As an industry within the personal financial services sector, our customers don’t like us very much. To tell you the truth, I don’t blame them.; The SAME PRODUCT,
Investment gains have kept Canadian property and casualty underwriting results afloat, but conservative leverage — combined with signs of a market price hardening — now look to provide some additional comfort to the market. However, a comparison of business strategies applied by companies in Canada and their counterparts south of the border suggests that the former will have to place greater emphasis on reducing operating expenses.
Despite 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 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…
Is a new subsidiary, new product or policy form on the horizon for your company? If so, better be prepared for slippery target dates. Lengthy delays in licensing can occur when companies or their brokers develop new products which don’t…
The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company’s answer to the direct writing threat, Chieftian Insurance, is one of the future consumer-interaction options open to brokers, predicts Alan Hanks, vice president field operations of the new company. Hanks outlined the broad…
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?
Whether traditional players in the property and casualty insurance industry continue to hold the lion’s share of business will depend on their willingness to embrace consumer-driven technologies and boost productivity, delegates attending the recently held Strategy Institute conference were told. In particular, the pressure of higher consumer expectations coupled with increased competition from new players to insurance will be felt mostly in the personal lines arena, the speakers warn.
Given the breath-taking surroundings, subjects like e-commerce, branding and reducing work-related stress should have been far from the minds of delegates at the 76th Annual Insurance MarketingCommunications Association conference.
This year, in an awards contest that often appears to be dominated by a few large companies with deep pockets, representatives of more than 30 insurance companies took home “Best of Show” and “Awards of Excellence” prizes from the IMCA’s…
Following a lengthy period of stagnation, pricing within the U.S. reinsurance market seems to have stabilized, with even some evidence in the market of rate increases. However, until the market’s excess capacity is depleted, buyers of reinsurance will continue to enjoy the benefits of highly competitive pricing.
Property & casualty insurance brokers are breathing a collective sigh of relief as the federal government’s discussion paper on the future of financial institutions in Canada effectively put a moratorium on the banks’ entry into the retail insurance market. Despite…