Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Ottawa, ON (July 29, 2019) – Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety science leader, is pleased to announce the publication of CAN/UL 2984, Management of Public Risks – Principles and Guidelines. This first edition document is intended to provide guidance to organizations accountable for the management of public risk and assist them with risk-informed decision-making to reduce public harm while maximizing public good. It sets out principles and provides guidance regarding the identification, analysis, evaluation and decision-making in the management of public risk. The guideline, the first of its kind, was developed using a consensus-based standards development process and was carried out in collaboration with balanced stakeholder representation including participants from across Canada, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Australia. Although the guideline was written primarily for organizations responsible for the management of public risk, such as public sector organizations, government departments and agencies, and regulated entities, the principles and guidelines may also be applicable to others that indirectly support the management of public risk. Maria Iafano, international standards manager, who led this initiative said that the guideline met the needs of different regulators who are responsible for managing public risk. “The document was sponsored by the National...

Harrogate, UK (Aug. 1, 2019) – Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global insurance industry increased in the first half of 2019, with 222 completed deals worldwide, up from 196 in the second half of 2018, according to Clyde & Co’s Insurance Growth Report mid-year update. This marks the biggest increase in the volume of transactions since H1 2015 and the fourth consecutive six-month period of growth. While the Americas was the most active region with 93 deals, up from 92, the biggest increase in activity was in Europe, which saw an 40% increase in M&A with 88 completed deals compared to 64 in the previous six months as companies move on from the diversion of Brexit preparations. France was the leading European country – and second most active worldwide behind the US – ahead of the UK and Spain. There were 38 deals in Asia Pacific marking the fourth consecutive period of rising deal volume to the highest level since 2015. Japanese acquirors were again the most active ahead of Australia and India. “Despite recent signs of market hardening, delivering a positive result for shareholders remains challenging and M&A is an attractive strategy to deliver growth for re/insurance businesses...

Insura founder Josh Pillsbury joins Apollo team Toronto, ON (Aug. 1, 2019) – Apollo Insurance Solutions has acquired InsurTech startup Insura, and its founder & CEO, Josh Pillsbury, has joined the Apollo team as a Business Development Manager, Western Region. Insura was started in 2017 by Josh Pillsbury, Gleb Vaguine (Chief Operating Officer), and Isaac Ho (Chief Technology Officer) with the goal of simplifying the commercial insurance underwriting process. By allowing unstructured application data to be exchanged through a single standardized digital platform, Insura envisioned an industry where brokers and underwriters could spend less time on repetitive manual data entry, and more on serving the end consumer. “The Insura team identified many of the pain points brokers and underwriters experience in the insurance purchasing process, and their forward-thinking approach to solving those problems aligns with Apollo’s vision,” says Apollo CEO Jeff McCann. “Josh is playing at a very high level, and we are excited to have him join our team.” Apollo purchased the rights to Insura’s technology platform, which was primarily focused on serving the American market. Pillsbury has joined Apollo’s Vancouver office, where he will lead growth in the eCommerce broker network and consult on custom automation solutions for...

By Ira Sopic, Project Director, Insurance Nexus From day-to-day operations to the very relationship between insurers and policyholders, it is no exaggeration to say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents the biggest potential for transformation that insurance has witnessed since the invention of the computer, even changing the very nature of the insurer-customer relationship. Insurance Nexus held a series of interviews with Canadian insurance executives and thought leaders to understand how they are preparing for the AI-dominated future of insurance and addressing the challenges and opportunities it will bring. According to Dominic Fortin, Senior Director, Business Intelligence Solutions & Advanced Analytics, The Co-operators, the “big, fundamental benefit of AI” is that it’s helping the industry move from reactive restitution towards proactive prevention. Rather than “reacting by analyzing past data, building predictive models able to learn based on past events” promises immense benefits to both insurers and customers; using live data to monitor risk and preventing losses from occurring, insurance carriers can now become partners in risk-prevention, rather than simply mitigating the effects of loss. Access the full Q&A. AI also promises better pricing and risk modelling, and as an industry build around quantifying risk, this is no small benefit to for...

Life insurance sales are stagnant, but profits are still being made. Industry proponents lost one argument and forced a delay in another decision during a conference call Tuesday as regulators debate which disclosures will be required to accompany life insurance sales. A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ working group has accelerated efforts to complete its long-delayed “policy overview” summary to accompany life insurance sales. The two main issues taken up by the Life Insurance Illustration Issues working group were: Whether to combine the policy overview with the Guaranteed Premium and Benefit Patterns Summary for non-illustrated products. Industry trade groups and insurers supported this move, but regulators voted it down 4-2. Whether to change the delivery date of the Life Insurance Buyer’s Guide. The working group deferred this discussion. A Significant Change Changing the delivery date of the buyer’s guide would be a significant change to industry practices, acknowledged working group chairman Richard Wicka, deputy chief legal counsel for the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. During a previous conference call, the group agreed to require distribution of a policy overview in tandem with the buyer’s guide on all life insurance policies. That opened the door for the Center for...

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has accepted a settlement agreement, with sanctions, between its staff and an advisor with the Montreal branch of Scotia Capital Inc. IIROC said Jacques Maurice admitted having recommended the purchase and holding of securities that were not all suitable for one of his clients, based on the client’s risk tolerance. He also admitted to personally handling a written complaint filed by the client. IIROC formally initiated the investigation in July 2016. IIROC said Maurice agreed to pay an aggregate fine of $20,000, which includes $10,000 for each violation. He will also pay costs of $5,000 to IIROC. Maurice continues to be employed with Scotia Capital. Read the original article at insurance-journal.ca

CFOs expect their insurers to cover a wide range of cyber attack-related losses, despite some being nearly impossible to insure: FM Global survey of financial executives at top companies Johnston, RI (July 30, 2019) – Seven in 10 senior financial executives at the world’s largest companies believe their insurer would cover most or all of the losses their company would incur in a cyber attack. Many of the losses they foresee, however, are rarely covered by insurance. In a study of more than 100 chief financial officers (CFOs) and other senior financial executives, commissioned by FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, 45 percent said they expected their insurer will cover “most” related losses from a cyber security event, and 26 percent said they expected their carrier will cover “all” related losses. But most of the effects these financial executives expect to experience in a substantial cyber security event aren’t typically covered by insurance policies, according to FM Global. These effects include: Degradation of the company’s brand/reputation (46 percent said this was a likely effect of a cyber security event) Increased scrutiny from the investment community (40 percent) Decline in revenue/earnings (38 percent)[1] Introduction of regulatory compliance...

New SMA Blog by Deb Smallwood, Founder & CEO, Strategy Meets Action Boston, MA (July 30, 2019) – Customer experience is an essential component of the transformational journey. In fact, transforming the customer experience is a new and powerful organizational shift that can bring about quantum change. It can also create amazing, quantum impacts and improvements without huge IT investments or years of time. And not only will an improved customer experience have a positive effect on retention, it will drive operational optimization as well. In all my years of working in insurance and technology, I have never experienced anything with such a magnitude of power and potential to change. Nothing can move true transformation like changing the perspective, or “flipping the lens” on customer experience. It all begins with shifting away from the traditional inside-out, customer-service driven focus and flipping the lens toward an outside-in, empathy-driven, customer-experience focus. And it does not matter who you call the customer. Some insurers consider their agents or other distribution partners to be the customer. Others view the policyholder as the customer. Some consider both to be customers and even extend it to other stakeholders as well. It requires a new look through...

Now more than ever, auto insurance policyholders are tech-savvy and receptive to being first users of technology: Aite Group report Boston, MA (Aug. 1, 2019) – Auto insurance carriers continue down the path of digital transformation, forcing them to examine new sources of data and how to integrate that data into their business. Auto insurance policyholders enjoy incentive programs, own auto-related connected devices, and are ready to share personal data in order to gain benefits. It is time for carriers to develop relevant connected-data-driven products as well as market rewards programs that are enticing and make sense, increase market share, and provide an endless source of real-time data. Aite Group’s new report, U.S. Auto Insurance Rewards and Incentives Programs: Driving Forward, explores the information necessary for carriers to design rewards and incentive-based products and programs fitting of the auto insurance industry. “Consumers are already using connected devices and are willing to share data for a good reason, and carriers must be willing to offer a variety of options to fully realize the potential of this trend,” explains Greg Donaldson, senior analyst at Aite Group. This report provides detailed statistics on auto insurance policyholders’ ownership and use of connected devices and...

PR Newswire Sun Life Financial today announced its results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019. Second quarter reported net income was $595 million and underlying net income(1) was $739 million. Quarterly results Year-to-date Profitability Q2’19 Q2’18 2019 2018 Reported net income ($ millions) 595 706 1,218 1,375 Underlying net income(1) ($ millions) 739 729 1,456 1,499 Reported EPS(2) ($) 1.00 1.16 2.04 2.25 Underlying EPS(1)(2) ($) 1.24 1.20 2.44 2.46 Reported ROE(1) 11.0% 13.5% 11.3% 13.3% Underlying ROE(1) 13.7% 14.0% 13.5% 14.5% Growth Q2’19 Q2’18 2019 2018 Insurance sales(1) ($ millions) 657 633 1,437 1,298 Wealth sales(1) ($ billions) 37.0 30.8 73.0 70.6 Value of new business(1) ($millions) 235 266 617 600 Assets under management(1) ($ billions) 1,024.8 986.1 1,024.8 986.1 Financial Strength Q2’19 Q4’18 2019 2018 LICAT ratios(3) Sun Life Financial Inc. 144% 144% 144% 149%  Sun Life Assurance(4) 133% 131% 133% 134% Financial leverage ratio(1) 20.4% 21.2% 20.4% 21.8% “We delivered underlying net income of $739 million in the second quarter, up from $729 million in the prior year,” said Dean Connor, President & CEO of Sun Life. “Interest rates declined in the quarter leading to lower reported net income, while balance sheet strength continued with a...