In 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…
Forecasting 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…
Despite plummeting international commodity values — which over the last decade have made mining equities less than the darlings of stock markets — the Canadian mining industry is expanding at a healthy clip. It is estimated that 100 new mines…
-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…
Despite 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…
The fair-weather profit years which the property and casualty insurance industry has enjoyed since the mid-1990s is likely to run into a storm in 1999 with companies generating single digit returns on equity (ROE). Projections based on third-quarter StatsCan data…
Zurich Canada has announced the acquisition of World Travel Protection (WTP), a Canadian travel insurance assistance and administration company. WTP offers travel insurance administration, case management and health information services to large institutions in the affinity and employee group markets.…
The ramifications of the millennium bug are already hitting insurers, says Crawford Adjusters Canada vice president Glenn Gibson, who recently addressed a capacity crowd at the SCOR Canada/Lang Michener Claims Symposium in Toronto. Already in the U.S. – where the…
The Export Development Corporation (EDC) posted record year end results for 1998. The corporation provides financial and risk management services to Canadian exporters, serving a record 4,183 exporters last year — a 13% increase on 1997. The EDC’s business volume…
Bugs, big deals, bad spills and a certain public official’s sexual high crimes and misdemeanors were all key factors driving the corporate insurance market throughout 1998. And the same scary financial exposures will likely be very much in the minds…
Consolidation and cost cutting became the corporate buzzwords of the 1980s and 1990s, with operators from insurance to retail-chains through to the aviation industry embracing downsizing and cheaper marketing and delivery systems. The aviation business emerged from this process, particularly…
Last month Howard Moran, in his capacity as board chairman of the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO), announced the resignation of Len Ashby as the organization’s president. Although an outspoken critic of the political dabbling of both companies…