Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Canadians with an advisor report feeling significantly better Toronto, ON (Sept. 8, 2020) – A recent Sun Life survey indicates that nearly half of all Canadians (45%) feel less financially secure since COVID-19 began. The survey also highlights the interconnectedness of health and finances. 44 per cent of those who say their mental health has been affected by the pandemic identify financial stress as the main factor. According to the survey, Canadians working with an advisor are feeling more financially secure and are experiencing less mental health impacts than those who are managing their finances and investments on their own. Among those who said their mental health has been negatively affected by the pandemic, those who use an advisor (35%) are less likely to report financial health concerns as a major factor weighing down their mental health. That figure rises to 47 per cent among those who manage their investments themselves. Despite identifying financial concerns, only six per cent of Canadians surveyed began using an advisor since the pandemic began. “With a large percentage of Canadians feeling less financially secure as a result of the pandemic, there is no better time to seek advice from a trusted advisor – one...

John Hancock integrates Amazon Halo to empower life insurance customers to live longer, healthier lives John Hancock and Manulife Sign Global Pledge to Help Improve Health of Consumers by 2025 John Hancock Vitality Customers Can Get Apple Watch Series 4 for as little as $25 Boston, MA (Aug. 7, 2020) – Amazon and John Hancock, the US division of Toronto-based Manulife, are pleased to announce a strategic collaboration to provide engaging tools and resources to help John Hancock life insurance customers improve their individual health. This effort builds on John Hancock’s longstanding commitment to help Americans live longer, healthier lives, while providing the peace of mind that comes with owning a life insurance policy. John Hancock is the first life insurer to integrate with Amazon Halo, as part of Amazon’s latest venture into the health and wellness space. John Hancock, combined with Amazon’s innovative new technology, will help life insurance customers make connections between their fitness, sleep and other lifestyle habits to better understand their overall health through the John Hancock Vitality Program. Starting this fall, all John Hancock Vitality customers will be able to link the Amazon Halo Band to the program to earn Vitality Points for the small,...

Novarica’s annual report profiles 250 InsurTechs with focus on opportunities to partner, learn, and create value Boston, MA (Sept. 8, 2020) – With time horizons shortened to reflect uncertainty about the future, insurance carriers investing in or partnering with InsurTech startups appear to be focusing on tactical initiatives that can produce more immediate results than some of the more speculative R&D efforts more common in the pre-pandemic era. In its fourth annual report, InsurTech for Insurers: 250 Startup Profiles, research and advisory firm Novarica outlines the InsurTech landscape for insurers, focusing on two key questions: Does this matter to my company? And what can we learn from it? “One lesson that emerges from the 250 InsurTech startups Novarica has profiled in this report is that the insurance industry should rethink its consumer experience from every angle,” said Jeff Goldberg, Executive Vice President of Research and Consulting and co-author of Novarica’s new report. “Across all lines of business and across all sizes, insurers will feel the impact as InsurTech startups shift customer expectations and point the way for more effective, insightful operations.” Among the key findings of the reports are: AI messaging is everywhere. Everyone’s talking about AI, but real AI is less clear....

Zurich announces key leadership appointments and new Executive Committee members Zurich accelerates development of digital services, creating a new unit to attract additional customers and meet their rapidly changing needs Jack Howell, CEO Asia Pacific (APAC), to lead the new Global Business Platforms unit focusing on digital services Ericson Chan, CEO Ping An Technology, to take up position of Group Chief Information and Digital Officer in October to speed digital transformation and develop technology solutions for the new ventures Kathleen Savio, CEO North America, transitions to new role of Group Chief Transformation Officer to enhance business and cultural change New CEOs line up for regions: Tulsi Naidu in APAC, Laurence Maurice in Latin America and Kristof Terryn in North America Chicago, IL (Sept. 2, 2020) – Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) is ramping up the transformation of its global business to meet the rapidly changing needs of consumers, launching a new unit to expand digital services worldwide and create a more intimate connection with its customers and partners. The Global Business Platforms unit will be headed by current APAC CEO Jack Howell as of Jan. 1, 2021. Over the last four years, Mr. Howell has expanded and transformed the business in...

Chicago, IL (Sept. 1, 2020) – FRISS, the leading provider of AI-powered fraud and risk solutions for P&C insurance companies, known for its creative approach toward the insurance industry, launched an international campaign to regain a feeling of pride in the insurance industry. “Because insurance is anything but boring,” says FRISS. Jeroen Morrenhof, CEO and Co-founder of FRISS: “We often recognize that people take insurance for granted. We want to remind everyone how important our industry is. The most incredible things in life can only be achieved thanks to insurance. Therefore we believe insurance really is a beautiful thing. And the world should know that, too.” With its AI-powered fraud detection and risk assessment software, FRISS helps insurers provide a faster and more seamless experience for their customers. Morrenhof concludes: “I hope Insurance is a beautiful thing helps people grasp the beauty of our industry, and makes them realize how times continuously evolve, trends develop and customer expectations change. Carriers should change with them. It’s time to find new ways of doing business. This is our wake-up call for insurers: Now is the time for digital transformation.” According to research from the Insurance Information Institute, barely half of those surveyed...

Martha Porado | September 8, 2020 While massive monetary policy response didn’t drive inflation following the 2008/09 financial crisis, institutional investors are mulling over whether things may be different this time. The global economy has rarely seen such a swift willingness to engage with economic calamity on both monetary and fiscal levels, says Erik Weisman, chief economist and fixed income portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management. These actions don’t guarantee inflation — the natural enemy of retirees — but it’s easy to see how the economy could start down a path in its direction, he says. “It’s really about whether we think the market is pricing in the possibility of inflation as much as it should. And I think the answer, at the moment, is it isn’t.” Read: Sounding Board: Factoring CPP, inflation in retirement plan design Notably, actions on the parts of governments and central banks have a very different purpose during the current crisis. Specifically, governments are focused on stabilizing conditions for the average household and business, rather than propping up flailing financial markets. Fiscal policy changes are the real game changer today, says Weisman. “We did monetary last time. We broke all the rules. We did quantitative easing, we bought things we didn’t think central...

Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) Since financial adviser Dean Vagnozzi was charged with fraud in a government lawsuit in July, he has been castigated by regulators for how he steered customers to Par Funding, a Philadelphia lender founded by a twice-convicted felon. Par Funding suspended payments to investors for two months this spring, then cut their returns by more than half. It turns out that Par is not the only Vagnozzi investment that has disappointed. Emails obtained by The Inquirer show that Vagnozzi told investors earlier this year he was sorry about the “life settlement” investments he has also sold, deals in which investors bet on the life insurance policies of the elderly. “It goes without saying,” Vagnozzi wrote, “I apologize for how poorly this fund has performed.” With his heavy radio advertising and free steak sales dinners, Vagnozzi, 51, whose offices are in King of Prussia, has touted alternatives to Wall Street for more than 15 years. Advertisement One was Par Funding, in which investors financed high-interest cash advances to merchants. The lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission names Par Funding, its owners, Vagnozzi, and others as defendants, saying that they misled investors about Par’s high default rate and...

Insurance agents do important work bringing security to families, Charlie Gipple says. By David Duford If you are a newly-licensed agent and ready to embark on your insurance career … Beware! It’s vital to start your career off the right way to avoid the pitfalls that eliminate many insurance agents from the industry. Here is my list of Top 10 tips to combat the high rate of new agent drop-out rates. Following these recommendations may make the difference between failure and success. Advertisement Do your due diligence. With enough effort, you’ll witness multitudes of insurance sales opportunities, either from people you know or through online job boards. Although all of them extol the virtues of their business, no one opportunity is single-handedly the best for every new agent. As a new agent, don’t take the first job offer you receive. Research multiple opportunities. Make sure to Google-search each opportunity online for reviews as well as read reviews on popular job boards for added perspective. Unfortunately, many agents exit this business because of a misalignment between themselves and their agencies. Find a mentor. I liken selling insurance to the age when apprentices studied under experienced masters to develop their particular skill....

In order to address a concerning gap in life-insurance coverage, insurers have to address the factors affecting demand for the product – and that means re-examining traditional assumptions. In a commissioned survey of 7,000 customers across seven mature insurance markets around the world, the Geneva Association, an international think tank representing the insurance industry, found that the percentage of those who currently own a life insurance product – including whole life, term life, critical illness, and annuities, among others – fell between just 6% and 16%. One reason behind that, according to the association’s study published earlier this year, was a “striking lack of insurance awareness.” It found that between one third (34%) and six tenths (60%) of responding customers were not aware of different life-insurance related products including whole life, term life, critical illness, annuity/retirement, and endowment/unit-linked products. Aside from lack of knowledge, it suggested that behavioural biases and economic constraints or considerations are holding consumers back. The paper identified eight behavioural factors that skewed people’s behaviour, including hyperbolic discounting (an exaggerated bias toward having a certain amount of money now over having a larger amount in the future); anchoring (assigning undue importance to irrelevant information); and loss aversion...

Staff | September 4, 2020 The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is taking part in the launch of the GLP Japan income fund, a private Japanese open-ended logistics fund. The deal is the latest in the pension fund’s partnership with Global Logistics Properties Ltd., which kicked off in 2011 when the two parties formed a 50-50 joint venture. While the venture has been expanded multiple times over the years, the CPPIB exited at the end of August 2020, receiving about $590 million in new proceeds. As part of the current deal, the CPPIB is recommitting $307 million of those proceeds to the new fund. At inception, the fund held $3.4 billion under management. Read: CPPIB invests in Japan “The transaction marks a significant milestone for CPP Investments’ real estate investment program in Japan,” said Jimmy Phua, managing director and head of real estate investments for Asia at the CPPIB, in a press release. “The strong fundamentals in the Japanese logistics market continue to make this a compelling investment opportunity for long-term investors. We are pleased to continue our strategic relationship with GLP, one of our key global real estate partners, while recycling capital for other compelling investment opportunities.” Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com