Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Montreal, QC (May 21, 2020) – Apollo Insurance Solutions Ltd.  is announcing a commitment to support local, starting with an initiative with ChopValue on partner gifts and incentives. ChopValue is a Canadian company that recycles chopsticks to make beautifully sustainable products that are engineered to last. Many of the items they produce are perfect for use in the home, office, or home office. This is an initiative to support local businesses as the economy begins to rebuild after COVID. “The insurance industry spends a great deal of money on swag and incentives,” said APOLLO CEO Jeff McCann. “Rather than investing in products like iPads or televisions, we realized that we could make a better effort to more directly impact our local economy.” APOLLO holds regular contests as a way to thank and recognize the successes of their broker partners. Moving forward, these will be materials that are made in Canada, starting with products made by ChopValue. “ChopValue was founded with the intention in making the circular economy the norm,” said Felix Böck, founder and CEO of ChopValue. “To date, we have recycled over 25 million chopsticks into innovative high-performance sustainable products. Our Microfactory franchise concept defines the term made local...

Percentage of full-time employees working from home is expected to remain significantly above last year’s level: Willis Towers Watson survey Arlington, VA (May 21, 2020) – U.S. companies are making a series of workplace adjustments as they prepare to operate in a post-COVID-19 environment, according to a new survey of employers by Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. Moreover, employers expect that the percentage of their workforce who are full-time employees working remotely after the pandemic will be three times as many compared with last year. The survey of 681 employers, conducted during the week of May 11, found nearly three in four respondents (74%) made adjustments to work to reflect the new post-pandemic protocol. Some examples include installing touchless payment systems, offering services via video rather than in person, creating more space on assembly lines or in distribution centers, and changing work schedules to limit employee contact. Almost three in 10 respondents (29%) moved work to different jobs while nearly a quarter (23%) made changes to reflect work that was being done in-house versus by third parties. Some employers started outsourcing work or using gig talent for work that was typically done by full-time...

New Solution To Help Mid-Size Organizations Enhance Performance, Evolve Operating Model & Overcome Business Disruption Toronto, ON (May 19, 2020) – Continuously improving performance is a major challenge for every business. In moments of relative normality, mid-size organizations’ technology is aging, their data is trapped, and talent and resources are in short supply. The uncertainty of the present social and economic circumstances exacerbates those challenges. The solutions available to assist mid-size clients have not struck the right balance of leading practices, people, and technology until now, with KPMG Performance On Demand for Finance. Performance On Demand is a comprehensive solution, tailored for mid-size companies, that unifies the functional processes, technology platform and application support, all made available through a subscription-based cloud service. In its first iteration, the solution is focused on the finance function. Over time, it will expand to others, such as supply chain, talent, and sales & marketing. Core to the service are constantly evolving, functional leading business practices spanning people, process, and technology, based on decades of experience which the firm references as target operating models. Clients receive ongoing access and regular updates to the KPMG finance model. Powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 intelligent business applications, the...

TXK Today (Texarkana, TX) People do not always understand why they need to insure their life. For example, you don’t think that if you have a fire extinguisher in your house, a fire will definitely start. It just means that if there is a fire, then you are prepared, and you always have a chance to save yourself. Same thing with life insurance. If you have it, it does not mean that you will die soon. It simply means that if something really happens to you, your family is well prepared for this tragedy. To get American insurance, it is enough to have legal status. The company does not ask for residency or citizenship, but you must legally reside in the United States and have a Social Security number. Further, we will discuss some of the nuances of this type of insurance. The Less You Pay for Insurance the Better It Is US insurance companies have an A.M. Best rating scale. It is advisable to work with companies with an A + rating. This is the highest rating. And most often it does not affect the cost of insurance. Advertisement There is a very big conflict of interest in the...

PartnerRe has appointed André Piché as president of its Canadian Life & Health operations. A seasoned veteran of the life reinsurance industry, Piché has carved out a multifaceted career that includes experience in pricing various types of life and health products, working on new product development, cultivating relationships with client companies, and fulfilling leadership positions. He has been with PartnerRe since 2012. In his most recent role as Chief Business Development Officer, Life & Health, Canada, Piché was credited with driving the grown and profitability of PartnerRe’s Canadian Life & Health business. “He has successfully led our business development resulting in strong client relationships, an increase in PartnerRe’s market position and the development of our portfolio,” said Alan Ryder, CEO of North America Life. In his new position, he will assume overall responsibility for the Canadian Life & Health business, and report to Ryder. “I am confident that under André’s leadership our Canadian business will continue to deliver on our commitments to provide our clients with the reinsurance solutions and service they value and our shareholders with attractive return,” Ryder said. Read the original article at https://www.lifehealthpro.ca/rss/

Staff | May 22, 2020 The Winnipeg Public Service is recommending the reversal of amendments to the City of Winnipeg’s police pension bylaw. The amendments, which took effect April 1, 2020, were the subject of a grievance filed by the Winnipeg Police Association and the Winnipeg Police Senior Officer’s Association in November 2019 after the City of Winnipeg attempted to make alterations to the defined benefit pension plan. The changes included increasing employee contributions from eight per cent to 11.5 per cent and reducing employer contributions from 18.48 per cent to 11.5 per cent, both over a five-year time frame. They also included plans to eliminate police overtime from pensionable income and to require police officers to work longer before receiving their pension benefits, according to an email sent to city councillors in August 2019. Read: Winnipeg Police Association wins pension grievance against City At the end of March, the arbitrator released his decision in the matter, allowing the grievance and stating that the City had breached the collective agreement by passing a bylaw amending the pension benefits of the members and, in particular, excluding overtime from pensionable earnings. The arbitrator further ordered the City from making modifications to the pension plan, except as negotiated by the parties. “The City isn’t challenging the...

Staff | May 22, 2020 The funded status of the Segal Group Inc.’s model multi-employer pension plan fell from 95 per cent to 86 per cent during the first quarter of 2020, according to a new report by the firm. The model’s portfolio is comprised of 55 per cent equities and 45 per cent bonds. Overall, its investments saw dismal performance, with domestic equities measured by the S&P/TSX composite index posting negative 21 per cent returns, U.S. equities measured by the S&P 500 down 12 per cent and international stocks included in the MSCI EAFE index dropping 15 per cent. Domestic fixed income, as measured by the FTSE Canada bond universe, was the only asset class to see gains, posting two per cent. Read: How are pension plan sponsors’ fiduciary duties evolving in the time of coronavirus? The coronavirus pandemic put huge pressure on asset prices during the quarter, but the oil price war that developed between Russia and Saudi Arabia also played a role. With so many Canadians unable to be physically present at work, all industries saw a decline in hours worked. The report noted that decline could affect a MEPP’s costs. “A reduction in the hours worked will affect the plan’s ability to...

Staff | May 22, 2020 People Corp. has appointed Brevan Canning as president, effective May 21. Since joining the organization when it was created in 2017, Canning has held senior management positions across third-party administration, collective benefits consulting and shared services. Most recently, he was executive vice-president and head of benefits solutions. Read: People Corp. acquires Sirius Benefit Plans for $15M “[Canning] has put his innovative leadership style and vast experience to work for all facets of our business and has been instrumental in the fast growth of the People Corporation and in one of the largest companies in benefits management, group retirement, [human resources] consulting and administration plans in Canada,” said Laurie Goldberg, president and chief executive officer, in a press release. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Kelsey Rolfe | May 22, 2020 Plan sponsors have seen significant decreases in their extended health and dental claims over the past three months, according to new data by Eckler Ltd. While the consultancy’s analysis of its large self-insured clients found plan sponsors saw an up to five per cent increase in extended health claims between February and March 2020, these claims dropped by up to 40 per cent between March and April, as social distancing rules and non-essential business closures took effect. According to Eckler, the initial uptick was due to an increase in prescription drug claims as plan members sought to stock up on their necessary maintenance medications. However, this was offset by a decrease in non-drug claims. Read: Drug plan considerations during the coronavirus pandemic From February to March, dental claims were down between 20 and 30 per cent, and they dropped even further, between 80 and 90 per cent, from March to April. While provinces are beginning to reopen and loosen restrictions, Nick Gubbay, principal in Eckler’s group benefits practice, says he doesn’t expect to see a sudden increase in claims since plan members are likely to still feel wary of in-person interactions. “We don’t think many people will rush back for the services they’ve...

Staff  | May 22, 2020 Sustainable indexes largely outperformed during the first quarter of 2020 amid market turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to BlackRock Inc.’s latest sustainability report. “While this short time period is not determinative, it aligns with the resilience we have seen in sustainable strategies during prior downturns,” said the report. The big question for institutional investors remains why these groups of companies suffered less than their peers during these turbulent times. One feature of sustainability is that it appears to correlate with specific traditional factors, such as quality and low volatility, which themselves indicate resilience. Read: 70% of institutional investors expect ESG integration to become standard practice: survey However, the report noted these factors don’t capture every aspect that could make one company more resilient that another. “Analyzing the various sustainability characteristics of companies — and how these characteristics contributed to performance — deepens our understanding of how sustainability reinforces resilience.” Traditional financial accounting standards don’t provide a view of every risk faced by companies, said the report, necessitating the examination of material sustainability characteristics as well. BlackRock delineates these characteristics as descriptors, from talent management to waste management to board effectiveness, using them in the hopes of teasing out...