Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

If Congress is able to pass any major legislation this year, a retirement security package is as good of a bet as any. The impact on future annuity sales cannot be overstated. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which passed the House in May and awaited Senate action as of press deadline, includes a provision that would make it easier for companies to include annuities in retirement plans. And that is a very big deal. Although companies are allowed to include annuities in 401(k) plans now, just 9% do, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America. The reason is liability concerns in the event the annuity provider fails to deliver the goods. The SECURE Act aims to eliminate that liability. Unsurprisingly, financial services trade associations are enthusiastic about the legislation. “Americans face a retirement crisis of too little savings amplified by existing barriers that discourage and hamper the ability of small employers to offer a workplace retirement plan,” said Wayne Chopus, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute. Among other things, the SECURE Act also requires retirement plans to provide participating workers with an illustration of how much monthly income a retirement savings account...

Targeted News Service (Press Releases) Allianz Life, a provider of retirement solutions, including fixed and variable annuities and life insurance for individuals, issued the following news release: A majority of Americans (82%) continue to have a strong understanding of the primary need for life insurance within their financial strategy – particularly the death benefit that provides monies to family/loved ones upon death of the insured – but women and Gen Xers are behind in awareness about additional benefits that permanent life insurance can offer. According to the 2019 Life Insurance Needs Study from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life(R)), women lack familiarity with a number of important benefits offered by permanent life insurance that could help build more flexibility in their financial portfolio. Only 34% of women believe that the cash value from a permanent life insurance policy can be used to help fund education, retirement or other financial needs versus 51% of men. Furthermore, only about one- quarter (27%) of women know that benefits paid from life insurance are not taxable versus 38% of men/1. Most concerning, only one-third of women believe that cash value from a permanent life insurance policy can be used to supplement...

Artificial intelligence meets property insurance Johnston, RI (July 15, 2019) – FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers, has invested US$1 million in RiskGenius, an InsurTech startup company that applies artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to automate underwriting processes. It is the largest investment FM Global has made in a startup to date. “As we look to the future and the evolving landscape of property insurance policy issuance, AI and machine learning offer FM Global great opportunities to enhance our clients’ experience,” said Michael Lebovitz, senior vice president, innovation, FM Global. The investment in RiskGenius follows on the heels of US$250,000 in funding FM Global recently provided to AirWorks Solutions, an aerial mapping and surveying startup that is enabling the insurer to apply their technology to property risk identification and loss prevention. About FM Global Established nearly two centuries ago, FM Global is a mutual insurance company whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its client-owners. These owners, who share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable, represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every three Fortune 1000...

London, UK (July 12, 2019) – SureCam, the market leader in connected camera technology, has announced a partnership with Concirrus, a leading InsurTech, to provide a ground-breaking solution that is set to revolutionize the claims process and deliver significant ROI for fleet operators. Justin White, Managing Director at SureCam explains: “We recognize that fleet operators find it difficult to manage and prioritize the vast amount of data available through telematics and video footage. Therefore, we needed to determine how we could harness advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning to facilitate automation of processes, improve data analysis and help alleviate the operational burden for our customers. With a cutting-edge technology platform, easy to use interface and a solid team of data scientists, partnering with Concirrus was a natural choice for us and we’re very excited to take this game-changing solution to market.” For the past five years, SureCam has been working with some of the leading fleet operations including G4S, Morgan Sindall, Hoover Candy, Wincanton, Eddie Stobart and Krispy Kreme. The integration of SureCam with Concirrus’ dynamic data analytics platform, Quest Fleet will provide new insights, enabling fleets to automate risk management processes, prioritize driver coaching effectively and optimize...

Québec, QC (July 12, 2019) – La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services has launched the new Pure Series, a range of life insurance products featuring very competitive rates. It is an attractive option for clients seeking economical products. With its brand-new Pure Series, La Capitale offers a range of affordable term insurance products for 10, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years to better meet its clients’ needs. The Pure Series also includes T100, a competitive permanent life insurance product. The new Pure Series products are well positioned in the market. For example, according to the June 10, 2019 LifeGuide: Pure T20 offers the best rate in the industry for non-smokers of most ages with insured amounts of $250,000 to $500,000. Pure T100 is ranked among the top three in the industry for non-smokers age 35 to 60 with insured amounts of $50,000 to $100,000. The Pure Series T10 and its smoker rates offer premium rates that are much more accessible than Enhanced Series products. Pure Series products are now available from advisors representing La Capitale. Note that La Capitale’s Enhanced Series provides a host of advantages such as benefits in the event of total loss of autonomy, Succession Advantage* as...

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners creates model laws for states to pass. Insurance regulators hosted a vigorous debate Monday on whether juiced-up indexed universal life products are projecting realistic returns or not. New IUL products featuring “multipliers” or “bonuses” prompted the IUL Illustration Subgroup to consider changes to Actuarial Guideline 49. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ subgroup has held several conference calls on the topic. None was more highly charged than Monday’s call. “We have consumers out there being misled by these illustrations,” said James Regalbuto, deputy superintendent for life insurance at the New York Department of Financial Services. “They’re fixed life insurance products showing rates of return that rival securities and I think we fail to appreciate how defective AG 49 is currently. None of the assumptions that underpin AG 49 really hold any water.” Regalbuto called for “a total rework of AG 49 from the ground up.” AG 49 was finalized in 2015 to provide insurance carriers a more uniform method for calculating maximum illustrated rates on IUL products. The overall life insurance illustration model regulation #582 was a very lengthy, acrimonious process that took years before the NAIC adopted it in 1995. Questioned by subgroup...

Life insurance sales are stagnant, but profits are still being made. By Ray Caucci Over the last few years, the life insurance industry has undergone one of the biggest transformations in its long history. The introduction of accelerated underwriting has brought with it a world of new possibilities for companies and applicants alike. Through this process, insurance providers tap readily available consumer information from places like LexisNexis, motor vehicle and pharmaceutical databases to gauge the potential risk of insuring an individual. One of the key benefits of this system is that the healthiest applicants have the ability to bypass invasive medical exams and receive a policy decision far faster than traditional underwriting methods, which, on average, can take as long as six to eight weeks. Not only does this method make the underwriting process nearly painless for healthier consumers, but it also presents an exciting opportunity for agents. With accelerated underwriting, agents are able to spend more time prospecting for new business instead of managing existing cases through the traditional process. Thanks to technology, agents have the time and flexibility to work with more applicants, develop and nurture relationships, and promote their business to the underinsured and uninsured markets. The...

RBC Global Asset Management announced on July 15 the launch of RBC Global Portfolios, which allow investors to diversify beyond their Canadian holdings in a single portfolio. RBC GAM notes that Canadian investors, on average, have about 90% of their wealth tied to Canada. The RBC Global Portfolios are designed to address this home country bias, says the company. Five portfolio options are available, ranging from very conservative to all-equity. The portfolios are comprised of mutual funds managed by RBC GAM Inc. “Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of how concentrated their investments are in Canada,” said Doug Coulter, President of RBC GAM Inc. “They have been asking for more global investment options to diversify their holdings, and RBC Global Portfolios is our answer, building on RBC GAM’s thirty plus years of managing portfolio solutions.” Read the original article at insurance-journal.ca

Targeted News Service (Press Releases) BRISTOL, Connecticut, July 15 — ESPN today announced New York Life as a founding partner of the new ACC Network, the national network dedicated to Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports coverage, launching on August 22. New York Life remains the official life insurance company of the ACC. New York Life also continues as the exclusive presenting sponsor of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament which airs across the ESPN and ACC networks as well. Partners since 2014, New York Life and the ACC have also collaborated on local community outreach events with organizations including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Good Shepherd Services, Eagle Academy, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). “We are proud to continue the long-standing partnership between New York Life and the ACC as a founding member of ACC Network,” explained David Williams, Corporate Vice President, Brand Advertising and Sponsorships at New York Life. “Beyond the obvious athletic excitement, we’ve succeeded in serving a variety of organizations and communities over the course of our relationship. We look forward to further collaboration as we continue this impactful work.” Said ACC Commissioner John Swofford, “Over the years, the relationship with New York...

Toronto, ON (July 15, 2019) – The Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company of Canada (BI&I) has partnered with Apollo Insurance to offer bind online Course of Construction Equipment Breakdown Insurance through the Apollo Exchange. The entire process, from quoting, binding coverage, and issuing policy documents is immediate,  completely online, and paper free. Brokers are paid their commission in real time, as soon as the policy is bound. Brokers can now access all BI&I products on the Exchange at https://exchange.apollocover.com/insurer/bii-company. BI&I, a member of the HSB Group and part of Munich Re Risk Solutions, provides Canada’s leading range of equipment breakdown insurance and other specialty coverages for business and home. “At Apollo, we believe in empowering the broker channel,” says Apollo CEO Jeff McCann. “With this product from our partners at BI&I, our broker users can spend less time on paperwork and more time building relationships. This is an interesting product because it will be offered standalone to start, and then incorporated into our other packages. By building more mono-line products we hope to make it easier each day for a broker to serve their clients.” HSB BI&I is one of several carriers that offer their products on the Apollo Exchange....