Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Martha Porado | September 24, 2020 With employers and employees still suffering through the limbo of the coronavirus pandemic, Wednesday’s throne speech clarified how the federal government plans to continue to support Canadians. In her speech, Governor General Julie Payette said the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy will be extended into 2021. She also said the government intends to shift away from emergency benefits in favour of beefing up the current employment insurance system to fold in pandemic-related support. Although, regarding these and other promises, the speech gave no specific timelines or numbers. “Canadians should not have to choose between health and their job, just like Canadians should not have to take on debt that their government can better shoulder,” she said. Read: Survey finds 76% of Canadian businesses used federal wage subsidy to keep employees The speech also highlighted the particular burdens Canadian women have taken on during the pandemic. The speech noted many women have taken on more unpaid care at home, while at the same time, low-income women have been hit hardest by cuts to paid work. In a bid to support parents — in particular, women — Payette said the government intends to make a long-term investment in creating a national early learning and...

NEW YORK, N.Y., Sept. 23, 2020 – The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America’s Board of Directors announced today that Andrew J. McMahon will become Chief Executive Officer and President on October 1 and has joined the Board. He succeeds Deanna M. Mulligan, who will serve as Board Chair through year-end, when she will retire after leading the company for a decade. The appointments are consistent with the company’s leadership transition plan announced in May. “We are grateful to Deanna and Andrew for working closely together to ensure a smooth transition,” said Guardian Lead Director, Deborah Duncan. “With Deanna acting as Chair, Guardian is taking the final step in our CEO transition. We thank her for her exceptional leadership over the last 10 years.  Deanna strengthened the company in so many ways, creating a solid foundation on which Andrew will build the Guardian of the future. Andrew’s growth mindset, focus on putting customers first, deep industry experience and digital expertise are critical to our success going forward.” Ms. Mulligan joined Guardian in 2008 to lead the company’s Individual Life & Disability business. She was named President and Chief Operating Officer in November 2010 and appointed CEO in July 2011.   Her...

Staff  | September 23, 2020 The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and multi-stage investment firm S2G Ventures are creating a co-investment partnership whereby the Caisse will invest up to US$125 million over the next three years in ventures that aim to make the food and agriculture industry more sustainable and climate friendly. “By enabling investments in ventures and growth equity companies involved in the production, supply chain and consumption stages, this partnership will help reduce the agri-food industry’s carbon footprint,” said Kim Thomassin, executive vice-president and head of investments in Quebec and stewardship investing at the Caisse, in a press release. “S2G is a leading investment firm in this sector and we are delighted to partner with them to support cutting-edge entrepreneurs who will make the food and agriculture industry more sustainable.” Read: Caisse investing in Quebec agricultural cooperative Since 2017, the Caisse has committed to reducing its portfolio’s carbon footprint by 25 per cent per dollar invested by 2025. As of Dec. 31, 2019, its portfolio of low-carbon assets was US$34 billion, up 95 per cent from 2017. For the last six years, S2G has invested behind the founders of food and agriculture companies from soil to shelf including: Apeel Sciences, Beyond Meat, Greenlight Biosciences...

Staff | September 23, 2020 L’Oréal Group is launching a new employee share purchase plan in 57 of the countries in which it operates.  The latest offering comes on the heels of the global beauty company’s first worldwide employee share plan two years ago. “This year, after the success of the first plan in 2018, we want to once again involve our employees in the prosperity of our group,” said Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and chief executive officer of L’Oréal, in a press release.  Read: Back to basics on employee share purchase plans “This second employee share ownership plan is a new opportunity to allow those who wish to do so to support the development of the company and participate in its strategic project. This new plan reaffirms our ambition to unite our employees even more closely with L’Oréal’s future.” The plan is limited to 500,000 shares, including employer contribution. Employees will be able to purchase L’Oréal shares in a subscription formula, where the value of their investment will vary with changes in the company’s share price. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

New SMA Blog by Mark Breading, Partner, Strategy Meets Action — Technologies like machine learning, the IoT, RPA, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) were hot topics in P&C insurance before the world was turned upside down in 2020 due to the pandemic. These and many other “transformational” technologies have great potential for insurers in the rethinking and optimization of distribution, underwriting, claims, and many other parts of the business.[1] So, it is important to ask the question – how have the initiatives that leverage these technologies changed due to the pandemic? Are personal and commercial lines carriers still moving forward with projects in 2021? Do executives still have the same expectations about the potential of these technologies to transform their business? We answer these questions in detail for thirteen specific technologies in two new SMA research reports, one covering personal lines and the other covering commercial lines. However, I won’t leave you hanging in this blog, wondering about the answers to those questions. The short answer is yes – P&C insurers generally plan to move forward in 2021 with projects that leverage various technologies that have the power to deliver significant results and competitive advantage. The technologies we follow closely...

Are you waiting for your disability insurance carrier to APPROVE your claim? Attorneys Gregory Dell and Stephen Jessup discuss what you can expect while waiting for your disability insurance claim decision. Learn the factors that effect a disability insurance claim decision, what an “Elimination Period” is, and stalling tactics the carriers take advantage of. GREG…

A handful of solutions have acquired capabilities covering most of the separate components of the marketing life cycle; Novarica report profiles several of these solutions Boston, MA (Sept. 22, 2020) – Insurers looking to expand their MarTech stack need to assess the cost, maturity, and redundancy of tools they have already implemented, while developing a roadmap for their replacement or integration. In a new report, MarTech Suites for Insurers: Overview and Prominent Providers, research and advisory firm Novarica profiles seven holistic suites on the market today and describes the main components of their ecosystems, how they interact with each other, their development or acquisition history, and how well they address some of the specific challenges faced by insurers. “With agencies becoming savvier in digital marketing,” said Paul Legutko, VP of Digital Marketing and Analytics, and lead author of Novarica’s new report, “insurers need to maintain a certain level of maturity in marketing technology in order to integrate with systems that distributors might be using for marketing and sales.” Vendors profiled include Acoustic, Adobe, Epsilon, Google, HubSpot, Oracle, and Salesforce. Among the key findings of the report are: Solutions offer different mixes of software and professional services. Some vendors emphasize their services...

39 countries have ecosystems in a fragile state on more than one-third of their land Malta, Israel, Cyprus, Bahrain and Kazakhstan have the lowest Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (BES) ranking 55% of global GDP depends on high-functioning BES Major economies in Southeast Asia, Europe and the US exposed to BES decline Swiss Re Institute BES Index enables businesses and governments to factor in biodiversity and ecosystem issues into economic decision-making Zurich, Switzerland (Sept. 23, 2020) – Countries across the world are reliant on a range of services that are based around their natural ecosystems. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) include such necessities as food provision, water security and regulation of air quality that are vital to maintaining the health and stability of communities and economies. Over half (55%) of global GDP, equal to USD 41.7 trillion,[1] is dependent on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, a staggering fifth of countries globally (20%) are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing due to a decline in biodiversity and related beneficial services, reveals a new study by Swiss Re Institute. The study, which is based on Swiss Re Institute’s new Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Index, shows that both developing and advanced economies are...

Montreal, QC (Sept. 22, 2020) – Koïos Intelligence, a developer of artificial intelligence tools designed specifically for the finance and insurance industries, is pleased to announce the addition of Christian Dufour to its team. Well known in the field of life and health insurance, Christian Dufour joins Koïos Intelligence as Acting Senior Vice-President, Strategic Partnerships. After more than three decades working in the insurance industry, i.e. 27 years at La Capitale Insurance occupying several executive roles, including Senior Vice President in Life and Health Insurance, and a few years serving Desjardins Insurance as Senior Vice President, Christian Dufour joins Koïos Intelligence as Acting Senior Vice-President, Strategic Partnerships to operationalize the commercialization, thus accelerating the globalization of the startup. He will work on strategy and business development for this promising new organization in the Quebec financial ecosystem. About Koïos Founded in 2017, Koïos Intelligence’s mission is to empower the financial industry with the next generation of intelligent and customised systems built upon artificial intelligence, statistics, and operational research. Combining the knowledge of their lead experts, Koïos is developing new technologies that will redefine the insurance and financial sector and improve customer experience. The fast-growing Montreal firm has developed many projects in...

Clearwater, Fla. – September 23, 2020 ‒ AmeriLife Group has acquired a majority interest in The Achievement Group. TAG is a leading annuity and life organization that has been assisting financial institutions, insurance agencies and insurance professionals to maximize performance and return, and meet the needs of the pre-retirees and retirees they serve. Along with the recent acquisitions of Brookstone Capital Management, Agent Support Group and JD Mellberg, the partnership with TAG reinforces AmeriLife’s goal in providing protection and retirement planning services. AmeriLife is focused on the further expansion of these services, along with its other insurance products, as the demand for quality products and outstanding service for Americans continues to grow. Founded in 1994, TAG is known for its personal touch and uncommon results in helping agents and agencies make a bigger difference through the relationships that they build. Providing more than just off-the-shelf products, the TAG team brings years of expertise, along with actionable ideas, technology, and support that makes them the brokerage marketing partner of choice. TAG was formed by Brad Tison, and today, the company has offices in Iowa and Florida to support agencies and advisors nationwide. Tison will continue to lead the organization while also...