Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

‘Migration’ continues HTM’s digital transformation strategy Coburg, ON (Aug. 17, 2020) – HTM Insurance Company (HTM) migrates their Personal Property operations to the Cognition+ platform as part of their continuing work on Digital Transformation. Joining the automobile line of business on the Cognition+ solution, this move enables all forms of personal property including residential, seasonal, watercraft and other assorted personal insurance product lines of business. The quality of the product and the consistency with the auto line of business allowed the team at HTM to adopt all transaction types on day one with ease. The guided workflow along with Task Management has improved overall efficiency, service and control. “I am really proud of our team at HTM how they’ve been able to push this project through to a successful completion during these current uncertain times,” said Alec Harmer, President & CEO of HTM Insurance Company. “While initially the pandemic posed some early challenges to the Change Management process, the team has used a combination of virtual tools and collaboration to overcome not being able to work directly together. Our team has been working closely with Cognition+ to ensure a smooth transition. We’re extremely pleased how our first week on the...

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press | August 31, 2020 Uber Technologies Inc. is trying to keep its Canadian drivers from joining or starting class-action lawsuits against the company — a move that threatens to upend a $400-million fight from drivers wanting to be recognized as employees, says a lawyer. Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru, who is pursuing the case, said drivers using the platform were asked to sign new contracts days ago that asked them to agree not to pursue class or collective action. Uber, instead, wants drivers to agree to settle their issues with the company through arbitration or on an individual basis, he said. “The drivers get locked out of the Uber app, unless they accept this new agreement. For a driver that is trying to earn a living wage, especially during these difficult times, what are the chances that someone is actually going to read this in detail, understand what it means, understand the options and make an informed decision?” Read: Uber Black drivers fight for unionization at labour board hearing In a statement to The Canadian Press, Uber said “with the updated arbitration clause, dispute resolution is now more accessible to drivers, bringing Uber Canada in line with other jurisdictions.” However, Samfiru...

GlobeNewswire CINCINNATI, Aug. 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ohio National Financial Services is pleased to announce the addition of the Protector Plus and Level-premium Paid-up Additions (PUA) riders to its limited pay whole life insurance lineup.  Previously available together only on the Prestige 100 II lifetime pay whole life policy, their combination on limited pay whole life policies gives producers greater flexibility to help their clients with a wide range of individual and business planning needs. When added to a Prestige 10 Pay II, Prestige 20 Pay or Prestige Max III (Paid to 65) limited pay policy, the Protector Plus rider can be paired, or blended, with the Level-premium PUA rider to enhance early guaranteed cash value and dividend-earning potential. This can be especially helpful for individuals and businesses needing greater and/or faster access to policy values. “We believe the addition of Protector Plus rider to our Prestige limited pay policies gives our producers a competitive advantage,” said Karl Kreunen, CLU, vice president, product marketing. “We are one of a few carriers offering a PUA rider/term blending capability on limited pay whole life policies. Adding extra flexibility to the already efficient Prestige limited pay product suite, the Protector Plus rider...

Staff  | August 31, 2020 More than 90 per cent of global public investors have specific environmental, social and governance investment policies in place or are in the process of developing them, according to a new report by BNY Mellon and the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. The report combines the results of two separate surveys, with respondents to the first including 17 global pension funds, 11 sovereign funds and 50 central banks and respondents to the second including 27 pension and sovereign funds. Motivations for implementing ESG policies included the expectation of superior risk-adjusted returns and the need to align investment strategies with organizational values or minimize reputational risks. However, respondents said they struggle to formally measure the impact and non-financial performance of investment decisions, even though many said they aim to do so in future. Read: Most Canadian institutional investors engaging in ESG issues: survey Some 81 per cent of pension funds said they apply exclusion or negative screening strategies compared to 58 per cent of sovereign funds and 28 per cent of central banks. The sectors most frequently excluded are tobacco, arms and coal, while a minority of investors said they exclude oil and gas, though only partially. Among pension funds, 93 per...

ACORD’s 2020 Insurance Digital Maturity Study of top global insurance carriers identifies key factors for insurers to successfully navigate the digital journey Pearl River, NY (Aug. 26, 2020) – ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, has released its 2020 Insurance Digital Maturity Study of the world’s top 130 insurance carriers. A rapidly evolving insurance ecosystem, paired with financial uncertainty amid a global pandemic, have led to a need for insurers to modernize that is more urgent than ever. Yet the ACORD study indicates that much work remains to be done. Among the 130 largest worldwide insurers, fewer than 30% have truly digitized the value chain while 13% are not leveraging digital technologies within their current business processes. Further, more than half of the insurers in the study are still exploring how digitization can be applied against their business model. The ACORD 2020 Insurance Digital Maturity Study is the 4th edition of this annual study, and includes data and insights current as of July 2020. The study assessed each company’s digital maturity relative to its peers; compared the extent of digital capabilities with the level of value creation; and identified the issues, implications, and most importantly, execution imperatives...

COVID-19 is expected to weaken world economic resilience by nearly 20% in 2020 as countries’ fiscal and monetary headroom is depleted, Swiss Re Institute’s annual Macroeconomic Resilience Index shows Among major economies, resilience in the UK, Japan and the US may be hardest hit, but they should still rank higher than many European countries The combined insurance protection gap for mortality, health and natural disaster risks is calculated as reaching a new high of USD 1.24 trillion Zurich, Switzerland (Aug. 26, 2020) – The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to reduce global macroeconomic resilience by about 20% in 2020 from 2019 levels as stimulus packages deplete countries’ fiscal and monetary buffers around the world. According to the latest annual Swiss Re Institute resilience indices, the UK, Japan and the US will experience the greatest falls in resilience among major economies. Switzerland, Finland and Canada remain the world’s three most resilient countries, reflecting their comprehensive economic strength against future crises. Global economic resilience held up in 2019 compared with 2018, but the world entered the COVID-19 crisis with less shock-absorbing capacity than before the global financial crisis of 2008-09, the last major economic downturn. The Swiss Re Institute Macroeconomic Resilience Index (E-RI)...

Toronto, ON (Aug. 24, 2020) – As they continue to build out their national benefits practice, Navacord Corp., one of Canada’s top four commercial insurance brokerages and a leader in risk management services, is pleased to announce the addition of PEI-based Cooke Capital, effective August 13, 2020. Founded in 2003 as a division of Cooke Insurance Group, the Maritimes’ largest P&C broker, Cooke Capital specializes in affordable, custom group benefit plans and solutions to help mid-market businesses attract and retain valuable employees in a competitive landscape. The partnership offers synergies across the companies between P&C and benefits lines of busines, and supports Navacord’s business strategy of providing a more robust platform of product offerings as they expand their benefits practice. “Cooke Capital complements Navacord’s business and is one of the few firms in Canada that has successfully cross-sold P&C and benefits,” says Shawn DeSantis, Navacord President and CEO. “In addition to expanding our reach to the Maritimes, Danny and his team bring a lot of value to our benefits practice and we are pleased to welcome them to the Navacord family.” Thanks to a unique ownership and operating model, Navacord continues to attract a strong pipeline of entrepreneurial brokers across...

Most insurers agree that Customer Experience/User Experience (CX/UX) CX/UX is about providing agents and policyholders with both short-term and long-term positive experiences: Novarica Boston, MA (Aug. 25, 2020) – Customer experience/user experience (CX/UX) is commonly understood as an important part of digital strategy, but approaches, resourcing, measurement, and focus vary widely within the insurance industry. In a new report, Insurer CX and UX: Approaches and Current State, research and advisory firm Novarica presents the results of a survey of 79 insurers across Novarica’s Research Council and Community, concerning attitudes and practices related to customer experience and user experience. “For insurers, CX/UX is still a new and emerging discipline,” said Paul Legutko, VP of Digital Marketing and Analytics, and lead author of Novarica’s new report. “Insurers —especially life insurers—need to develop a distinct CX/UX strategy, given the need for brands to establish a direct relationship with consumers in the wake of COVID-19. The key elements of a CX/UX strategy would include ownership, scope, and criteria for success and would be designed to encourage dialogue among the diverse teams who provide touchpoints to agents and policyholders.” Among the key findings of the reports are: Marketing and tech/digital teams are most likely to...

New SMA Blog by Megan Bock Zarnoch, Founder, Boundless Consulting Group Boston, MA (Aug. 31, 2020) – You believe your culture is pretty darn good, and your systems, while not perfect, are improving … but what would your underwriters say? Underwriting professionals are acknowledged to be the company’s most valuable assets, which you tell them all the time. But the war for talent is real in this business, especially considering that the pool isn’t nearly as deep as we’d all like it to be. The demographics indicate retirements over the next 5-10 years will significantly drain that pool. So, the real issues we need to face are how our actions support, empower, and engage those assets. Or don’t. A 2019 Gallup survey found that only one in five US employees strongly agreed with the statement “My opinions seem to count at work” and fewer than one in 10 with the statement “I take risks at my job that could lead to new products or solutions.” The reality of our business is that change is constant. That manifests to your underwriting teams as new risk appetites, profit improvement strategies, predictive modeling tools, RQI systems, semi-automated processes, cross-sell initiatives, broker assignments, organizational...

Kelsey Rolfe | August 31, 2020 In the wake of the pandemic-related market volatility that battered already challenged public sector defined benefit plans in the U.S., a recent paper by New York University’s Stern School of Business is arguing that Canadian-style reforms could help secure these plans for the long term. “The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new fissures in state and local government finances, heightening the need to bolster long-term public pension fund robustness,” wrote the co-authors, Clive Lipshitz, managing partner at Tradewind Interstate Advisors, and Ingo Walter, a professor of finance, corporate governance and ethics at Stern. “Long-term pension sustainability, once politically prioritized, must be built on equity and discipline in plan design, funding and amortization of existing deficits.” The Canadian pension model offers several lessons for the U.S., wrote the authors, noting that Canada’s success traces back to concentrated efforts on reform in the 1980s and 1990s. Read: Yes, Canadian pension plans actually do outperform their global peers: study Before the enhancements, rising debt levels at both federal and provincial levels began to highlight design flaws in Canada’s public pension funds. These had several commonalities: benefit enhancements were untethered from contribution rates; contributions were co-mingled with general government funds instead of segregated in separate accounts;...