Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

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...

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has released its 2020 Canadian Life and Health Insurance Facts report, which includes a statistical snapshot of the Canadian industry from last year as well as selected trends covering the previous decade. According to the CLHIA report, the country’s life and health insurers provide financial protection for over 29 million Canadians, paying out $103 billion in benefits last year. “Over 90% of benefit payments went to living policyholders,” the report said. “Total benefits paid out have increased over 60% from a decade ago.” With respect to life insurance, last year saw a total of $5 trillion in coverage encompassing 22 million Canadians. Consumers received $12.1 billion in life insurance benefits paid last year, including $7.7 billion issued as death benefits and $4.4 billion paid to living policy holders through disability benefits, cash surrenders, or dividends. The CLHIA reported that four fifths (81%) of life insurance in Canada is purchased through agents or advisors in the form of individual policies, and one fifth (19%) is sold through group plans. Individual life insurance coverage has been on the rise for at least the past decade – driven primarily by term life policies – with...

Staff | September 15, 2020 The median projected solvency for Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans increased to 90 per cent at the end of 2020’s second quarter, up from 85 per cent in the first quarter, as measured by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. The regulator estimated about three-quarters of plans had double-digit investment returns for the quarter, partially offset by the drop in solvency observed the previous quarter. Net of fees, the estimated return stood at 10.9 per cent and 11.1 per cent before expenses. Just 26 per cent of pensions are projected to be fully funded on a solvency basis as of the end of the second quarter, while 36 per cent are projected to have a ratio below 85 per cent. Read: Canadian DB pension plans see rebound off strong equity gains: reports “The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020 and global equity market indices dropped sharply to their lowest levels of the year just before the March 31, 2020 quarter end,” noted a report from the FSRA. “Fortunately, fears of continued deterioration did not materialize and capital markets rallied in Q2 2020, even as the economy was constrained by efforts...

Staff  | September 15, 2020 The Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan and its group of companies are the latest employers to join the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology’s DBplus pension plan. Effective Sept. 7, 685 full-time employees — including 639 from Ontario, 23 from Alberta and 23 from Quebec — joined DBplus on a go-forward basis. In addition, all part-time and contract employees will have the option to join the plan. With the change, the employees move from a defined contribution into a defined benefit pension. Members will be able to transfer their DC balances to purchase the additional pension with DBplus. Read: Canadian law firms to join CAAT’s DBPlus pension plan Since the plan was introduced in 2018 and launched in 2019, more than 15,000 members from more than 30 employers have joined. The CAAT now has members across Canada from nine industries and 14 different labour unions. “OTIP and the OTIP group of companies are delighted to join CAAT and offer our employees the security of a defined benefit pension plan,” said Vic Medland, chief executive officer of the OTIP, in a press release. “Being able to provide enhanced value for our hard-working and dedicated staff, while maintaining the same fixed costs for the organization made...

By Susan Ghalili The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the significant role life insurance plays in the cycle of life, as well as the importance of modernizing the sales model to withstand dramatic disruptions to the ways the industry typically operates. The current situation has emphasized the fact that the future is unpredictable. This is one of the main drivers behind why people purchase life insurance – to hedge against some of that unpredictability. For distributors, the pandemic has not changed goals and objectives, and many distributors are still working to meet aggressive sales targets. For consumers, the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, related to both health and financial well-being, has prompted them to assess their own preparedness and has made life insurance more top-of-mind. As an industry, we must continue to look forward and find innovative ways to work together to meet consumer needs, especially under challenging circumstances. Central to this transformation is modernizing the purchasing process for consumers. While we have seen an uptick in the number of individuals interested in purchasing life insurance throughout the pandemic, social distancing and safety measures have made traditional steps in the sales process impractical, if not impossible. These traditional steps...

Business Wire Industry has more than $8.6 trillion invested in the economy. NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Between 2010 and 2018, the U.S. life insurance industry distributed nearly $1.5 trillion in claims and benefits to policyholders, an amount equal to 19 percent of all Social Security payments made over that same period, according to a study released today. These numbers highlight the crucial role that life insurers play in relieving pressure on government programs. If Social Security had to finance all the benefits provided by private life insurance, U.S. payroll tax revenue would have to increase by at least 19 percent. “The life insurance industry has always functioned as a private sector safety net. At a moment when public finances are strained by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn, the benefits we pay are more important than ever,” said Mike Zarcone, head of Corporate Affairs for MetLife. “Our industry also helps create the foundations of long-term prosperity by investing trillions in the economy. This study puts the magnitude of our impact into perspective.” Social Security and Life Insurance Payments (2010-2018) Social Security Life Insurance Survivor $1,021 billion $623 billion Retirement $5,323 billion $693 billion Disability $1,244 billion $161 billion Total $7.588...

Staff | September 15, 2020 The Financial Services Regulatory Authority is seeking stakeholder input on draft guidance on providing consent for asset transfer transactions under the Pension Benefits Act. Aiming to support predictability and transparency for defined benefit plan administrators, sponsors and members and to protect of the rights of members, the guidance sets out how the FSRA will exercise its discretion and may provide its consent for the purposes of an asset transfer transaction under the act. As an example, a transaction may occur when two businesses merge or one organization acquires another and their individual pension plans are to be partially or fully merged. It could also happen if a single employer pension plan merges into a jointly sponsored pension plan. Read: How to deal with DB pensions in an M&A transaction “Regardless of the underlying reason for the asset transfer transaction, this approach guidance supports pension plan administrators’ understanding of how to seek FSRA’s consent to the transfer and when and how FSRA will exercise its discretion.” In a press release, the regulator noted the guidance aims to protect DB plan member and beneficiary entitlements; to speed up the review process that examines whether original and successor plans will remain able to deliver on their long-term pension promises; to...