Balancing the books on Y2K LITIGATION
October 1, 1999 Steve Hammond, leader of commercial underwriting practices at RoDoes the next millennium begin officially on January 1, 2000 or January 1, 2001? That debate is better left to the academics. What is certain is that January 1, 2000 is the date computers must recognize. It is also 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…
A Rocky Road An Ocean of Opportunity
August 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThere is a patriotic undertone to this year’s Canadian Risk & Insurance Management Society (CRIMS) national conference — “Risk on the Rock” — which will be held in St. John’s Newfoundland this coming September. In addition to hosting one of Canada’s premier national conferences, the province is also celebrating its fiftieth year of Canadian confederacy.
IBAC prepares for advertising war
July 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterThe Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) has set in motion plans to return a major salvo against direct writers in the consumer advertising war during this year. At IBAC’s recently held broker-based company CEO symposium, through which the association…
The Internet’s consumer VOICE
July 1, 1999 Dennis Krueger, a U.S. freelance technology writerOriginally a medium for scientists to exchange information, the Internet’s use has rapidly expanded to become a virtual commercial marketplace. And, with the Internet’s commercial potential beginning to truly surface, consumers through news group forums and dedicated web sites are…
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…
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…
Skills in risk
March 1, 1999 Richard Saylor, a risk management consultant and former risk & iEvery end is a new beginning. This has never been truer than in today’s fast paced world where everyone and everything is constantly being reinvented. As I look at my career in the risk management field, I can see that…
A RISKY BUSINESS
March 1, 1999 AxiomAs I approached the first aisles of the “Exhibitors’ Showcase” it occurred to me for perhaps the sixth or seventh time just how technologically advanced our business had become. The three-day-long brokers’ convention had started, and half of the convention…
Financial MANAGEMENT LIABILITY
February 1, 1999 Shelley BoyesBugs, 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…
Solutions from the Ashes
February 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe Synchron initiative, once heralded as the industry’s ultimate electronic interface solution between companies and point of sale, collapsed last year. From its ashes have risen several alternative solutions, one of the most prominent being The Freedom Alliance, a strategic…
Ice Storm Lessons learnt
February 1, 1999 Paul Kovacs, Executive Director, Institute for Catastrophic LossAt the time, it captivated Canadians across the country and even today is at the top of book best seller lists. The raw power of nature displayed by the ice storm which paralyzed south eastern Ontario, Quebec and parts of…