Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Cassandra Williamson-Hopp | July 3, 2020 Health and productivity is affected by a lack of access to care, according to Dr. Hanif Jamal, Canadian medical director at Teledoc Health, during a webinar hosted by Benefits Canada.  Referring to a recent survey by the Canadian Medical Association, he noted 73 per cent of Canadians said they believe virtual care will improve access, followed by more timely treatments (71 per cent), more convenience than in-person doctor visits (67 per cent) and improved overall health care (63 per cent). “Between pressures impeding access to care and Canadians’ readiness to give virtual care a try, the time is now for employers to figure out how to make telemedicine available as an employee benefit,” he said. Read: Canadians cite 91% satisfaction rate with virtual health care Employers are aligning themselves with virtual-care providers, said Dave Angus, president of Johnston Group, also speaking during the webinar. He noted this move has been positive for the benefits industry in terms of quick access to health care and what that means for employee health outcomes. “Oftentimes, when you introduce new products, it takes a while for the market to catch up, but the coronavirus has accelerated the impact and adoption.” Telemedicine has a triaging benefit,...

Staff | July 3, 2020 Employers are increasingly interested in seeing more support for chronic disease and chronic pain management in their benefits plans, according to the 2020 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. The vast majority (88 per cent) of plan sponsors said they want their health benefits plan to do more to support plan members living with chronic diseases, up from 82 per cent in 2019 and 79 per cent in 2018. The same number (88 per cent) said they want their insurer to make products and services related to chronic disease management available in their health benefits plan, so they don’t have to make special requests to opt into a new benefit. Plan members living with chronic conditions or pain also expressed interest in more support from their health benefits plan, with 41 per cent saying they’d like higher levels of coverage for existing products or services and 23 per cent wanting coverage for new products or services. Read: What are the top chronic diseases in the workplace? More than half (58 per cent) of plan members reported having at least one chronic condition, which increases to 70 per cent among those aged 55 and older and 93 per cent among plan members who describe themselves...

Staff  | July 3, 2020 In the second quarter of 2020, the funded positions of defined benefit plans recovered almost half of the losses incurred during the coronavirus crash of the first quarter, according to Mercer’s pension health index. The index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB pension plan, increased to 101 per cent at the end of June, from 93 per cent at the end of March. While back to full funding, the index is still significantly lower than its level of 112 per cent at the end of 2019. “While the last few months have been painful, most defined benefit plans have emerged from the depths of the crisis in reasonably strong shape,” said Manuel Monteiro, partner and leader of Mercer Canada’s financial strategy group, in a press release. “Measured across the backdrop of the 20-plus years since Jan. 1, 2000, funded positions have been higher than they are today less than 30 per cent of the time.” Read: Canadian DB plan solvency drops off coronavirus scare: reports On a similarly positive note, Aon reported that its median solvency ratio rose to 95.4 per cent, up from 89.1 per cent at the end of the first quarter, according to its median solvency ratio...

Foresters Financial is embarking on a new chapter of its existence as it finally exits the variable life and annuity business. The company has completed its previously announced sale of Foresters Financial Holding Company and Foresters Life Insurance and Annuity Company (FLIAC), the New York-based variable life and annuity business it acquired through its 2011 purchase of First Investors, to Nassau Financial Group. With the sale of FLIAC, Foresters has completed divested itself of the First Investors businesses, following its sale of the asset manager and broker dealer arms to Macquarie Group and Cetera Financial Group, respectively. It also marks the culmination of Foresters strategy to concentrate on fixed life insurance in the US and Canada. “Our strategy focuses on optimizing our strengths as a modern fraternal life insurance carrier,” Foresters Financial President and CEO Jim Boyle said in a statement. “With the divestitures over the past year, our energies are fully devoted to driving the growth of our fixed life insurance business and taking advantage of being a purpose-driven fraternal organization.” The firm said its fraternal life business has been growing as it expands its suite of innovative term life, universal life, and whole life insurance products in the...

Belleville-based McDougall Insurance Brokers announces another merger Toronto, ON (July 1, 2019) – McDougall Insurance and Financial announced today that they have merged with Ritchie Insurance effective immediately (July 1, 2020) and are pleased to welcome the employees of Ritchie Insurance into the McDougall organization. Ritchie Insurance is a very successful broker operating out of Parry Sound with 8 employees. They now join with McDougall Insurance and Financial to form an independent broker with 38 offices in Eastern Ontario, the Ottawa Valley and Central Ontario with 420 employees with over $415 million in property casualty premium and a strong and rapidly growing financial services division. All Ritchie Insurance employees will remain with the organization and their branch office location will continue. All members of the Ritchie Insurance management team including the current President Dave Ritchie will continue with the organization after this merger. Ritchie Insurance is an excellent fit with the McDougall organization which is split with both commercial and personal lines as well as financial services. The merger will greatly enhance our reach in Central Ontario as it adds a new location to our existing offices in this region. As an independent broker we are committed to continuing our...

Staff | July 2, 2020 The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is establishing a long-term strategic partnership with property and infrastructure firm Lendlease Corp. to develop an urban regeneration project in Milan. The Milano Santa Giulia mixed-use project has the long-term potential for up to 2,500 homes, alongside commercial office, retail and entertainment properties. It has also set a zero-carbon target and will include parkland. Overall, the site has a gross development value of  €2.5 billion. The partnership will involve an initial investment of about €250 million to buy two office buildings at the southern tip of the site, with the intention to later carry out development over the northern part of the site, building residential, office and retail components. Lendlease will lead the planning, design and development of the project over the coming decade. Read: CPPIB investing in U.K. residential real estate “We believe Milano Santa Giulia presents an exciting opportunity to create a vibrant new neighbourhood for Milan, built around the principles of innovation and sustainability, and we look forward to working with our new partners Lendlease on this project,” said Stephane Jalbert, managing director of real estate investments for Europe and Asia Pacific at PSP Investments, in a press release. In other investment news, the Canada Pension Plan...

Hub’s latest acquisition is the life insurance product Managing General Agent business of Ontario-based ivari Chicago, IL (July 2, 2020) – Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, is pleased to today that it has acquired the life insurance product managing general agent business of ivari. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ivari has a national network of thousands of independent advisors that provide a full range of life insurance products designed to help Canadians make the right choice for their protection needs. The brokers and business done through ivari’s company offices will join Hub Financial Inc., a subsidiary of Hub (Hub Financial). ivari’s strategic refinement of resources will allow ivari to further support independent advisors and existing partnerships, a move that will strengthen their position in the marketplace as a mid-market insurance provider and offer growth opportunities in the future. Hub Financial combines extensive sales training and coaching with industry-leading back office support and exceptional technology to provide financial advisors and insurance brokers with access to development tools and education while maintaining their independence and self-governance. With offices in 15 cities across Canada, Hub Financial is one of Canada’s largest distributors...

Forming a seamless digital connection between growers and insurance professionals, this partnership establishes new levels of protection from the financial impact of hail Winnipeg, MB (June 23, 2020) — Farmers Edge™, a global leader in digital agriculture, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Palliser Insurance, the leading provider of hail insurance in Western Canada. This strategic alliance enables Palliser Insurance to simplify hail claims and provide superior coverage to growers using the industry’s most comprehensive risk management platform—FarmCommand®. This collaboration combines the strengths of two Canadian agricultural powerhouses and addresses one of the most fundamental risk factors in farming—weather—to better protect policyholders from the financial impact of hail. Under the terms of the deal, Palliser Insurance will gain access to Farmers Edge InsurTech tools and new hail detection and reporting technology, increasing the accuracy of claims management and lowering administration costs through automated detection, estimation, adjudication, and reporting. Additionally, Palliser Insurance growers can leverage access to a powerful crop monitoring solution from Farmers Edge to support in-season decision making, ensure timely identification of crop damage, and simplify management of all critical claim data. The solution makes it easy for growers to seamlessly form a digital connection with their...

Evaluating sources must become a core competency; new CIO Checklist provides structured approach to determine external data quality and reliability Boston, MA (June 30, 2020) – With dozens of third-party data providers that market to insurers, the ability to screen out poor data candidates with up-front criteria will quickly provide the insurer CIO a shortlist of suitable vendors. In Vetting Third-Party Data Providers, research and advisory firm Novarica provides a checklist for CIOs that focuses on efficiency, speed to market, and minimizing the impact on scarce and expensive human resources. “Selecting a data partner is a significant investment of the insurer’s analytics, technology, business, legal, and procurement resources,” says Eric Weisburg, Vice President of Research and Consulting and author of Novarica’s new report. “Too much is riding on third-party data decisions for insurers to take an ad hoc approach.” Click here for the table of contents or to access the report. Report Summary This CIO Checklist proposes a structured approach for insurers to be more efficient in third-party dataset evaluation. Third-party data (3PD) is growing in popularity among insurers. It can provide critical support to the digital and analytical initiatives that insurers are prioritizing across the value chain. The 3PD...

Root technology is creating unparalleled value to GasBuddy consumers within the GasBuddy app in a first-of-its-kind partnership Toronto, ON (June 29, 2020) – GasBuddy, the travel and navigation app that is used by more North American drivers to save money on gas, will add advanced new functionality to its app by partnering with Root, Inc. and their technology platform business, Root Enterprise, to better understand driver behavior. Under the terms of the partnership, the companies will develop strategic uses of Root’s core telematics technology, which measures driving behavior through mobile phones. GasBuddy will now be able to provide its millions of users with individualized driving insights — for those who opt in — that can power cost savings at the fuel pump, and on their auto insurance policies, all within the GasBuddy app. “The GasBuddy brand stands for having the most ways and the most places for drivers to save on their fuel costs,” said Sarah McCrary, GasBuddy CEO. “Root’s innovations enable us to build on that promise, and even extend it by helping consumers save on their auto insurance. Our users will be delighted by Root’s elegant and useful interface, and even more so by the additional hundreds of...