Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Other intermediated industries have lessons for insurers, says Novarica: Centralization of data, analytics, and digital assets can allow insurance marketers to engineer consistent and personalized customer journey, following leaders in Pharma, Auto, and Wealth Boston, MA (June 2, 2020) – Like marketers in other intermediated industries, insurance marketers adopting the latest in marketing technology and digital analytics face the challenge of not owning the critical sales step in their customers’ lifetime journey with the brand. In a new report, Digital Marketing in Insurance: Lessons from Other Intermediated Industries, research and advisory firm Novarica looks to other intermediated industries such as pharma, auto, and wealth management for solutions and tactics. “Lack of control over the touchpoints between agents and prospective customers remains the principal challenge for insurers,” said Paul Legutko, VP of Digital Marketing and Analytics, and lead author of Novarica’s new report. “It is possible for marketers at any insurer to give some thought towards digital storage, online surveys, and basic website tagging—the more basic solutions for gaining visibility into the intermediated experiences.” Click here for the table of contents or to access the report. Report Summary Insurance marketers can look to other intermediated industries like pharma, auto, and wealth,...

Chicago, IL (June 3, 2020) – Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, is pleased to announce that it has acquired 838517 Alberta Ltd., o/a HB Consultants. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, HB Consultants is an independent employee benefits consulting firm that specializes in group insurance programs, benefits communications, wellness solutions and risk management services. Darrin Heise, President of HB Consultants, and Elizabeth Harris, Employee Benefits Advisor at HB Consultants, will join Hub International Insurance Brokers, a division of Hub International Canada West ULC. The move continues Hub’s momentum in expanding its best-in-class employee benefits and retirement solutions to address the challenges clients are facing, including in benefits, total health and benefits communications. About Hub’s M&A Activities Hub International Limited is committed to growing organically and through acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint and strengthen industry and product expertise. For more information on the Hub M&A experience, visit WeAreHub.com. About Hub International Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Hub International Limited is a leading full-service global insurance broker providing property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services. With more than 12,000 employees in offices located throughout...

Insurance products remain solidly profitable, but big change is coming in who sells them and how they are sold, one leading industry analyst predicts. More fee-based products, new channels and growth in direct-to-consumer sales are some trends Chip Roame expects in the coming years. Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors, characterized insurance products as being in a natural transition phase. “We still think the industry needs to consolidate quite a bit,” Roame said, adding that more products will be pushed out through other channels besides agents. “As these products are more widely available, I think that drives pricing, that drives competition, that drives profit … that drives a lot of things.” Overall, insurance is about a $2 trillion industry, Roame said during a recent webinar. That is split between life/health ($1.2 trillion in 2019 premium) and P&C ($708 billion). But the relationship is reversed when it comes to profits, Roame noted. P&C sales accounted for about 61% of the industry’s $102 billion profit. MetLife remains the king of insurance, writing $103 billion in 2019 premium for about a 5% share of the market. State Farm followed with $66 billion in premium. Roame shared several key points and predictions about...

Kelsey Rolfe | June 3, 2020 A group of more than 80 global investment managers with a combined $10 trillion in assets under management is calling on Alphabet Inc. to implement board-level oversight for human rights risks. The Investor Alliance for Human Rights, which includes co-filers Hermes Investment Management, Loring, Wolcott and Coolidge, Robeco and Canadian responsible investing firm NEI Investments, is advancing a shareholder resolution for Google’s parent company to establish a human rights risk oversight committee. Shareholders will vote on the resolution at Alphabet’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co. have voiced their support for the resolution. Read: What’s the role of the proxy advisor as rules shift? The resolution noted that Alphabet’s products and services have “transformed our daily lives and the global economy,” but pose human rights risks around the proliferation of digital surveillance and privacy violations. They also have demonstrated the potential to exacerbate existing biases, facilitate the dissemination of disinformation and allow for harassment, hate speech and incitements of violence. “[Alphabet’s] very business model itself is so intertwined with human rights risk and we’ve seen what those are — around . . . right to privacy, freedom of expression, impact on elections,...

Aside from triggering a great outpouring of demand for life insurance, the coronavirus crisis has forced the industry to confront a truth it’s denied for decades: companies need to update the technological infrastructure underpinning their quoting and illustration processes. That’s what’s happening from the vantage point of Matt Essick, chief marketing officer at Ensight. An insurtech platform provider with a strong claim to leadership in the U.S. permanent life insurance space, the company also offers support for term life insurance products and annuities, and is expanding to accommodate long-term care products as well. “Life insurance is probably 10 years behind property and casualty products when it comes to being presented and marketed to the consumer in an interactive, digital manner,” Essick said. Fallen by the wayside While the life industry has been strongly focused on upgrading internal policy administration systems, he said it has fallen by the wayside with respect to how it does sales and marketing. The quoting process, for example, has remained largely entrenched in its traditionally complex form; illustrations have remained similarly challenging for agents and consumers alike, given continued reliance on materials that can run anywhere from 20 to 45 pages long in PDF form. “That’s...

BMO Insurance has enhanced its offering of guaranteed investment funds (GIFs) with new investment, guarantee, and no-load sales charge options. “During these unprecedented times, we continue to develop solutions to safeguard the financial wellbeing of our clients,” said Steven Cooney, senior vice president and head of Individual Life and Annuities, BMO Insurance. The BMO GIF portfolio now includes two new funds. The BMO Concentrated Global Equity GIF, which focuses on stocks whose earnings and cash flow growth rates are more sustainable than the market average, invests directly in the high-conviction BMO Concentrated Global Equity Fund. Meanwhile, the BMO Concentrated Global Balanced GIF caters to more risk-averse investors by coupling the performance potential of the BMO Concentrated Global Equity GIF with peace of mind from fixed income. BMO Insurance has also announced that the 100% death benefit guarantee on its GIF 75/100 Plus offering will be extended from age 80 to age 85, providing older clients with enhanced opportunity for estate preservation and wealth transfer protection. And with a new no-load sales charge option, BMO Insurance is offering financial advisors greater flexibility to offer clients access to their funds at any time without being hit with any surrender charges. “The recent...

Staff | June 2, 2020 Will this summer be prime vacation time for Canadians? While travel restrictions and social distancing protocols are still in effect, many employers are encouraging their staff to take breaks to avoid burnout, according to a new survey by the Conference Board of Canada. About a third (33 per cent) of survey respondents said they’re encouraging staff to take all of their vacation time before the end of the year, with 32 per cent suggesting staff take at least some time off. Just 21 per cent of employers said they’re requiring employees to take at least some vacation, with a further 10 per cent requiring them to take all of their vacation time. Almost two in 10 (17 per cent) said they haven’t communicated vacation expectations to their employees, while just three per cent said they’re requiring staff to take time off on days selected by the employer. Read: 5 benefits predictions for the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic For those employers mandating that staff take their vacation, more than half said they aren’t exempting employees in critical roles (52 per cent), front-line workers (69 per cent) or employees that have increased workloads due to the pandemic (56 per cent). The survey also found the...

Staff | June 2, 2020 A quarter (26 per cent) of Canadians indicated moderate to severe anxiety levels, 23 per cent said they felt lonely occasionally or most of the time in the past week and 20 per cent reported feeling depressed occasionally or most of the time in the past week, according to a new survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The inaugural survey, conducted by global research technology company Delvinia between May 8 and 12, polled more than 1,000 Canadians aged 18 or older. It also found people with a job that exposes them to a high risk of the coronavirus were more likely to have high levels of anxiety compared to those in lower-risk jobs — 33 per cent compared to 24 per cent. Changes to employment status are also affecting mental health. Those who have lost their job or are no longer working because of the pandemic are more likely to have moderate to severe anxiety levels (34 per cent) compared to other groups (22 per cent). They were also more likely to report feeling lonely (31 per cent) compared to other groups (22 per cent). Read: Employees still in work with reduced salaries show lowest mental-health levels: survey “CAMH regularly deploys surveys to...

Staff | June 2, 2020 The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario is appointing Nick Chamie as chief strategist to lead the organization’s asset allocation, currency management and fixed income strategies within the total portfolio and capital markets group.  With more than 25 years of experience in portfolio management, trading and research, Chamie was most recently a senior portfolio manager at the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., where he led the foreign exchange team’s strategic hedging, tactical overlay and overall investment strategy activities. He has also worked at RBC Capital Markets and Scotiabank. “I am thrilled to have Nick on the team,” said Jean Michel, the IMCO’s chief investment officer, in a press release. “The chief strategist is a key role in our success and Nick’s leadership will anchor sound investment decisions and offer impactful oversight for IMCO’s total portfolio.” Read: IMCO appoints senior managing director of private markets In other news, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is appointing Harald Krüger as senior advisor for Europe.  In the new role, Krüger will focus on identifying and evaluating potential investment opportunities and partners that complement the CPP’s long-term investment strategy across all asset classes, with a particular focus on the DACH region, which comprises Germany,...

Over the past decade, U.S. life insurance ownership has fallen 9 percentage points to 54%, according to the 2020 Insurance Barometer Study. Researchers attribute the drop in ownership to a broad decline in employer-paid group life insurance benefits over the past 10 years (chart). Despite this drop in ownership, the intent to purchase life insurance is at an all-time high with 36% of Americans saying they intend to purchase life coverage in the next 12 months. “While we are encouraged by the increased interest to purchase life insurance coverage and believe the COVID-19 pandemic may also bolster the perceived need for life coverage and increase purchase intent, our past research shows just a fraction of people actually follow through and buy the coverage they need,” said Alison Salka, Ph.D., senior vice president and head of LIMRA research. One thing that deters consumers is their perceived cost of life insurance. Since the study began, consumers have consistently overestimated the cost of life insurance. The study shows more than half of Americans estimating the cost of a term life insurance policy at more than three times the actual cost. Younger Americans are likely to estimate the cost to be as much as...