Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

GlobeNewswire (Canada) Foresters Financial™ today announces the further bolstering of its senior leadership team with the appointment of its new Chief Operating Officer, Bruce Hodges, as the organization repositions itself to focus on its core life insurance business. Joining recent appointments Marcia Mendes d’Abreu, Chief Human Resources Officer; Alvin Sharma, Global Chief Financial Officer; and David Longfritz, Chief Marketing Officer, Bruce rounds out the leadership team at this unique life insurer whose mission is to give back to the communities in which its clients live. Bruce comes to Foresters at a transformative time following the organization’s April announcement to sell assets related to its U.S. asset management business. With 30 years of financial services, insurance and IT expertise, Bruce has leadership and international experience at Generali, ING, Manulife Financial and Sun Life Financial that spans markets including North America, Europe and Asia. Under the direction of Foresters President and CEO, Jim Boyle (formerly John Hancock CEO and a member of Manulife’s Executive team), this purpose-driven organization continues to build off successive years of record sales, positioning Foresters for long-term growth and success. About Foresters FinancialSince 1874, Foresters Financial has been providing socially responsible financial services to individuals and families. Foresters...

Twenty-one per cent of young baby boomers (ages 55 to 64) in Canada have not saved anything for retirement, according to Franklin Templeton‘s 2019 Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations (RISE) survey released May 8. Franklin Templeton says this lack of savings likely explains why nearly half of Canadian young boomers (46 per cent) would consider postponing retirement, with approximately 15 per cent of Canadians saying they expect to work until the end of their lives. Meanwhile, 22 per cent of self-employed Canadians say they don’t ever plan to retire. Retiring earlier than expected While delaying retirement may be their intention, often this does not work out, the survey suggested. More than half of Canadian young boomers (54 per cent) retired earlier than expected, compared to about one-third of Canadians (32 per cent) ages 65 to 73. The survey also found that Canadian young boomers retired due to circumstances beyond their control more often than older Canadian boomers (34 per cent versus 20 per cent, respectively). “In 2009, when equity markets started to recover, many young boomers were moving up the career ladder; whereas older boomers were approaching retirement at the top of their earning years,” said Duane Green, president and...

Malware and people-based attacks the most common cyberattacks in Canada, reveals “Cost of Cybercrime Study” from Accenture and Ponemon Institute Toronto, ON (May 7, 2019) – The cost to Canadian companies from malware and people-based cyberattacks, such as phishing and social engineering, was an average of USD$9.25 million (almost CAD$12.5 million at current exchange rates) in 2018, according to new research by Accenture and the Ponemon Institute. Based on interviews with more than 2,600 security and information technology (IT) professionals at 355 organizations worldwide, including 179 senior leaders from 25 companies in Canada, Accenture’s 2019 Cost of Cybercrime study found that globally, the cost to companies due to malware increased 11 per cent, to more than US$2.6 million per company, on average, and the cost due to malicious insiders — defined as employees, temporary staff, contractors and business partners — jumped 15 per cent, to US$1.6 million per organization, on average. From a global perspective, together these two types of cyberattacks accounted for one-third of the total US$13.0 million cost to companies, on average, from cybercrime in 2018, an increase of US$1.3 million in the past year. Similarly, the cost to companies from phishing and from social engineering increased to...

Sun Life has launched a virtual mental health exam that enables clients to be assessed without leaving their front door. To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, the company has started a three-month pilot for the Independent Medical Exams process, which aims to help those whose challenges make it difficult to attend in-person appointments. Recognising that access to support has been notoriously difficult, the IME hopes to provide new, easier and effective ways for plan members and their families to access the care that they need without having to navigate the system alone. The issue of helping people whose mental health disability made it tough to leave home was particularly important to Sun Life. Marie-Chantal Côté, VP, market development, group benefits, Sun Life Financial, told LHP: “We were first of all looking to seek to offer another option in in order to help the diagnostic and treatment plan. “We also thought that it often takes time to have access to a mental health professional in terms of the time it takes – sometimes it takes a three- to nine-month waiting period. “Finally, we wanted to provide access because we felt some difficulties getting access to care in remote areas.” Once...

In a recent survey, AIG Life & Retirement found that 53% of Americans plan to live until they’re 100 years old. However, 51% said they were uncertain that their current retirement savings plan would financially sustain them through a 100-year lifespan, and 59% said they feared running out of money more than death itself. To get through such an extended lifetime — which is increasingly possible, given the rising life expectancies across the world — retirees will need to rely significantly on protected income. The necessity for such income rises when one considers other risks from historically low interest rates and the probability that severe stock market volatility will erode or wipe out investment returns. “If your client doesn’t have enough protected lifetime income to cover their essential or discretionary expenses in retirement, they could be facing an income gap and may need your help,” wrote Bryan Pinsky, AIG’s senior vice president, individual retirement products, in a piece for InsuranceNewsNet. Pinsky noted that protected income in retirement will likely involve some combination of social security, pensions, and lifetime income products such as annuities. After a conversation about their risk tolerances and specific needs, advisors can choose from different types of...

From an observer’s perspective, the gloomy headlines about long-term care insurance (LTCI) — particularly from news stories focused on issuers’ efforts to get approvals for rate increases for those holding in-force LTCI policies — suggest a reason for concern. But ask the agents who offer protection against long-term care risk, and they would likely say that they have a positive market outlook. In a recent survey of LTCI agents conducted by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), 47.6% of participants reported that they expect their own sales of new, traditional LTCI policies to rise this year; in contrast, just 20.8% forecast a decrease in their sales of such products. Shift the spotlight to hybrid products, which combine LTCI benefits with life insurance policies or annuities, and the outlook is even better. Around 66% of participating agents said they expect increased sales for LTC hybrid products, with just 7.2% expecting a fall in sales of those products. “Overall, there was great optimism for the future of the industry and their own personal sales,” said Jesse Slome, director of AALTCI. Asking participants about their outlook further into the future, 43.1% of the respondents said that they expect sales of both...

While provincial governments are planning for healthcare budget growth that should be fiscally sustainable, the actual growth in healthcare costs is going beyond what the long-run ability of Canada’s economy and tax base can support, warns a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In Healthcare Spending Overshoots a Threat to Sustainability, C.D. Howe Institute President and CEO William B.P. said that growth in healthcare spending has been on the rise over the last four years as governments continue to overshoot their initial budget targets. Pointing to the National Health Expenditure (NHEX) report, an annual publication from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), overall growth of healthcare expenses for 2018 was 3.8%, which was in line with most estimates of potential GDP growth. But if it were to be revised following the trend of previous years, the final 2018 figure would clock in at 4.6% — outpacing potential GDP growth and anticipating a combination of rising taxes, increased borrowing, and a pinch on other government programs. “These figures reflect only intentions as reflected in budgets,” Robson said, referring to initial estimates of provincial and territorial government that are reflected in the NHEX. “Past history tells us that the revised,...

Business Wire First-quarter 2019 net income available to common shareholders of $0.42 per diluted share First-quarter 2019 adjusted operating earnings1 of $1.07 per diluted share, after-tax; Normalized for the following items, first-quarter 2019 adjusted operating earnings were $1.22 per diluted share, after-tax: $0.01 per diluted share, after-tax, of favorable deferred acquisition costs and value of business acquired (“DAC/VOBA”) and other intangibles unlocking; and $(0.16) per diluted share, after-tax and DAC/VOBA, of prepayment fees and alternative investment income below the company’s long-term expectations. Voya completes previously announced accelerated share repurchase agreement for $250 million of Voya common stock; enters into new agreement to repurchase an additional $236 million of shares beginning in the second quarter of 2019 — upon completion of the new agreement, Voya will have utilized its previous share repurchase authorization Board of directors authorizes the repurchase of an additional $500 million of Voya common stock — new authorization expires on June 30, 2020 NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2019. “During the first quarter, we continued to execute on our plans to achieve organic growth and cost savings as well as effectively deploy excess capital,” said Rodney...

Smart Sensor Deployment to Mitigate Loss and Enhance Customer Engagement Sunnyvale, CA (May 7, 2019) – Roost, a leader in Home Telematics for property insurance carriers, today announced it has partnered with Arkansas-based Farmers Protective Mutual Insurance Company. In a strategic agreement reached to mitigate loss and build customer engagement, Farmers Protective Mutual will offer free smart sensor kits to select policyholders. Farmers Protective Mutual policyholders will be offered smart sensors that deliver peace-of-mind to policyholders including the Roost Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector and the Roost Smart Battery. They will also look to strengthen their engagement with members through a Farmers Protective Mutual branded mobile app. “We’re very pleased to be working together with Roost to deliver this smart home innovation to our members,” said Brad Fortner, Farmers Protective Mutual CEO. “We strive to provide value to our members and the Roost solution will do so by helping to mitigate loss and strengthen our relationship with them as well.” The Roost Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector is designed to sense water leaks as well as humidity and freezing temperature situations. Each detector can be easily located in places around the home most prone to water leaks such...

Established InsurTech joins top insurance companies and industry leaders in the fight against fraud Chicago, IL (May 7, 2019) – FRISS, the leading provider of AI-powered fraud and risk analytics for the P&C insurance industry, announced today their partnership with the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Established in 2006, FRISS has been helping insurers across the globe identify and fight insurance fraud. As their presence is expanding in North America, the choice to join the coalition was clear. “The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud is driven by their values: inclusion, integrity, leadership, collaboration and expertise,” noted FRISS co-founder and CEO Jeroen Morrenhof. “These values are directly in line with ours at FRISS. We work every day, in close collaboration with our partners, to ensure fraudulent activity doesn’t hurt the insurance industry and their customers. We’re excited to join forces to help make insurance more honest and improve the experience insurance companies offer their customers.” The Coalition also works to bring awareness to the effects fraud has on the industry and those who rely on insurance to allow them to take on everyday risks. “The experience and expertise FRISS has from implementing their fraud solution over 150 times will be instrumental to our...