On The Move (September 01, 2003)
September 1, 2003 by Canadian UnderwriterRoyal & SunAlliance Canada confirms the retirement of president and CEO Larry Simmons. Simmons took over the top spot in 2001, having previously served as COO. He will continue to head up the company until a replacement is named. The…
Outsourcing IT: Turning Software Into Service
June 1, 2003 Yves LeClercIn today’s fiercely competitive economic and information technology (IT) environment, insurance companies are starting to look at software deployment very differently from before. Insurers are increasingly turning to outsourced IT solutions for improved performance, productivity and profit.
Claims Technology: The Big Three
February 1, 2003 Darren Layton, president of X Interactive TechnologiesAs insurers struggle with diminishing returns and technology challenges, they can look to other industries for examples of the use of interactive technology to achieve efficiency. While “working together” on technology solutions may seem an unachievable panacea, industries as competitive as auto manufacturing have shown that collaborative success is possible.
Auto Product Reform: Plugging Bi Losses
August 1, 2002 Sean van ZylAfter a year and a half since the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) began a nationwide political lobby campaign for auto insurance product reform, there appears to be a few cracks developing in the resistive walls of provincial government bureaucracy.…
Peripatetic Rep: Center of the Web
April 1, 2002 AxiomWhen I walked into the golf club’s dining room, the first people I saw were my two broker friends, Bob and Stan. Bob Davies was co-partner in a successful midtown brokerage which placed a lot of business with our insurance…
Breathing New Life Into Brokers
April 1, 2002 Andree Ryckman, a certified management consultant at Call CentreAlmost from the start of the Internet “boom”, pundits prophesied the death of the middleman. Everyone from high-profile technologists like Nicholas Negroponte to columnists in Wired and Fast Company declared that insurance brokers and other market intermediaries were stuck on the fast train to obsolescence. But those predictions are being proved wrong as the Internet promises to enable brokers as never before.
Environmental Insurance Insuring the Deal
March 1, 2002 Mary Ann Susavidge, managing underwriter, and Susan Barry, an unNot long ago, environmental insurance met with a lot of skepticism from businesses. Coverage was too expensive. The policies were too limiting. However, the perception and uses of environmental insurance have changed substantially
Working to Be Smart
February 1, 2002 John Kelly, a law professor at Seneca College & consultant to AlInsurance professionals tend to be well versed with the mechanics of information technology (IT), but lacking on strategic, legal, e-business applications. Much of their exposure to computer hardware and software comes from vendor and technology consultants who are long on technical expertise but short on how to add value in providing insurance services to clients. Consequently, insurance professionals who buy IT may become victims of “bells-and-whistles” sales pitches.
Lloyd’s proposals necessary but challenging, says S&P
January 30, 2002 by Canadian UnderwriterProposed reforms to the structure of the world’s oldest insurance market announced by Lloyd’s earlier this week are being praised by rating agency Standard & Poor’s. Although the announcement does not impact Lloyd’s single-A rating, S&P says the reforms “address…
The Risk Of Terror
October 1, 2001 Sean van Zyl, EditorTerrorism, and the cost of terror, has taken the forefront of catastrophic loss concerns of the global insurance industry. Until September 11 of this year, when acts of terrorism perpetuated in New York City and Washington D.C. brought about destruction…
Insurance Pricing Boosts Captive Recovery
August 1, 2001 Andrew RickardIn a press release issued in early May, the American Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers announced the results of their first quarter survey. It showed rates rising significantly, with close to 90% of responding brokers suggesting that rates for…
WHAT COMES AROUND…
July 1, 2001 by Canadian UnderwriterThe reason for cyclical rate peaks and valleys in the international insurance and reinsurance market always comes down to the issue of supply.; By Glenn McGillivray, assistant vice president & head of corporate communication at Swiss Reinsurance Co. Canada