Kingsway hosts Analysts & Investors Day
December 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterPrices will firm up and standard insurers will tighten underwriting rules, Kingsway Financial Services Inc. president Bill Star says, addressing media and stakeholders at the company’s first annual Analyst & Investor Day. “The result could see more business bypassing standard…
A Brave New World
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorThe term “globalization” has become yet another buzzword expression littering the field of industry jargon. Similar to other grand but ambiguous phrases like “business reengineering” and “corporate repositioning” (among a broad host too numerous to mention), the term globalization jumps…
Appraising the rocky shore of risk
November 1, 1999 Michael HlinkaCanadian corporations are facing an increasingly litigious environment resembling that of the U.S., delegates were told at the Canadian Risk & Insurance Management Society conference held recently in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Dubbed “Risk on the Rock”, the conference’s speakers portrayed…
THE HUB INVASION
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorWhile most of the public broker networks appear to have eased off on their acquisitional sprees, newcomer The Hub Group Ltd. has no intention of slowing down. In fact, the group’s president Rick Gulliver has announced plans of a major thrust into the U.S. brokerage market in the year ahead, with the recent acquisition of a leading Chicago-based broker signaling the beginning of an ambitious campaign.
Broker networks position
November 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterBroker consolidator Equisure Financial Network Inc. (TSE: EFN) has in partnership with the ING group launched a new general insurance company to be licensed across Canada. Ownership of the new insurer, Northbrooke General Insurance Company of Canada, will be equally…
Broker Networks PAUSE FOR BREATHER
November 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorAlthough the public broker networks almost overnight captured 5% marketshare of Canada’s property and casualty insurance market in a stunning succession of acquisitions, the recent poor results of many of the operators, combined with a more wary investor attitude to…
Identifying and Managing Risk
November 1, 1999 Jane Voll, director of policy and research, and Andrew Keppen, rThe Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) recently completed a survey in conjunction with management consultants Deloitte & Touche to identify what internal risk control procedures property and casualty insurers have or should be applying in evaluating strategic, operational and capital…
IBAO 99 Convention: Competing in a New World
November 1, 1999 Lowell Conn AND SEAN VAN ZYLCelebrating the 79th year of its annual convention, this year’s Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) event included a discussion panel of global senior executives of the property and casualty insurance industry, their frank views forewarning of a new world of distribution ahead.
OLD DOGS LEARNING NEW TRICKS
November 1, 1999 Lowell ConnTaco Bell’s Chihuahua campaign, launched in late 1997, has become the pre-eminent brand recognition success of the late 1990s. The ad spots, featuring a talking Mexican dog whose only desire is to pursue Taco Bell food, has resulted in a…
Global brokers RESET TARGETS
November 1, 1999 Lowell ConnThe wave of mergers and acquisitions which has occurred between the corporate national property and casualty brokers across North America appears to have reached an end, leaving a landscape occupied by two distinct camps: small regional operators and the new…
INDEPENDENCE or INTERDEPENDENCE?
October 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, EditorDespite the recent and resounding victory of independent property and casualty insurance brokers in blocking banks from branch retailing of insurance, Canada’s brokerage community faces many challenges on the road ahead. Even without the bank threat, the distribution end of…
Delphi launches ebix.com to U.S. insureds
October 1, 1999 by Canadian UnderwriterDelphi Information Systems has officially launched ebix.com, their internet-based data exchange system that allows insurers, brokers and consumers to communicate, exchange quotes and conduct business online. Currently, only U.S. consumers can purchase insurance through the site. As first reported in…