Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Tech executives ranked the companies they worry most about disrupting their business: KPMG report Toronto, ON (Oct. 8, 2019) – Amazon, Apple and Alibaba top the list of companies that tech industry leaders worry most about disrupting their business. In a survey of more than 740 technology industry business leaders globally, Amazon, Apple and Alibaba were selected most often. DJI, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Microsoft, Facebook, and Baidu round out the Top 10 list. The list of disruptors complements the fact that tech industry leaders ranked e-commerce platforms first and social networking second as the most disruptive business models over the next three years. “The question is can the companies on this list, and those seeking to join the list, run the gauntlet of evolving competition, regulation, and geopolitics while remaining innovative and nimble enough to retain their leadership positions and aspirations,” said Tim Zanni, KPMG Global Technology Sector Leader. Redefining tech companies Another interesting aspect of the company disruptor list is that it illustrates how innovation has redefined what a tech company is. “Amazon, Netflix, Alibaba and Airbnb are great examples of tech-enabled companies that in the traditional sense might not have been considered to be in the tech sector,...

Mobility services will force auto manufacturers to reconsider future value of car ownership: Accenture survey New York, NY (Oct. 10, 2019) – Many car owners would consider giving up car ownership in the future in favor of autonomous mobility solutions, such as self-driving buses or taxis, according to a new report from Accenture. The report “Mobility Services: The Customer Perspective,” looks at the key challenges for car manufacturers now and in the future in relation to the rise in mobility services. Based on a survey of 7,000 consumers in the U.S., Europe and China, 85% of whom were car owners, it notes that revenues from mobility services are projected to reach nearly €1.2 trillion by 2030, with the exponential growth in the market for mobility as a service driven by constant improvements in autonomous vehicle technologies. A key finding: Despite the fact that 96% of car owners said they think they will own a car in the future, nearly half (48%) said they would consider giving up car ownership if autonomous mobility solutions were available. Perhaps somewhat surprising, owners of premium-brand cars were more likely than owners of non-premium brands to say they’d be willing to give up car ownership...

Thornhill, ON (Oct. 9, 2019) – As we approach the first anniversary of the legalization of cannabis and prepare for the introduction of legal edibles, CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) is releasing new data that suggests that the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving are misunderstood by many. It shows that approximately 1.2 million Ontario drivers have, at some point, driven high after consuming cannabis. Seventy-two per cent report waiting three hours or less to get behind the wheel, with 27 per cent feeling very or somewhat high when they did. “We know that driving under the influence of cannabis affects your ability to drive safely and increases your risk of getting into a crash,” said Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice-president of government and community relations at CAA SCO. “The research has shown us that young Canadians are more at risk of a vehicle crash even five hours after inhaling cannabis.” The research also shows that more than half of Ontario drivers who use cannabis are “poly-users,” meaning they typically pair cannabis with another substance. Alcohol is by far the most common substance paired with cannabis. Cannabis-infused edibles are another option that may further complicate matters when it comes to drug-impaired...

Toronto, ON (Oct. 10, 2019) – InsurTech Spotlight company Finaeo has been named one of Canada’s top 20 startups by the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX). CIX hosts an annual awards program to celebrate Canada’s most innovative and fastest-growing companies. The program aims to recognize companies across a diverse range of industries and technologies, including AI, medtech, fintech, big data, aerospace, security, SaaS and cleantech. This year saw two categories of awards; CIX Top 20 Early and CIX Top 10 Growth. The companies are chosen by a selection committee of technology industry experts and investors from across the country. “CIX has done tremendous work to bolster Canada’s tech ecosystem, ” said Aly Dhalla, CEO and Co-Founder, Finaeo. “We are grateful to receive this platform to share our story and be included alongside a list of illustrious Canadian companies.” There were more than 433 applications submitted from all regions of Canada for this year’s award. Companies were chosen based on a number of key factors including: product/service offering, depth of management, market opportunity and business model. Finaeo was recognized as a 2019 CIX Top 20 Early recipient. This acknowledgement follows a series of accolades Finaeo has received this year, including Digital Finance...

National Personal Auto and Personal Property premium rates increase in all provinces year over year Mississauga, ON (Oct. 9, 2019) – Applied Systems® has announced the third quarter of 2019 results of the Applied Rating Index™, the Canadian insurance industry’s premium rate index. In Q3 2019, average premiums for both Personal Auto and Personal Property lines increased versus the same quarter in 2018. Quarter to quarter in 2019, average premium for both lines of business also increased. Year over year, all provinces experienced an increase in average premiums in both Personal Auto and Personal Property. Notably, Quebec experienced the most significant year-over-year average premium change for Personal Auto at 27.5%, while British Columbia experienced the largest year-over-year spike for Personal Property at 25.4%. Key findings for Q3 2019 include: Personal Auto: In Q3 2019, Personal Auto premiums increased by 9.9% versus Q3 2018. Personal Auto premiums increased 4.0% versus Q2 2019. Personal Property: In Q3 2019, Personal Property premiums increased by 13.6% versus Q3 2018. Personal Property premiums increased 4.0% versus Q2 2019. Provinces: Quarter over quarter, average premiums for Personal Auto all increased, with Quebec experiencing the most significant jump for the second quarter in a row at 9.8%....

Staff | October 11, 2019 Employers, health-care professionals and people living with obesity disagree on how the disease develops, how to manage it and who’s responsible for treatment, according to a new study by Obesity Canada. The study, which was published in the journal Clinical Obesity this month, surveyed 150 employers, 395 physicians and 2,000 individuals living with obesity. More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of employer respondents said they think their wellness programs are contributing to successful weight management, while only 32 per cent of individuals with obesity agreed. As well, about half (47 per cent) of employers said they believe weight is within employees’ control and 63 per cent said individuals can manage their weight if they set their mind to it. Read: Employers must consider ‘every dimension’ in tackling obesity, weight management Among health-care professionals, the vast majority (94 per cent) said they think obesity is a serious chronic disease on par with stroke, depression and others, yet many believe diet (63 per cent) and exercise (50 per cent) are effective treatments. In addition, 72 per cent of health-care professionals said they discussed weight management in their interactions with people with obesity, but only half of those individuals said their health-care professional had done so. The survey...

The massive uptick in private equity investing is changing how companies raise capital. The private equity industry has grown by 500 per cent since 2000, according to research by Willis Towers Watson’s Thinking Ahead Institute. It found the increased interest from institutional investors is leading growing companies to seek fresh capital from the private markets rather than pushing out a public listing. “Regulatory pressure and the rising ongoing costs of being a listed company have led more businesses to raise capital from private markets, where there is an abundance of available capital,” said Liang Yin, senior investment consultant at the Thinking Ahead Group, in a press release. Read: How to benchmark performance when assets are private The research provided the example of Spotify Technology, which didn’t actually participate in an initial public offering, but rather a direct public offering. In doing so, it didn’t raise any new capital by issuing new shares; it simply allowed public investors to purchase shares that already existed within the company. As well, when Spotify initially released shares to the public, it was already a massive company, with a market value larger than half the companies on the S&P 500. In this scenario, the fundamental reason for issuing...

Messagepoint’s AI-Powered Customer Communications Management Solutions Now Listed on the World’s Leading Enterprise Apps Marketplace Customers can now deliver a better customer experience through more personalized, consistent and compliant omni-channel communications Toronto, ON (Oct. 10, 2019) – Messagepoint Inc. is pleased to announce that its leading Customer Communications Management (CCM) solutions are now available on Salesforce AppExchange. Customers can leverage Messagepoint to optimize both the content and management of their digital and printed communications for customers. Messagepoint is an award-winning cloud-based platform that gives non-technical marketing and customer service teams the control they need to deliver personalized, relevant and compliant omnichannel customer communications, such as correspondence, direct mail, on-boarding materials, disclosures, policy documents and more. Messagepoint has made the following solutions available on AppExchange: Messagepoint Connected for Salesforce Sales and Service Clouds Messagepoint Connected for Salesforce Sales and Service Clouds provides front-office teams with the ability to quickly respond to customers by leveraging approved correspondence and documents managed in Messagepoint directly from Salesforce Sales and Service Clouds. Teams access print or email communications from the lead or contact record in Salesforce and can create one-to-one personalized messages where enabled within the communications. Messagepoint Connected is currently available on AppExchange at:...

Staff | October 10, 2019 Canadian employers plan to hold the line on budgeted pay raises in 2020, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson. It found employers are expecting no changes to their salary budgets in 2020, with salary increases projected to hold steady for technical and business support employees (2.7 per cent), as well as for workers in production and manual labour (2.3 per cent). Professional and client management employees could see a slightly lower increase next year, 2.7 per cent in 2020 compared 2.8 per cent in 2019, while companies are budgeting slightly smaller increases for executives (2.4 per cent compared to 2.6 per cent) and management employees (2.7 per cent compared to 2.8 per cent). Read: Survey finds Canadian salaries expected to increase by 2.7% in 2020 However, some employers are projecting slightly larger annual bonuses next year, and 26 per cent of organizations are reporting separate promotional budgets in efforts to supplement employee salaries, an increase from last year’s survey. “Despite an extremely tight labour market, most employers are either not willing or fiscally unable to increase their fixed costs across-the-board by bolstering their salary budgets,” said Amanda Voegeli, practice leader of Canadian rewards at Willis Towers Watson, in a press release. “Instead, many...

Hartford, CT (Oct. 10, 2019) – The Travelers Companies, Inc. has announced that it has joined the Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE). Both organizations work to strategically advance research and public information about automated vehicle and driver assistance technologies. “As a leading auto insurer, we play a central role in the conversation about the future of transportation and mobility,” said Michael Klein, Executive Vice President and President of Personal Insurance at Travelers. “Our goal through these new collaborations is to continue to understand the evolution of the technology, actively engage in research and contribute risk management insights to help improve auto safety for everyone.” The AVT Consortium includes top U.S. auto manufacturers, insurance carriers and automated vehicle technology companies. The organization studies driver behavior, including how drivers respond to and interact with adaptive cruise control, semi-autonomous parking assistance, vehicle infotainment systems and smartphones. That data is shared with consortium members so they can identify how technology and other factors related to automation adoption can be improved. PAVE is made up of industry, nonprofit and academic institutions and aims to inform and educate consumers and policymakers about...