contract”. It also defines “management” as “the act or art of managing: control or direction.” Dictionaries,

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CRIMS 99 Conference highlights

August 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

Monday, September 20 Plenary session at 8:30am examining Swiss Air Flight 111 which crashed off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. How did the government of Nova Scotia deal with this terrible tragedy and what lessons can be learned? Government

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Managing web exposures

August 1, 1999 Marcus Snowden, partner at McCague, Wires, Peacock, Borlack & Ll

With e-commerce widely predicted to explode into the mainstream world of business in coming years, the lure of “getting into the ‘net game” before it becomes too late is almost irresistible for most companies. In particular, the Internet is expected