Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff  | September 16, 2020 The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, alongside existing investors, is investing $US185 million in subscription commerce platform AppDirect Inc. The funding brings the total equity raised to about $US465 million. Since its first funding round in 2015, the U.S.-based company has experienced tremendous growth, increasing gross merchandise value more than 1,500 per cent, expanding its global footprint and servicing more than 2,000 merchants around the globe. According to a press release, the new funding supports will accelerate organic expansion, strategic acquisitions and additional hiring. Read: Caisse participating in financing round for Quebec payment-tech provider “AppDirect has established itself as the global leader in the application market for cloud services delivery,” said Thomas Birch, the Caisse’s global managing director of venture capital and technology. “They are experiencing rapid growth and the quality of its client network illustrates the success of its model. AppDirect plays a key role in simplifying the digitalization of businesses through cloud services and CDPQ’s investment will contribute to the acceleration of its growth plan.” The AppDirect platform currently powers millions of subscriptions worldwide, for companies like ADP Inc., Deutsche Telekom, Honeywell International Inc., Keller Williams Realty and Vodafone Group. Read: OMERS to acquire e-commerce company...

Staff | September 16, 2020 Vodacom Group, a South African telecommunications firm, is providing all global employees with 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. Employees will be able to take the leave if they or their partner are having a baby, adopting a child or becoming a parent through surrogacy. They can take the leave anytime within the first 18 months of parenthood. The new policy will also give employees the ability to phase in their return from leave by working the equivalent of a 30-hour workweek at full pay for an additional two months. Read: TD Bank and Johns Hopkins introduce new parental leave policies “We are proud to support all families by giving every parent the opportunity to have more time with their children, without worrying about the impact on their finances or careers,” said Matimba Mbungela, Vodacom’s chief human resources officer, in a press release. “The new parental leave policy further underlines our strong commitment to diversity and gender equality and will make a significant difference to thousands of Vodacom employees, particularly in markets where there is little or no legal requirement to give equal support for both parents.” In March 2015, Vodacom offered...

Premium solutions leverage intelligent technologies to address data gaps in traditional coverage, establishing a new, profound level of revenue protection Winnipeg, MB (Sept. 16, 2020) – Farmers Edge™, a global leader in digital agriculture, today announced a strategic collaboration with Munich Re, a leading reinsurer, to pave the way for data-driven parametric weather insurance solutions. The trailblazing deal centers on a unique digital infrastructure that combines highly precise, site-specific datasets with science-based analytics and Artificial Intelligence to transform traditional parametric coverage models into scalable and profitable solutions for all stakeholders; growers gain top quality crop protection and instant payouts while insurers gain key insights and tools to more confidently mitigate risk, automate claims, and provide faster payouts to customers. Agricultural parametric insurance covers areas that are excluded from all-risks indemnity policies, such as excess moisture or heat, to protect growers against unpreventable high-intensity and catastrophic losses. These policies are designed to offer claim payouts as soon as events are triggered, eliminating the typical loss adjustment and reporting period. However, these parametric weather policies may carry significant risk across data-sparse regions due to insufficient publicly available data. The collaboration puts Farmers Edge and Munich Re at the forefront of insurance innovation,...

Toronto, ON (Sept. 15, 2020) – Canadians received a record $103 billion in benefits from life and health insurers last year, up 60 per cent from a decade earlier. These benefits include $53.3 billion in retirement annuity payments, $38.1 billion in health benefits for prescription drugs and supplementary health services like dental care and physiotherapy, as well as $12.1 billion in life insurance benefits. “Life and health insurance benefits help make life more affordable and secure for nearly four out of every five Canadians,” Stephen Frank, President and CEO of CLHIA said. “The benefits insurers allow Canadians to access prescription medicines, live more comfortably in retirement, or replace needed income when they are ill or lose a loved one.” This data and additional insights are included in CLHIA’s 2020 edition of Canadian Life & Health Insurance Facts. Other highlights of 2019 in the report include: Insurers contribute to Canada’s economic growth with over $860 billion in long-term investments in innovation and infrastructure projects Insurers provide over 157,000 jobs in all regions of the country Life insurers manage $309 billion in pension assets that provide retirement security for over 8 million Canadians “Life and health insurers are proud to contribute to the...

The development of parallel supply chains to de-risk the global flow of intermediate goods/services is a key macroeconomic trend COVID-19 has accelerated the trend: the healthcare, technology, consumer staples, textiles and electronic sectors likely at forefront Changes will include alternative host markets, mainly in Southeast Asia, and re-shoring of production processes, mainly in the US, euro area and advanced Asia markets Over a five-year transition period, the changes will be net positive for the global economy and are anticipated to generate around USD 63 billion in additional global insurance premiums Zurich, Switzerland (Sept. 10, 2020) – Global supply chains are undergoing fundamental and accelerated restructuring, according to the latest Swiss Re Institute sigma study, De-risking global supply chains: rebalancing to strengthen resilience. The disruption to the flow of intermediate goods and services during the COVID-19 lockdowns has made governments and manufacturers ever more aware of the risks inherent in today’s increasingly complex, specialised and global production processes. Manufacturers, meanwhile, are speeding up their development of parallel supply chain operations in new host markets alongside existing production bases as a means to diversify and strengthen their operational resilience. Markets in Southeast Asia will be the preferred destinations as new host locations....

Partnership to assist and protect homeowners when they face an unexpected legal issue Toronto, ON (Sept. 15, 2020) – DAS Legal Protection Inc. (“DAS”) is proud to announce an expanded partnership with The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (“Wawanesa”). On October 1, 2020, Wawanesa homeowner, tenant and condo policyholders will have unlimited access to a Telephone Legal Helpline Service, and optional Legal Expense Coverage. “DAS is so pleased to expand our business with Wawanesa to increase access to justice for their personal lines policyholders. Ensuring the risks relevant to Canadian families are well managed, including their legal risks, is always important.  It’s especially so as Canadians now move forward in post-pandemic circumstances,” said Rissa Revin, CEO at DAS. Unlimited access to a Telephone Legal Helpline Service provides individuals and families a route to reduce stress, anxiety and uncertainty when they have a legal issue, especially in light of the shifting legal landscape due to COVID-19. Optional Legal Expense Coverage further ensures their legal risks are well managed, by providing access to a qualified lawyer and covering legal costs for insured events such as contract disputes, employment disputes, tax audits and other common legal issues experienced by Canadians. “We are proud to...

Business process outsourcing market focusing on rapid expansion rather than just cost reduction: Novarica Boston, MA (Sept. 15, 2020) – As insurers expand their offerings and markets, using a BPO/BPaaS provider to augment their skills can provide greater speed to market and address skill gaps and new processing considerations. In BPO-BPaaS Providers for P/C Insurers and BPO-BPaaS Providers for L/A Insurers, two new Market Navigator reports from research and advisory firm Novarica, 19 services providers are profiled to help insurers understand and compare their options. “While few insurers are considering moving their entire operations to BPO,” said Nancy Casbarro, Vice President of Research and Consulting, and co-author of Novarica’s new report. “BPO/BPaaS can create significant value for either insurers who need to expand into a new area and may not have the resources to build their own capabilities or insurers that need to create more flexibility within their own infrastructures.” Each profile summarizes the vendor organization and details the provider’s experience levels in specific, targeted functions. Analysis of the 19 BPO-BPaaS providers is available in property/casualty and life/annuity volumes from Novarica: Report Summary: BPO-BPaaS Providers for P/C Insurers As BPO continues to grow, providers can offer insurers greater speed to market while addressing...

Kelsey Rolfe | September 16, 2020 Environmental, social and governance factors are highly relevant to fixed income investment outcomes, but integration is complicated by the variety of issuers within the asset class. For corporate fixed income, integration is quite simple. Issuers could use the same frameworks as their equity counterparts, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s materiality map, said Joshua Palmer, a fixed income, hedge fund and ESG researcher at Willis Towers Watson, in a webinar hosted by FTSE Russell, Willis Towers Watson and Beyond Ratings last week. However, he noted, challenges exist around the longer time horizon for investments, lack of proxy voting options and different levels of engagement with management.  Read: North American investors closer to falling in line with global counterparts on ESG: survey The performance of national economies are linked to how and why their governments conduct themselves, noted Sylvain Chateau, co-founder of Beyond Ratings and global head of sustainable investment product management at the London Stock Exchange Group. “It’s actually governments that set the playground in a way and corporates have to play in it. And governments do change, so there’s not necessarily continuity in how we define the playground. There’s a lot of different ways that are used by governments to actually...

A lengthy process to merge the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting  and GAMA International came closer to completion this week when the new trade association revealed its name: Finseca. The name stands for “financial security for all,” CEO Marc Cadin said. The group formally merged earlier this year, but held off on a new name. Finseca has a bold goal, he said: to unify all of financial services in one coordinated effort around education, advocacy and elevation. “For too long, our profession has lacked a unified voice and collective action to overcome challenges and increase our impact,” he said in a news release. Finseca starts with “just under 6,000 members,” Cadin told Insurancenewsnet. The group plans in-person conferences — two in 2021 — along with ambitious efforts to provide training and advocacy on regulatory and legislative issues. Finseca will roll out a dues structure later this year that will include “multiple tiers,” Cadin explained. Advertisement “Our goal is to represent the entire profession,” he said. “So we have a lot of work left to do to grow membership.” Americans today are at a crossroads, as economic shocks of COVID-19 exacerbate financial and retirement anxieties, Cadin noted. “The insecurity that’s been revealed...

When it comes to getting life insurance, one commonly dispensed piece of advice is that it’s better to get coverage at a younger age. Not as common, however, is the suggestion for adults and seniors to buy a life insurance policy on their children or grandchildren – even though it offers many potential benefits. “The rate you pay is based on juvenile rates.” said Peter Wouters, director, Tax, Retirement & Estate Planning Services at Empire Life. “They’re not gender-specific, there’s no smoker or non-smoker rate; this is one specific set of rates for juveniles typically from age zero – 15 days old, in Empire Life’s case – until 17 years old.” According to Wouters, those who maintain their policies past the age or majority can lock in those low rates through to adulthood. That means even in their later years, a policy set up for an eligible child – which includes natural-born children, stepchildren, and children by adoption – and maintained into their adult years would still have the same cost of coverage as when the policy was bought for them. Juvenile life policies can come with coverage as low as $10,000 for a child, though that amount can be...