Thinking outside the Canvas
August 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe 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…
Letters (August 01, 1999)
August 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDear Editor, The [June 1999] issue was excellent from cover to cover. I like the Autovision being separate rather than inserted. The subject matters are very different and while I read it from cover to cover as well, I did…
Bell fire losses minimal
August 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe insurance industry got off lightly from the July 16 fire at a downtown Toronto Bell Canada switching station in which phone service was cut off for 113,000 downtown homes and offices for nearly five hours. Initial estimates had the…
CRIMS 99 Conference highlights
August 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterMonday, 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…
U.S. debate predicts “E-Revolution” for insurance
August 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe property and casualty insurance industry in North America will have to come to grips with the growth in e-commerce — in terms of client demands for cover as well as managing their own exposures to the Internet, a national…
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.…
Developing Financial Supervision The Canadian Solution
July 1, 1999 Lawrie Savage of Lawrie Savage & Associates Inc.The 1990s saw considerable attention drawn to the global benefits of the so-called “hot” developing economies such as South America, Asia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. Most recently, we have seen plunging stock markets and economic uncertainty resulting in these same areas. Strangely, these have a link with trends in Canadian financial supervision.
Y2K – you’d better be ready
July 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterInsurance companies were warned that the deadline for Y2K is nearly here, for both internal company systems and external coverage policies. At a morning session addressing all aspects of Y2K, TRAC Insurance Services Ltd. general manager Joel Baker revealed results…
Why CEOs are stuck on GLOBALIZATION
July 1, 1999 Robert Gunn, president of Royal & SunAlliance CanadaCecil Rhodes, the 19th-century British financier, colonial administrator and sponsor of Oxford’s prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, once said, “I would annex planets if I could.” A read through the financial pages of any newspaper would suggest that many corporate presidents and CEOs feel the same way.
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.
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.
Extreme Perils
June 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorNatural disasters such as extreme weather, a volcanic eruption or an earthquake, are often quaintly referred to in the insurance world as “Acts of God”, adverse events which are seemingly unexplainable or beyond man’s control. Noticeably, the economic and insurance…