Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Staff | November 4, 2019 Hub International Ltd. is acquiring RBI Advisory Group, an Okotoks, Alta.-based employee benefits consultancy. RBI has been providing advisory services to employers and associations around group benefits for almost 20 years. Rick Achtymichuk, RBI’s managing partner and owner, will join Hub International Insurance Brokers, a division of Hub International Canada West ULC. Read: Hub acquiring Saskatchewan-based benefits consulting firm Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff | November 4, 2019 The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is acquiring renewable energy company Pattern Energy Group Inc. in an all-cash deal. The purchase of the San Francisco-based company is valued at $26.75 per share, which implies the company has a value of $6.1 billion, including all debt. The offer represents a 14.8 per cent premium to Pattern Energy’s closing share price on Aug. 9, 2019. Provided the deal goes through, the CPPIB has entered an agreement with Riverstone Holdings, which invested in the company 10 years ago. Under the agreement, Riverstone will combine Pattern Energy and Pattern Energy Group Holdings 2 LP, also known as Pattern Development, under a common ownership. Read: CPPIB to purchase Ontario-based renewable energy projects “Pattern Energy is one of the most experienced renewables developers in North America and Japan with a high-quality, diversified portfolio of contracted operating assets, aligning well with CPPIB’s renewable energy investment strategy and the increasing global demand for low-carbon energy,” said Bruce Hogg, managing director and head of power and renewables at the CPPIB, in a press release. “The Pattern Energy management team has a proven track record of identifying and executing development strategies with differentiated competitive advantages. We look forward to working with Pattern Energy and Riverstone to grow...

Staff | November 4, 2019 The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario has appointed members to its stakeholder advisory committee for the pension sector. The committee, which was introduced in July 2019, will provide advice and feedback to the regulator on sector-related matters and will form part of its stakeholder engagement process going forward. The committees members represents a cross-section of views and backgrounds. Read: FSRA creates new advisory committees on pension sector matters The committee includes: Rachel Arbour, vice-president of plan and policy development at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan; Simon Archer, a partner at Goldblatt Partners LLP; Kathryn Bush, a partner at Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP; Gareth Gibbins, vice-president of pension legal at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System; Sean Hewitt, chief executive officer at Toronto Transit Commission Pension Fund Society; Evan Howard, vice-president of pension management at the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan; Cameron Hunter, a principal at Eckler Ltd.; Hugh Kerr, vice-president and general counsel at Sun Life Financial; Mariana MacIntosh, managing director and associate general counsel on the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan board; Alex D. McKinnon, department leader of research, public policy and bargaining support at United Steelworkers; Wendy Mizuno, group head of benefits and pensions at George Weston Ltd.; Scott...

Creating an effective practice involves identifying your strengths and delegating the other tasks. Read the original article at InsuranceNewsNetMagazine.com

New digital Help Centre features video tutorials and livechat Toronto, ON (Nov. 1, 2019) – Apollo, Canada’s largest online insurance marketplace, has announced the unveiling of a brand new Help Centre within the Exchange, which gives broker partners immediate access to information, 24/7. Now broker users are able to browse a knowledge base of common questions, run through video tutorials, and interact with Apollo’s award-winning Broker Success Team via livechat. “We achieve dozens of engagements daily on our live chat feature within the Exchange,” said Apollo Broker Success Manager Julie Thierman. The new Help Centre will act as a resource for brokers looking for answers in real time. “Whenever Apollo gets a question from a broker, not only do we answer it for them, we make sure that answer is available to anyone who needs that question answered in the future,” said Apollo Head of Broker Success Margo Lyons. “In addition, the step-by-step instructional guides we create makes it as easy as possible for new broker partners to understand how powerful the Exchange is, and how easy it can make their lives.” The Help Centre, which is available to any broker signed up on the Exchange, is powered through an...

Ontario mutual insurer to leverage EY-hosted Guidewire Core and Data products to enhance data and analytics capabilities and improve operational efficiencies Welland, ON (Oct. 31, 2019) – BCM Insurance Company, an Ontario-based mutual insurer, and Guidewire Software, Inc., provider of the industry platform Property and Casualty (P&C) insurers rely upon, are pleased to announce that BCM has selected Guidewire InsurancePlatform™ products to modernize its infrastructure and transform the way it does business. The company will be accessing the Guidewire products in a private cloud via EY iNexus, with implementation, ongoing services, and support provided by EY, a Guidewire PartnerConnect™ Consulting Premier member. BCM Insurance Company selected Guidewire InsuranceSuite™ as its new system for policy administration, underwriting, claims, and billing management. The company also selected Guidewire DataHub™ and Guidewire InfoCenter™ as its enterprise-wide data management and analytics systems. BCM plans to implement all of the products simultaneously across all lines of business in Ontario. David Gill, Chairman of the Board at BCM said, “The Guidewire products provide our staff with the tools that will enable them to provide more personalized service to our customers.” “We are interested in systems that offer robust reporting, solid data and analytics, and improved operational efficiencies,”...

One of Canada’s largest mutual life insurance companies will modernize its new business processes with automation, via Sapiens UnderwritingPro for Life & Annuities Holon (Oct. 30. 2019) – Sapiens International Corporation, a leading global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, is pleased to announce that Equitable Life of Canada has launched Sapiens UnderwritingPro for Life & Annuities (formerly known as StoneRiver LifeSuite). Equitable Life, a mutual life insurance company since 1920 that is based in Ontario, expects that this go-live will modernize its new business processes, including task automation. The company plans to significantly decrease turnaround times via UnderwritingPro, a web-based solution for automated underwriting and new business case management. “After an extensive vendor and solution search, we selected Sapiens UnderwritingPro for its superior functionality, client references, depth of experience with Canadian life insurance companies and technical expertise,” said Karen Mason, Equitable Life’s senior vice-president of Individual Insurance. “The ability to configure UnderwritingPro for our specific rules and processes, as well as the straight-through processing and system integration, will streamline our business.” Equitable Life anticipates a significant number of process improvements, new capabilities and cost savings, resulting in higher advisor satisfaction and faster turnaround times. Process improvements include automated ordering of...

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners creates model laws for states to pass. State insurance regulators are trying to crack down on wayward indexed universal life insurance illustrations via an amendment to Actuarial Guideline 49. The tentative change — which still needs final approval — would bar IUL illustrations with bonuses and/or multipliers from illustrating higher than IUL products without these features. The Life Actuarial Task Force held a call last week to give direction to its IUL Illustration Subgroup on AG 49. During the call, LATF voted to add language tightening AG 49, which was approved in 2015. This is the key change: If charges that fund a Supplemental Option Budget are deducted from the illustrated cash value, then Indexed Credits generated by the return from the Supplemental Option Budget within the scenario being illustrated may be illustrated in an amount up to, but not exceeding, such charges. Drafting note: The intention is to specify that designs with multipliers or other enhancements should not illustrate better than non-multiplier designs. Dissatisfaction with AG 49 bubbled up not long after the guideline took effect. Almost immediately, new IUL products hit shelves with multipliers and bonuses designed to pump up illustrations. The...

The new versions include cutting-edge capabilities and innovative features to accelerate insurers’ ability to modernize, optimize and create a new future of insurance Morristown, NJ (Oct. 28, 2019) – Majesco, a global leader of cloud insurance software solutions for insurance business transformation, is pleased to announce the general availability of the version 11 for the market-leading Majesco P&C Core Suite, including Majesco Policy for P&C, Majesco Billing for P&C and Majesco Claims for P&C, and Majesco L&A and Group Suite, including Majesco Policy for L&A and Group, Majesco Billing for L&A and Group and Majesco Claims for L&A and Group. This follows the pre-announcement for P&C Core Suite and L&A and Group Core Suite in April. “Insurers are seeking a platform that connects people and businesses to insurance in ways that are innovative, hyper-relevant, compelling and personal, to drive growth and innovation for their business. Our robust SaaS-based platform provides the open architecture, configurability, ready-to-use content, and pre-built capabilities to help insurers achieve digital transformation,” stated Adam Elster, CEO for Majesco. “By focusing on customer-centricity, we are providing the capabilities that deliver great customer experiences for all insurance products and services. Our core insurance suites together with our digital experience...

If your vehicle isn’t plated, don’t drive it: it’s illegal and you’re uninsured, so #DoNotRiskIt (We shouldn’t even have to say this …) Regina, SK (Nov. 1, 2019) – Police and SGI are focused on suspended drivers and uninsured vehicles for the November Traffic Safety Spotlight. Now, it’s trivia time! Roughly how many drivers do you think are suspended from driving at any given time in Saskatchewan? 500 5,000 15,000 55,000 If you answered “(d.) 55,000,” you are correct … and probably a little surprised? A licence can be suspended for a variety of reasons, anywhere from 72 hours to indefinitely. Reasons range from impaired driving, a poor driving record, failing to live up to obligations imposed by SGI or the courts, or a medical condition. The majority of suspensions are for unpaid traffic fines and/or not completing driver program requirements such as Driving Without Impairment, a Defensive Driving Course, or participating in the Ignition Interlock program. Since 2013, there have been nearly 3,500 drivers caught driving while suspended every year, on average. And those are just the ones who got caught. “It should go without saying that anyone who has a suspended licence should not be driving – that’s what being...