Professional Development: STAYING THE COURSE
August 1, 2000 Vikki SpencerRegulatory harmonization, multi-licensing, mergers and consolidations. In a world of rapid change, ongoing education has become a key survival tool of the new insurance landscape. Whether driven by consumers, regulators or employers, the trend is moving toward increasingly higher levels…
Sweet but Deadly, Lessons From Walkerton
August 1, 2000 David CarrAging infrastructure, cut budgets and a blind political eye. With increasing pressure to cut taxes, Canada’s federal and provincial governments have for decades reduced investment and maintenance expenditure in public infrastructure. Repeatedly, reports have been issued of the resulting dangerous…
Empowering leadership in the “technology millennium”
August 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorReforming company management structures to deal with the rapidly evolving marketplaces of financial services formed the central focus of the International Insurance Association Inc.’s (IIA) 36th annual conference, which was recently held in Vancouver. The prime drivers of change impacting…
Rate Setting: is this a regulator’s job?
August 1, 2000 Bill Star, president of Kingsway General Insurance CompanyWhen reviewing the role of insurance commissioners in Canada and the U.S., one must wonder why they became involved in rate approvals. The original role of the insurance commissioner was apolitical, to make sure that companies were properly capitalized, were…
Reinsurance market innovations: Staying Alive
July 1, 2000 Glenn McGillivray, head of corporate communication at Swiss ReinWhat are some of the world’s reinsurers doing to move forward amid what has been the worst market downturn in recent memory?
Turning a slow corner: Canadian Insurance Congress 2000
July 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe 2000 Canadian Insurance Congress — which this year celebrated its tenth anniversary as Canada’s premier annual reinsurance/primary company CEO forum — drew together a strong cast of speakers from across the sectors of the North American property and casualty…
Corporate Tax Drive – it’s a home run
June 1, 2000 JANE VOLL, Director of Policy and Research at the Insurance BureEach year, for the last several years, federal and provincial governments have collected $4 billion in taxes from home, car and business insurance — an amount equal to the industry’s entire value-added. This 100% tax burden is more than three…
“Integration” or… “Assimilation”
June 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorWith the recent approval of the U.S. Financial Services Modernization Act, a considerable amount of attention in Canada has been turned to watch developments south of the border. Financial services legislative reform in the U.S. has opened the door to…
Multi-Distribution: Switching channels
June 1, 2000 Vikki SpencerRecent management consultant surveys of the North American property and casualty insurance industry have highlighted distribution as the number-one future concern facing insurer CEOs. The reports all weigh strongly in favor of integrated multi-distribution approaches with the Internet playing central…
High Impact Ahead
May 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorWith the growth of property and casualty insurance industry earnings having plummeted to almost a 20-year low on the back of poor investment returns and intense rate competition — which saw last year’s annual rate of premium growth clock in…
Independent Brokers: Networking Technology a Powerful Tool
May 1, 2000 Brian Thompson, president of SurNet Insurance GroupIf you are a small independent insurance broker doing business in today’s market, you are no doubt feeling uncertain about your future. With the advancement of direct writers and the broker network consolidators, who could blame you. However, for those in the brokerage community willing to embrace technology advantages, the future can be a bright one.
Maximizing Auto Claims
May 1, 2000 Roch Lacroix, vice president of Mitchell International CanadaAuto physical damage claims (APDs) represent a significant portion of claim costs for most insurers dealing in personal lines business. But, should this area of claims management be simply seen as the “dark evil” of being in the business, or…