Letters (June 01, 1999)
June 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDear Editor, You are to be complimented on an excellent feature article, in the April Underwriter, on the threat posed by the big banks. The Independent Life Insurance Brokers of Canada have many members who also hold a p&c license.…
The Safety Equation
June 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorRecent months have seen increased pressure being brought to bear by the private property and casualty insurance industry to deregulate the monopoly positions of provincial government insurers. Due to its sheer size and control of one of Canada’s largest consumer…
RIMS 99: HOLISTIC RISKON THE HORIZON
June 1, 1999 Lowell ConnDallas, Texas was the site of the Risk & Insurance Management Society’s recent 37th annual conference and exhibition where 4500 delegates met, networked, and examined a profession undergoing large-scale transformation.
globally Speaking
April 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe CICMA and CIAA 99 Joint Conference – held in Toronto in February – focused on the competitive challenges reshaping the p&c insurance industry. The overall message delivered at the event was clear: the process of industry change, mainly as…
U.S. Insurance Market Outlook
April 1, 1999 Sean Mooney, senior vice president at Guy Carpenter & Company InForecasting the U.S. insurance industry in recent years has been a rear view mirror exercise. The rate of growth in the industry has been in the same 2% to 3% range and profitability indicators have shown little change from year…
Kingsway delivers star performance
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterTSE-listed Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (KFS) disclosed an 18% rise in earnings to 86c a share for the 1998 financial year ended December compared with that of the previous year. The return on equity for the year clocked in at…
Transatlantic reports record 1998
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterGlobal reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings Inc. has reported record net income earnings for 1998, up 33.4% from 1997’s US$185.5 million to 1998’s $247.5 million. Net income diluted on a common share basis rose $1.76 from 1997’s $5.34 to 1998’s $7.10. Record…
We are Doing Something About the Weather
April 1, 1999 Paul Kovacs, executive director, Institute for Catastrophic LossIn January, more than two hundred of the world’s leading scientists met in Geneva to discuss what we should do about our changing weather. This gathering is part of an even larger working group that has been making steady research…
Banks will be hard to regulate, says Cooke
April 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterProperty & casualty insurance is a pure risk product that must be kept separate from the financial, wealth management and investment-based services provided by life insurers and banks, George Cooke, president of Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, told a…
the Davids and the Goliath
March 1, 1999 Shelley BoyesSince Saskatchewan’s decision to introduce public auto insurance in 1946, the advancement of government insurers across the provinces has been a sharp thorn in the side of Canada’s private property and casualty insurance industry. The “socialist disease” of government-run auto…
Risk Management: It’s a Buyer’s Market
March 1, 1999 Lowell Conn and Sean van ZylDespite deteriorating conditions in the property and casualty insurance market, insurers continue to slash already low premium rates. Market observers forecast this trend to continue for at least 24 months as insurers prioritize marketshare over revenue prosperity. Simply put, the…
Reliance launches earnings protection U.S.
March 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter-based Reliance National, a subsidiary of Reliance Group, has introduced Enterprise Earnings Protection Insurance (EEPI), the first insurance policy designed to protect publicly held companies against earnings disruption volatility and adverse results. EEPI covers a wide range of circumstances that…