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Y2K: rollingthe dice

September 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, Editor

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…

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LONDON calling

September 1, 1999 Glenn McGillivray, head of corporate communication at Swiss Rein

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?

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under the SPOTLIGHT

September 1, 1999 William Blakeney, BA (Hons.) LL.B and Khalid Baksh, BA (Hons.) L

Over the past decade sexual abuse claims in institutional environments have become one of the most troublesome areas of civil litigation. In particular, insurers underwriting risks involving many of Canada’s most respected not for profit, charitable and religious organizations are now find themselves confronted by catastrophic personal injury claims involving serious allegations from past decades.

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U.S. debate predicts “E-Revolution” for insurance

August 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

The 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…

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Managing web exposures

August 1, 1999 Marcus Snowden, partner at McCague, Wires, Peacock, Borlack & Ll

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…

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Thinking outside the Canvas

August 1, 1999 Lowell Conn

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…

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Y2K – you’d better be ready

July 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

Insurance 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…

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Counting the PENNIES

July 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, Editor

The numbers say it all. Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry suffered one of its worst year-on-year performances last year, posting a modest return on investment of 7.1% — nearly half of 1997’s rate of return. Heavy underwriting losses incurred…

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Study shows buyers anti to reinsurance adjustments

July 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

A Conning & Company reinsurance study concludes that buyers will not respond well to a general hardening of market rates. The study suggests that a reinsurance price increase will lead to a significant outflow of business from the traditional insurance…

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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.

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1998 in perspective

June 1, 1999 Don Smith, Chairman of Trac Insurance Services

Last year I predicted 1998 would bring back a deteriorating trend to the property and casualty insurance industry. In addition to the January ice storm, I felt that the continuing “soft market” would have a negative impact on underwriting results.…

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RIMS 99: HOLISTIC RISKON THE HORIZON

June 1, 1999 Lowell Conn

Dallas, 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.