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.
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…
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…
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?
Canadian automobile insurers wrote a combined $9.3 billion in earned premiums in 1998 while incurring losses of $7.0 billion. This 77.45 loss ratio ranks second only to accident & sickness as the worst loss experience category among all property &…
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.
Publicly traded broker network The Hub Group Ltd. has released its second quarter figures posting promising earnings in the face of many acquisitions. Total revenue in the second quarter amounted to $19.1 million, bringing year to date revenue to $35.2…
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…
Over 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…
Alan Greenspan only has to mention inflation and interest rates in the same breath to send the investments markets into spasm. His most recent economic brief, presented toward the end of July, knocked off close to 3% of the value…
It is becoming increasingly clear the importance of the financial services sector on the global stage. The recent drive toward globalization of business — coupled with new information technology and the formation of geo-economic and political alliances — have allowed…
The early 20th century was a revolutionary time for the fine art community, with “modern artists” such as Henri Matisse carrying forward the early exploration attempts of the impressionist painters in testing conventional “realist” theory. In many respects, the modern…