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…
REINSURANCE BROKER VIEWS
September 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDonald 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…
U.S. Reinsurance Market PRICING STABILIZES
September 1, 1999 Sean Mooney, senior vice president at Guy Carpenter & Company InFollowing 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.
Y2K: rollingthe dice
September 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorWith 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…
LONDON calling
September 1, 1999 Glenn McGillivray, head of corporate communication at Swiss ReinSince 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?
Factory Mutuals Finalize Merger
August 1, 1999 Steven Zenofsky, public relations consultant at FM GlobalThere’s a new insurance company on the block with a 165-year history, following the recent merger of commercial/industrial property insurers Allendale Insurance, Arkwright, Protection Mutual Insurance and their affiliate Factory Mutual. The new company will market itself as FM Global.…
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,…
Insurers offshore BOUND
August 1, 1999 Michael HlinkaSeveral months ago Northern Telecom shook the Canadian business community when it announced plans to relocate to the U.S., mainly due to the high personal income tax structures in Canada which make it difficult if not impossible to compete against…
Disaster Loss mitigation: Great Balls of Hail
August 1, 1999 Alan Pang, managing director at the Institute for Catastrophic LOver 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…
99 Canadian Insurance Congress: Marching to new Drummers
July 1, 1999 Lowell Conn & Sean van ZylHeld against the backdrop of the nation’s capital, the 1999 Canadian Insurance Congress — seen as Canada’s premier reinsurer/primary company CEO forum — offered good news to insurers and risk managers on the treaty negotiation front. This year’s reinsurance rates,…
Wake up, the “Knowledge Economy” is here
July 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe Insurance Institute of Ontario’s Centennial Symposium, recently held in Toronto, drew together several key local and international financial services experts who provided a mixed view of the future in terms of how current and emerging marketplace events will impact the property and casualty insurance industry. However, all of the speakers agreed that change is rushing the industry into a new era.
SECURING VIRTUAL PRIVACY
June 1, 1999 Ron Lepofsky, president, PTI TelecommunicationsIn most industries, the Internet has become an important business tool. Employees have access to endless possibilities for research, for improved communications internally and externally, and to work from home. Security in access and transferring information has, however, been the…