Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

New offering addresses many of the unique challenges and risks manufacturers face, helping close coverage gaps through a customized suite of coordinated products and enhancements Whitehouse Station, NJ (Aug. 21, 2019) – Chubb has introduced CoverPlusSM – a new platform offering expanded liability-driven products tailored to the ever-evolving risks faced by middle-market manufacturers as they embrace new technologies and processes to remain competitive. CoverPlusSM features a custom-tailored suite of coordinated insurance products designed to fill the potential gaps which are typically inherent in traditional insurance programs, and offers flexible and integrated enhancements to address an array of exposures, including scalable pollution liability, product withdrawal expense, errors and omissions liability, and cyber liability. According to research jointly developed with Ohio State University’s National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) and Chubb, nearly 50% of manufacturers view risks emanating from advanced manufacturing techniques as extremely challenging. In addition, 71% of manufacturers believe their role in the supply chain has become increasingly important and more collaborative with suppliers. Both of these trends suggest a more holistic approach to risk management is critical for manufacturers. “CoverPlus is a dynamic platform designed to offer a wide range of specialized insurance products and services beyond traditional...

Martha Porado | August 23, 2019 While emerging markets have been underperforming their developed counterparts over the past decade, this may be about to change. “Basically, everything went wrong in emerging markets in the last 10 years,” said Laurence Bensafi, deputy head of emerging markets equity at RBC Global Asset Management Inc., in a webinar hosted by the Association of Canadian Pension Management on Thursday. Two decades ago, this wouldn’t have mattered to Canadian pension plans since they had little to no exposure to emerging markets, she noted. And while allocations to these markets have been rising, some pension plans may be on the cusp of adding more. Read: Which emerging markets should institutional investors be considering? Indeed, Bensafi cited research that found public emerging market equities were among the hottest assets that pension plans are looking to add, along with alternatives, such as infrastructure and real estate. “We would say plans are underweight where they might want to be.” For pension plans to understand the opportunity here, they should analyze why emerging markets have under-performed in recent years, she said. China’s slowdown in growth played a major role in pulling down the category overall. Further, the trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as other trade...

By Denise Garth, SVP – Strategic Marketing, Majesco — Last week Manish Shah and I attended SVIA’s Digital Insurance Leadership Series: On-Demand Insurance in Palo Alto, California. Attending with us were a number of industry leaders who are instrumental in the planning, experimentation and scaling of this new type of insurance. What is on-demand insurance? It provides micro-duration coverage for smaller or episodic risks (i.e. turn on and off as needed, like travel or events) It’s insurance coverage for the gig and sharing economy participants who have “periodic” risks for home, auto and work It uses continuous underwriting based on dynamic, real-time customer data to update the risk profile, terms and pricing It crosses all lines of business from L&A to P&C While relatively small in terms of premium, the on-demand market is poised to rapidly grow. Why? Economic and demographic shifts are accelerating the demand for on-demand products and services, offering tremendous growth opportunities. Consider the following market statistics: The sharing economy revenue is expected to increase by 22x between 2013 and 2025.[1] Usage-based insurance market size could reach $190 billion by 2026.[2] As we have shared in our research, Millennials and Gen Z will overtake Baby Boomers and...

Associated Press FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — A man arrested in the stabbing death of a retired administrator at the California State University, Fullerton campus was a co-worker, police said Thursday. Chuyen Vo, 51, was arrested Wednesday night at his home in Huntington Beach, officials announced at a news conference near the killing scene in a campus parking lot. Lt. Jon Radus, however, declined to elaborate on Vo’s work relationship with the victim and whether it was current or in the past. Police also didn’t reveal a motive for the killing. The victim, Steven Shek Keung Chan, 57, worked as the director of budget and finance and student services for university extended education but retired in 2017. He returned to the campus in January to work as a consultant. Authorities have said Chan was found stabbed numerous times inside his silver Infiniti on Monday. A black-clad man was seen running away and later leaving a nearby parking lot in a black sedan. The school had no reports of any problems between Chan and Vo, university spokeswoman Ellen Treanor said. Vo, whom neighbors said they knew as Chris, lived in an Orange County neighborhood lined with two-story homes near a busy freeway...

Staff | August 22, 2019 The OPSEU Pension Trust is appointing Peter Lindley as its president and chief executive officer, effective Sept. 16, 2019. “Peter Lindley brings deep experience in investing to this role and the board is pleased to have someone of his expertise and calibre join OPTrust,” said Michael Grimaldi, chair of the OPTrust board of trustees, in a press release. “As a pension management organization, we exist to serve our members, and we are confident our members will continue to be in excellent hands under Peter’s leadership.” Read: Hugh O’Reilly stepping down from OPTrust With more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, Lindley was most recently the president and head of investments at State Street Global Advisors Ltd., where he was responsible for the Canadian business strategy and $50 billion in assets under management. Prior to that role, he held senior roles at Deutsche Bank and CIBC World Markets. “I’m delighted to join an organization that creates retirement security for so many people and I look forward to building on OPTrust’s legacy of delivering excellent results for the plan’s members,” said Lindley. The appointment follows Hugh O’Reilly’s resignation from the role in March 2019. Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com

Staff | August 22, 2019 The majority of Canadian organizations are continuing to invest in salary increases, with just six per cent reporting a salary freeze for executives and 4.8 per cent reporting a salary freeze for non-executives in 2019, according to a new survey by Mercer Canada. This year, merit budgets increased to 2.6 per cent, on average, and are projected to remain steady in 2020. Indeed, 57 per cent of survey respondents said they plan to continue with the same salary increase budget in 2020. Among the remaining organizations, 21 per cent indicated their increase budget would be lower in 2020 and 22 per cent reported it would be higher. Read: Salary increases to rise slightly in 2019: survey The top reasons for projecting a lower increase budget included economic uncertainty and a general cost reduction initiative (24 per cent) and a change in base salary strategy (19 per cent). Among survey respondents expecting a higher increase budget, the top reasons were: a greater competition for workforce or anticipated labour shortages (28 per cent); a change in base salary strategy (22 per cent); and to account for salary freeze, delayed or lower than normal increases in previous years (21 per cent). “Getting...

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) announced today that it has rewritten its existing Dealer Member Rules (DMRs). IIROC published its new, plain language Dealer Member Rules this morning, along with other form revisions and amendments to its client identification and verification requirements. “The transformation of the Rule Book is a major step forward for IIROC, enabling greater understanding and application of our rules by firms and advisors,” says Irene Winel, IIROC’s senior vice president of member regulation and strategy. “Cleaning up unnecessary, duplicate and obsolete requirements, and more clearly outlining our expectations and objectives should help firms with compliance,” she adds. Approved by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the plain language IIROC rules which govern investment firm’s activities, are effective as of June 1, 2020. In a statement released today, IIROC says the existing rules were originally Investment Dealer Association rules which it adopted when IIROC formed in 2008. Although many amendments have been made over the years, it says a comprehensive reorganization and re-write of the DMRs was needed to make the rules simpler to navigate and interpret. Read the original article at insurance-journal.ca

San Diego, CA (Aug. 20, 2019) – AIG, a global insurance company, and Player’s Health, a risk management firm specializing in amateur sports, is pleased to announce a new partnership to offer services to sports organizations to assist with risk reduction, along with a simplified and improved insurance buying process. The partnership will include the online insurance quote and buying experience through Player’s Health Cover, Participant Accident Insurance by National Union, an AIG company. This provides a new and improved insurance buying experience for amateur sports organizations. A part of the offering will include a Participant Accident insurance product offered to provide accident insurance to amateur sports organizations. “This partnership reinforces our commitment to the amateur sports market and presents a great opportunity for us to reach small and medium groups in a more customer-friendly way while Players Health offers risk management tools to assist amateur sports groups,” said Cristiane Chiacchio, AIG Americas Head of Accident & Health. “Our partnership with AIG allows us to continue working towards our mission to create a new standard for safety in sports,” said Tyrre Burks, Founder, and CEO of Player’s Health. “Our insurance and risk management solution is a tool we want everyone...

Martha Porado  | August 22, 2019 On Aug. 13, after Argentina’s primary elections took a different direction than markets expected, the country’s stocks suffered one of the most dramatic crashes in global history. “It was a super unusual reaction,” says Jim Barrineau, co-head of emerging market debt at Schroders Investment Management Ltd. He notes the market crash was especially bizarre because it had no solid reasoning behind it. But for institutional investors looking at the country, the fundamentals haven’t changed, he adds. The event itself came on the heels of the country’s presidential primaries, which decided the parties that will participate in the presidential election in late October. Left-wing opposition leader Alberto Fernandez received much more support than was initially anticipated, says Barrineau. “The context was completely unexpected because all of the data and all of the polls were moving in the direction of the incumbent [Mauricio] Macri.” Read: Geopolitical tensions high on investors’ list when examining emerging markets The crash was all the more extreme because it lacked a solid cause, says Barrineau. “At the end of a popularity contest like this, nothing like this is warranted in terms of price action.” And it wasn’t just stocks. Bonds were crushed and Argentina’s currency tumbled as well. “It’s...

Kelsey Rolfe | August 22, 2019 Shopify Inc. is putting out the welcome mat for software developers who’ve taken leave from work with its new training program. The three-month paid program will help senior developers re-join the workforce after leaves of absence by bringing them up to speed on any technical developments in their field and training them on the Shopify technology stack, a collection of developer tools the company uses. “[We’ve] always been focused on engaging with the best talent, and in many cases what you have is people who have been in the workforce, take a leave of absence and find it hard to re-integrate,” says Farhan Thawar, Shopify’s vice-president of engineering. “So we’re missing all these great folks who have a great background, who have the necessary experience, but have been out of the workforce for a while. We want to make sure we can engage with the full community.” Read: Canadian employers prioritizing investments in employee skills, well-being: report Thawar, a father of three, says the idea for the program came from several colleagues’ experiences of returning to work after leave. “I’ve taken off various amounts of time for each kid — and watching my wife, who’s taken...