Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Martha Porado | December 13, 2019 Heading into 2020, institutional investors are eyeing the disconnect between gloomy macroeconomic indicators and strong equity market performance. Leading indications in both North American and European economies have been trending down all year, with global gross domestic product growth forecasts in a slump, said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research at FTSE Russell, during a webinar on Dec. 11. However, there’s a silver lining, he said. With the exception of the 2008 financial crisis, leading indicators haven’t fallen much below their current levels in the past 20 years, which suggests, from a technical perspective, this could be the bottom for negative sentiment. “There’s a possibility, based on history, that numbers will start to exceed low expectations. And, in fact, we are seeing that.” Read: The changing landscape of public and private equity investing The optimism stems from an easing of financial conditions, said Young. Early in 2019, the U.S. Federal Reserve pivoted away from its tightening cycle, which unleashed a fair bit of risk appetite. “They thought that perhaps they’d overdone it and trade was a bigger global macroeconomic risk than they’d thought and they had to reverse course.” A number of other global central banks have joined the...

Staff | December 12, 2019 Employees at the Indigenous Women’s Healing Centre in Winnipeg who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2348 have ratified their first collective agreement. The new agreement allows “employees wishing to take part in traditional Indigenous ceremony such as a Sundance or healing ceremony up to four paid working days leave per calendar year, provided that such leave is authorized by the employer in advance,” said a press release. The four days leave for Indigenous ceremony was a workplace policy before negotiations, but moving the language from policy to the legal contract ensures the days can’t be taken away should management ever change, noted the release. Read: Manulife joins Indigenous reconciliation efforts with ceremonial garden in Toronto “We are excited that this group now has the protection of a CUPE collective agreement,” said Allen Bleich, national servicing representative at the CUPE. “What’s more, this collective agreement has important contract language that recognizes traditional Indigenous ceremonies as a workplace right for staff.” The new contract also recognizes June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, and Sept. 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as paid holidays for staff. “We are proud that our CUPE negotiating team bargained this important language into our contract,” said Joan Hay, shop steward...

Staff | December 12, 2019 The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System is appointing Blake Hutcheson as its new chief executive officer, effective June 1, 2020. Hutcheson, who is currently OMERS’ president and chief pension officer, will succeed current CEO Michael Latimer, who is retiring after two decades at the pension fund and six years at its helm. Read: Michael Sabia to step down as Caisse CEO in 2020 “Michael has done an outstanding job as OMERS CEO,” said George Cooke, chair of the OMERS’ administration corporation board of directors, in a press release. “He led OMERS in the development and successful execution of our 2020 strategy, which provided clear direction for our members, sponsors, stakeholders and employees, and saw significant growth in assets with steady improvements in the plan’s liabilities and financial position. At the same time, he focused on building a strong culture and establishing a workplace where employees are fully engaged.” The transition to Hutcheson’s leadership will begin in early 2020. During a decade at the fund, he spend 8.5 years as chief executive officer of Oxford Properties, OMERS’ real estate investment arm. “It is an honour to be asked to take on this leadership role at this important time in the history of OMERS,” said...

Staff | December 12, 2019 The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is taking part in a $358-million round of equity financing by Montreal-based Nuvei, a global payment-technology provider. Nuvei offers omni-channel, end-to-end, payment-acceptance solutions, foreign-exchange services, streamlined payouts and more for clients in Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the United States. The Caisse is already a shareholder in Nuvei, which is currently valued at $2.65 billion. Private equity firm Novacap and some of its limited partners are also participating in this latest financing. Read: Caisse taking stake in fighter pilot training company, CPPIB in Latin American fitness chain The financing will allow the company to increase its plans for both organic and acquisition-related growth, according to a press release. In 2019, it acquired multiple companies, including SafeCharge International Group Ltd., another global payment-technology company. “Our partnership continues ahead to support the global expansion of a leading Quebec tech firm,” said Charles Émond, executive vice-president of private equity and strategic planning for Quebec at the Caisse. “Since this initial investment, the CDPQ and its partners are proud to have sustained Nuvei’s growth, especially through the transformational acquisition of SafeCharge, and to have supported the emergence of a world-class, global player in its field.” Read: Caisse invests in Quebec venture capital...

Business Wire The Super Bowl is annually watched by roughly 100 million viewers. New York Life, America’s largest mutual life insurer, is set to advertise during the Big Game next year in Miami. The company’s :60-second commercial will run between the 1st and 2nd quarters. The commercial coincides with a larger brand campaign launch scheduled for New York Life’s 175th anniversary in 2020. Top prices for the big game, to be played Feb. 2, were for one advertiser deal at $5.6 million for a 30-second commercial, per Sports Business Daily. SQAD, the media cost research company, said the top single price for a 30-second commercial last year was $5.5 million. The report adds that the price for a 30-second commercial this year did not drop below $5.2 million for 77 in-game spots that Fox sold. But New York Life wanted a big audience for its big moment, one executive said. Super Bowl LIII in February of this year, was watched by 98.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen. “As we prepare to celebrate New York Life’s first 175 years in 2020, we plan to highlight the values that have been the foundation of New York Life for nearly two centuries. Core...

PR Newswire Today, Ladder Insurance Services announced that the LadderLife™ term life insurance product issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of New York has cleared regulatory approvals and will be offered to New York residents as early as January, marking the completion of its nationwide rollout. New York residents will now be able to enjoy the same quick application process, real time underwriting, and flexible coverage that Ladder has been offering to California since 2017, and to the rest of the country since 2018. New York is one of the most expensive states in which to live. In its recent ranking of America’s Top States for Business, which rates all 50 states based on an index of average costs for basic items from groceries to housing, CNBC ranked New York as the third most expensive when it comes to cost of living — housing prices in Manhattan are estimated to be the most expensive in the nation. As a result, life insurance is critically important for many New York families who would need financial protection, and Ladder wants to help by offering its smart life insurance process, which has been built around the busy, modern consumer. “We are thrilled to soon...

Staff | December 12, 2019 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is urging governments around the world to urgently reform their pension systems to ensure employees in temporary or part-time employment can contribute enough during their working years to receive adequate retirement income. A new report said non-standard employment, including self-employment, temporary or part-time work accounts for more than a third of employment across OECD countries. Women are three times more likely to work part time than men, while self-employment is common among older workers. Read: How does Canada’s public pension system measure up globally? Over the last 40 years, the number of people aged 65 years and older per 100 people of working age (those 20-64 years of age) increased from 20 to 31. By 2060, the report noted, the number is expected to almost double to 58. “Governments need to quickly put in place more inclusive and harmonized pensions for all,” saidAngel Gurría, secretary-general at the OECD. “Reforming pension policies in OECD countries to reduce gaps between standard and non-standard workers in terms of coverage, contributions and entitlements is essential.” Non-standard workers typically earn less, contribute less to earnings-related pensions and can’t contribute to workplace plans, noted the report. “Even assuming a self-employed worker contributed during a full career, they...

Staff | December 12, 2019 OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investing arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has hired former Uber Technologies Inc. executive Jambu Palaniappan to join its London office as a managing partner. Palaniappan joined Uber in 2012 and led its expansion into the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions before being named the general manager for Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia. He then led Uber Eats for EMEA from its start in June 2016 until he left the company in April 2018. Read: OMERS launches venture fund, Ontario Teachers’ and CPPIB take stake in U.K. telecom Palaniappan went on to be an executive in residence at Atomico, a London-based European venture capital firm. He’s currently a board member at Just Eat Holding Ltd. and Parisian mobile banking firm Kard Financial Inc. “The scope of venture capital has broadened considerably in recent years and investors need to add value in so many more ways than just signing cheques,” said Damien Steel, managing partner and head of ventures at OMERS Ventures, in a press release. “But with less than 10 per cent of U.K. VCs having operational experience within a startup, it is clear that investor profiles have...

PR Newswire Sproutt Insurance, the next evolution of life insurance, announced today that it has launched and secured $12 million in Series A funding from State of Mind Ventures (SMOV), Moneta Capital, and Guardian Life. Sproutt sets out to do what many of today’s players in life insurance do not: celebrate life. Sproutt’s mission is to look after the lives of those who look after theirs. Using their “Quality of Life Index” (QL Index), Sproutt believes it has never been easier to blend data analytics and human-aligned health insights, and then use artificial intelligence (AI) to discern a person’s life potential to match them with the best life insurance providers and policy. “We don’t come from the life insurance industry,” said Sproutt’s CEO and Co-Founder Yoav Shaham. “But we have a lot of experience in unlocking the value of data in traditional markets. For decades life insurance providers have mainly sought to punish negative lifestyle choices such as smoking when calculating pricing. As crazy as it sounds, until now the industry has almost never even tried to reward people for being healthy; for being active, eating and sleeping well, or living a balanced life. Sproutt ensures that people who make positive...

Staff | December 11, 2019 Green Shield Canada is teaming up with virtual health-care provider Maple to offer telemedicine to its plan members. The partnership aims to reduce employee absences and boost both productivity and well-being, according to a press release. Read: Just 9% of employers offer virtual health care: survey “Canadians face some of the longest wait times when compared to other developed countries and our system is increasingly under pressure due to our aging and growing population,” said David Willows, executive-vice president of innovation and marketing at Green Shield Canada, in the release. “These challenges translate into increased absenteeism, decreased productivity and diminished health for Canadian employers and employees.” Through the  partnership, plan members can contact Maple-affiliated doctors on their phone, tablet or computer. And the doctors are able to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions, including allergies, asthma, cold and flue, common infections, pink eye, sore throats and more.  Read: Majority of Canadians would take advantage of virtual doctor visits: survey Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com