Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

By Robbin Smith One lesson the pandemic has taught us is the prudence of policy review. Mortality is now front of mind for clients and they have understandable concerns about their insurability. Not only are people working from home, but also they are working on their homes, going through closets and cabinets, and getting their affairs in order. Life insurance is part of this process and has become of increased importance for some people. On top of that, the marketplace continues to see change as carriers are repricing their products according to current conditions. Many insurers are using expedited underwriting, with no paramed exam, for certain ages and amounts. The process can be virtual from start to finish, which allows financial professionals to connect with and help clients during this remote working environment. Three Main Reasons For A Policy Review Needs may have changed. Clients’ financial goals and objectives change over time. Financial professionals will assess the current needs when evaluating the policy and provide alternatives that may be more appropriate for their current situation. Improved mortality. People are living longer, and mortality costs have come down over time. Carriers had to reprice their products in 2009 and in 2019...

Staff | August 21, 2020 Texas-based Insurance Zebra is stepping up for employee wellness by helping them welcome furry friends into their lives. The insurer has added a $300 annual benefit for employees adopting a new dog or cat and encouraging staff to take paid time off for “paw-ternity” leave. “There was a time a while ago when I took my labrador Zuma with me on the train into my office daily,” said Keith Melnick, the company’s chief executive officer, in a press release. “I know this kind of companionship can make a huge difference in quality of life and mental health. Especially now that we’re all working remotely for the foreseeable future, I want to make sure that anyone at the Zebra who wants to can experience that.” Read: Should employers welcome pets to the workplace? Multiple staff members have already made use of the benefit. Maribeliz Ortiz, Zebra’s agency quality assurance coordinator, welcomed a long-haired dachshund named Niko. “I’m not ready to have a child any time soon, but it feels really nice to be supported by my company to help start a family in the way I can right now.” As well, Dan Kujanek, the firm’s senior manager of performance marketing, and his wife adopted their...

Staff  | August 21, 2020 Dialogue is expanding its health-care services by introducing an employee assistance program. The mobile-first EAP, which will be integrated into the company’s virtual-care services, aims to connect employees with the right professional quickly through an easy-to-use app. Employees will receive quick virtual access to practitioners across multiple disciplines, including mental health, financial services, legal support, career counselling and crisis management. Read: What you don’t know about your employee assistance program “As health and wellness continues to be a top priority for organizations, it’s critical that we simplify access to important tools like employee assistance programs and make it as easy as possible for people to get the support they need, as soon as they need it,” said Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, chief operating officer at Dialogue, in a press release. The new EAP was developed in partnership with Dialogue’s existing clients, according to the release. It will launch in the fall of 2020 and will be offered on a per employee, per month basis starting with existing plan sponsor clients. Read: Evaluating the value of employee assistance programs Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Canada Life and Mackenzie Investments have announced the launch of the Canada Life shelf of mutual funds. Available to investors beginning on September 9, the new shelf comes from a rebrand of the existing Quadrus Group of Funds suite. It will feature 18 new mutual funds, representing a curated selection of competitive investment managers that encompass a range of managers, asset classes, and styles. Canada Life Mutual Funds – which will include Canadian, U.S. and global equity, as well as fixed-income and balanced funds along with asset-allocation strategies – are managed by Mackenzie Investments and will be made exclusively available through Quadrus Investment Services, a subsidiary of Canada Life. The new mutual funds will also have more cohesion with Canada Life’s segregated fund shelf as it will closely align with the existing collection of seg funds. “Increasing the overlap between the mutual fund and segregated fund shelves means that customers and advisors can determine which products are most appropriate for their portfolios, providing greater flexibility and choice to build an investment solution that meets the customer’s unique financial needs and goals,” said Paul Orlander, executive vice-president, Individual Customer, Canada Life. The news of Canada Life’s rebranded mutual-fund shelf comes after...

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press | August 20, 2020 The federal Liberals are rolling out a $37-billion income support plan for workers whose earnings have crashed during the pandemic. The details released Thursday outline what will happen to some four million workers receiving the $500-a-week Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which is set to wind down starting next month. The CERB will be extended another four weeks and a new benefit that pays $400 a week for up to 26 weeks will replace it for those ineligible for employment insurance. Anyone eligible for EI will receive the same minimum for at least 26 weeks and will be required to have worked 120 hours to qualify, well below current EI requirements, since many Canadians have been unable to work due to the pandemic. There will also be a $500-a-week sickness benefit and caregiving benefit for anyone who has to stay home because they’re ill or because school or daycare is closed. Read: Canada sets temporary minimum unemployment rate for EI Changes are also coming in to allow workers to keep more of their benefits even while they’re working, eliminating the earnings cliff created under CERB that acted as a disincentive to work. The three new benefits...

Staff | August 20, 2020 Alberta’s Local Authorities Pension Plan is introducing a new secure section of its website where plan members can log in, access their personal account and learn about their pension. The features of Your Pension Profile include mobile-friendly access to pension information, self-serve options and useful tools to help plan for retirement or manage the plan. It also allows members to request information and send pension documents directly to LAPP’s member services centre. Read: Alberta pension plan wins communications award for approachable, original website Through the portal, plan members will also be able to view and save important documents, such as annual pension statements and tax slips; receive notifications when pension documents are available or when information is required by the LAPP; and make updates to personal information, such as addresses and contact information, beneficiaries and banking information. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff  | August 20, 2020 Four types of new habits and perspectives are expected to define the post-coronavirus era and could impact investment portfolios, according to new analysis by Thinking Ahead, the thought leadership lab at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The research, co-authored by Caitlin Walsh, senior portfolio manager, and Ruby Grewal, portfolio manager, analyzed the breadth of change expected following the global pandemic. Read: How are Canadian pension plans responding to coronavirus? It found four areas with the potential to impact investments: Permanent changes to consumer behaviour, such as greater e-commerce adoption among older consumers; Long-term impact on health care and privacy policy, including the shift toward telehealth and increased concerns over the sharing of personal data; Impact on cities and infrastructure, resulting from a potential shift of populations away from the largest urban centres and changing mobility trends; and Shifts in global supply chains, benefitting providers of supply chain software and automation. “As COVID-19 impacts consumers, businesses and governments we continue to monitor and assess the changing landscape as part of our ongoing risk management efforts and to identify new investment opportunities,” said Leon Pedersen, managing director and head of thematic investing at the CPPIB, in a press release. Read: Canadian public pension heads call on employers to...

Greg Lindberg Insurance magnate and billionaire Greg Lindberg was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Wednesday for orchestrating a bribery scheme involving independent expenditure accounts and improper campaign contributions. Lindberg, 50, of Durham, N.C., the founder and chairman of Eli Global and the owner of Global Bankers Insurance Group, was sentenced to 87 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Lindberg has told media outlets that he will appeal. Lindberg’s consultant, John D. Gray, 70, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was ordered to serve 30 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Lindberg and Gray were also ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount approximately $1.45 million held in accounts established by the defendants for the purpose of funneling the bribe payments. On March 5, 2020, a federal jury convicted Lindberg and Gray of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds following an approximately three-week trial. U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. presided over the trial and today’s sentencing hearings. Co-defendant, Robert Cannon Hayes, 74, of Concord, North Carolina, was also sentenced today to a one-year probationary term. Hayes previously pleaded guilty to making false...

Kelsey Rolfe | August 20, 2020 The Public Sector Alliance of Canada is asking the federal government to change the way it reports the unfunded liabilities of public sector pension plans, arguing the current practice makes the cost of the plans appear more volatile. The federal government implemented a new discount rate methodology in 2017/18 for pre-2000 pension liabilities. It moved from using a 20-year average of long-term Government of Canada bonds to using a 10-year government bond rate, which is a better method for taking current low interest rates into account. The change, which came following a request from Canada’s auditor general, impacted how the liabilities were measured and led to substantial increases in the federal deficit in the government’s fall economic updates, of about $20 billion in 2018 and $25 billion in 2019. Read: Feds to review discount rates for pension, benefits obligations In its 2019 update, the government said it would consult on a proposal to improve the presentation of pension and benefit expenses in its financial statements by separately reporting the impact of remeasuring its pension obligations. Consultation took place from March 6 to June 12, 2020. In its consultation submission, the PSAC said it agreed with separating out the cost of pre-2000 pension obligations. “The PSAC believes...

There is a growing divergence in consumer perceptions about the economy and COVID-19 based on ideology, according to the latest results of LIMRA’s Consumer Sentiment Survey. In March, 77% of liberals and 58% of conservatives reported a high level of concern about COVID-19. Since then, perceptions regarding the gravity of the crisis have diverged significantly. In July, 78% of consumers who identify as liberals report a high level of concern about COVID-19, whereas only 44% of consumers who identify as conservatives report this level of concern — nearly doubling the gap between the two groups. Overall, just 25% of Americans had a favorable view of the economy in July. This is up 4 percentage points from March but down 31 percentage points from the all-time high of 56% (since LIMRA began tracking this in 2008) in January 2020. When it comes to the economy, consumers are similarly split along political lines. Sixty-eight percent of consumers who identify as liberal continue to be highly concerned about the economy while just 44% of conservatives show this level of concern. “Our study revealed a drastic difference in consumer perceptions about the economy and the pandemic, based on whether they are liberal or conservative,”...