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“DO or DIE”, strategy message is to embrace the TECHNOLOGY FUTURE

September 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, Editor

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.

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Marketing Strides – getting ON TOP

September 1, 1999 Shelley Boyes

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.

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Regulating Internet insurance

August 1, 1999 Brian Reeve, partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell

The difference between an Internet presence and soliciting business through the Internet can be significant in terms of legal exposure. With the serious growth seen in commercial entities on the web over recent years, the regulators are now beginning to address some of the legal accountability issues of jurisdiction and local laws. However, for the time being, selling insurance over the Internet holds many legal pitfalls.

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Factory Mutuals Finalize Merger

August 1, 1999 Steven Zenofsky, public relations consultant at FM Global

There’s a new insurance company on the block with a 165-year history, following the recent merger of commercial/industrial property insurers Allendale Insurance, Arkwright, Protection Mutual Insurance and their affiliate Factory Mutual. The new company will market itself as FM Global.…

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Insurers offshore BOUND

August 1, 1999 Michael Hlinka

Several months ago Northern Telecom shook the Canadian business community when it announced plans to relocate to the U.S., mainly due to the high personal income tax structures in Canada which make it difficult if not impossible to compete against…

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Canadian First-Quarter Weak

August 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

Business conditions for the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry remained weak for the first quarter of this year, with auto and personal property showing increased loss ratios across Ontario and Atlantic Canada, says Paul Kovacs in the Insurance Bureau…

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could this year be THE BIG ONE?

August 1, 1999 Sean van Zyl, Editor

Alan Greenspan only has to mention inflation and interest rates in the same breath to send the investments markets into spasm. His most recent economic brief, presented toward the end of July, knocked off close to 3% of the value…

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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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On The Move (August 01, 1999)

August 1, 1999 by Canadian Underwriter

St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. has announced Doug Wyseman, a leader in the field of risk management for the public sector, has joined the company to establish niche loss control services for its new public sector insurance division.…

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Disaster Loss mitigation: Great Balls of Hail

August 1, 1999 Alan Pang, managing director at the Institute for Catastrophic L

Over recent years the largest catastrophic loss payments of most insurers have resulted from prairie hailstorms. During the 1990s, there have been six major storms, each causing catastrophic losses in excess of $50 million. The National Hail Conference, recently held…

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International trade body turns to financial services COMPETITION

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

It is becoming increasingly clear the importance of the financial services sector on the global stage. The recent drive toward globalization of business — coupled with new information technology and the formation of geo-economic and political alliances — have allowed…

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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…