Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Toronto, ON (May 7, 2019) – The fact that this week, May 5-11, is Emergency Preparedness Week may seem cold comfort to people who have been evacuated after rivers have flooded Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario due to snowmelt, rain and increased river levels. Nevertheless, it is an appropriate time for businesses and homeowners to think about disaster preparedness and how increasing catastrophic events will affect them. This year, FirstOnSite Restoration, a company that has responded to every catastrophic event across the country over the last decade, has conducted an emergency awareness/preparedness survey. Flooding among Canadians is a main disaster concern When asked how concerned they were about different types of disasters, seven-in-10 respondents listed flooding (68%) which was statistically tied for top concern along with home fires, winter storms and wildfires. Rounding out the list of top concerns were earthquakes (41%) and hurricanes (37%). Regional flooding concerns were highest in Quebec (81%) where several communities including greater Montreal have been ravaged by this year’s spring floods. Manitoba (79%) and Ontario (70%) were the other two regions that topped the national level of concern. The number was lowest in Alberta where only half of residents are concerned about flooding. Six...

Toronto, ON (May 6, 2019) – Messagepoint Inc. has unveiled the Messagepoint Advanced Rationalization and Content Intelligence Engine (MARCIE), an artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered capability within its award-winning cloud-based Customer Communications Management (CCM) platform. MARCIE enables organizations to intelligently migrate, optimize, author and manage the complex content that is the foundation of customer communications. These new capabilities make it easier for enterprises in highly regulated industries to manage their content, but even more importantly, MARCIE drives consistency, brand alignment and compliance across all customer communication channels. The new AI-powered engine is leveraged when migrating legacy content into the Messagepoint platform, when cleaning up existing content libraries and also continuously through new assisted authoring capabilities. MARCIE’s analytics initially focus on the identification of: Compliance with brand standards across all communications and channels; Reading comprehension levels of every message using Flesch and Flesch-Kincaid scoring; Message-level sentiment to evoke feelings and emotions that positively impact the customer experience; Opportunities to consolidate duplicate and similar content for greater content re-use and efficiency. “Enterprises are scrutinizing every dimension of their communications for the potential to enhance the customer experience,” said Steve Biancaniello, CEO of Messagepoint. “Having a centralized, AI-powered platform that solves some of...

Almost half of British Columbians wrongly believe that the title ‘financial advisor’ is currently regulated and requires some form of accreditation, found a survey released May 7 by Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada. Advocis says this misperception “places investors at risk of not only receiving poor advice, but also falling victim to unscrupulous actors posing as legitimate advisors.” The survey of 1,000 British Columbians, conducted by Abacus Data in March, found “that only 54 per cent of respondents are aware that anyone, regardless of education, training, or membership in a professional governing body, can call themselves a financial advisor,” Advocis says. Surveys conducted in Ontario and Manitoba in 2018 yielded similar results. A tremendous amount of misplaced trust “For years, we’ve recognized the dangers that lack of title protection presents for the financial well-being of hard-working families seeking professional financial advice, said Advocis CEO and President, Greg Pollock. “This survey proves there is a tremendous amount of misplaced trust in the market, and reinforces just how badly new regulations are needed to protect the public.” Eighty-nine per cent of those surveyed said they would support the provincial government passing new legislation to regulate the title of ‘financial advisor’,...

PR Newswire Life Happens promotes life insurance issues, centered around Life Insurance Awareness Month in September. Actress and model Brooke Shields is the new life insurance spokeswoman, selected by Life Happens for its annual campaigns. Life Happens, a national nonprofit dedicated to educating consumers about the importance of life insurance and other related products for sound financial planning, made the announcement today. Shields succeeds race car driver and personality Danica Patrick, spokeswoman for two years. Serving as an executor of a friend’s will, Brooke saw firsthand the unique challenges that arise when someone passes without life insurance. These experiences – coupled with a deep commitment to protecting her family financially – reinforced for Brooke the importance of life insurance and teaching her daughters about financial planning and how it is a key component of personal strength and independence. Through the partnership with Life Happens, her goal is to demonstrate both the financial and emotional benefits that come from prioritizing life insurance. “Life insurance has given me peace of mind that, no matter the circumstance, my family is financially protected now and in the future,” said Brooke Shields. “This isn’t anything I was taught growing up. It’s a life lesson I...

Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Brighthouse Financial Inc. (BHF) on Monday reported a loss of $737 million in its first quarter. On a per-share basis, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it had a loss of $6.31. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were $1.98 per share. The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.12 per share. The annuity and life insurance company posted revenue of $691 million in the period. Brighthouse Financial shares have climbed 40% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $42.77, a drop of 14% in the last 12 months. This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BHF at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BHF Read the original article at insurancenewsnet.com

Relationship to bring insurance innovation and business transformation to the Life & Annuity and Group insurance market Morristown, NJ (May 6, 2019) – Capgemini today announced it has signed an alliance partner agreement with Majesco, a global leader of core insurance software for insurance business transformation. In the agreement, Capgemini will bring its extensive insurance innovation, customer service and digital capabilities to implementations of the Majesco Life & Annuity (L&A) and Group Core Suite for insurance carriers in the life, annuity, group, worksite, and voluntary benefits market, helping them to achieve speed to value. “Disruption is creating unprecedented growth and innovation opportunities in the insurance industry,” said Seth Rachlin, Chief Innovation Officer for Insurance, at Capgemini. “Customer expectations are moving insurers rapidly to a new generation of digitally superior insurance which requires continuous innovation to acquire and retain customers, introduce products faster, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.” Capgemini already has implementations underway of the Majesco L&A and Group Core Suite, which includes policy, billing, and claims modules. Capgemini is teaming with Majesco to provide business and systems transformation capabilities along with implementation, integration, conversion, and testing services to group and individual insurers. Additionally, Capgemini will bring its insurance expertise, ecosystem,...

BrokerLink acquires Athabasca branch of JDR Insurance Toronto, ON (May 2, 2019) – JDR Insurance – Athabasca (“JDRA”), a division of Tailor Made Insurance Services Ltd. (“Tailor Made”), announced today that BrokerLink has acquired the Athabasca, Alberta branch. BrokerLink is one of the largest property and casualty insurance brokerages in Canada. The transaction was effective May 1, 2019. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Tailor Made President, Colin Knott, attributes JDRA’s success to providing customers with the most comprehensive insurance products and services at the most reasonable price. “We strongly believe that BrokerLink shares these same values and will continue to provide our Athabasca customers with the same outstanding service,” says Knott. “JDRA will be a great fit as their reputation for exceptional customer service matches BrokerLink’s mission and organizational goals,” says Joe D’Annunzio, President of BrokerLink. Through the acquisition, JDRA employees will continue to provide excellent service to customers as part of the BrokerLink team. Brokerlink Acquires Amplex Insurance Brokers Ltd. Toronto, ON (May 2, 2019) – Amplex Insurance Brokers Ltd. announced today they will join BrokerLink, one of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurance brokerages. The transaction was effective May 1, 2019. Terms of the transaction were...

Horizons ETFs Management and National Bank Direct Brokerage announced on May 6 the launch of the ninth edition of The Biggest Winner trading competition. The Biggest Winner competition allows Canadian investors to learn about trading in a risk-free environment while competing for real cash prizes, explain the companies. Participants open a simulated online brokerage account that starts with a balance of 100,000 virtual Canadian dollars (no actual money will be traded). They can then use these fantasy funds to virtually trade any ETF listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Entry and participation in the contest is free. A potent educational tool “Year-over-year, the universe of Canadian-listed ETFs has grown. Today, investors have access to approximately 700 Canadian-listed ETFs that cover a wide range of themes, strategies and asset classes,” said Steve Hawkins, President and CEO of Horizons ETFs. “That makes The Biggest Winner competition a potent educational tool for investors looking to learn about trading ETFs without taking financial risks. The kicker: it gives all contestants the opportunity to win actual cash prizes.” The contest starts today and runs for six weeks. A grand prize of $7,500 will be awarded to the contestant with the highest six-week cumulative return, while...

PR Newswire Life insurance sales are stagnant. Life insurers have been facing a challenging environment of low interest rates, higher reserve requirements, poorer claims experience, and sluggish organic premium growth. In order to achieve profitability, insurers may be looking to lowering expenses, but that may not drive long-term success, according to a new study by Conning. “Expense ratios have been rapidly increasing since 2014, often to keep insurers competitive,” said MaryPat Campbell, a Vice President, Insurance Research at Conning. “However, we have observed that while expenses have risen, there has been no noticeable connection to improved sales or operating results in many instances.” The Conning study, “Life-Annuity Industry Expenses: Treading Water” explores life insurance and annuity expenses, analyzes how much “economies of scale” and product mix influence a company’s efficiency, and whether low expense ratios lead to higher profitability in the current economic environment. By choosing appropriate peer groups, by size or business focus, insurers can evaluate their own expense trends against the industry. “Technology expenses have been growing faster than other expense categories,” said Steve Webersen, Head of Insurance Research at Conning. “Larger life insurers have lower expense ratios compared to smaller insurers and can absorb these expenses better...

PR Newswire Life insurance sales are stagnant. Life insurers have been facing a challenging environment of low interest rates, higher reserve requirements, poorer claims experience, and sluggish organic premium growth. In order to achieve profitability, insurers may be looking to lowering expenses, but that may not drive long-term success, according to a new study by Conning. “Expense ratios have been rapidly increasing since 2014, often to keep insurers competitive,” said MaryPat Campbell, a Vice President, Insurance Research at Conning. “However, we have observed that while expenses have risen, there has been no noticeable connection to improved sales or operating results in many instances.” The Conning study, “Life-Annuity Industry Expenses: Treading Water” explores life insurance and annuity expenses, analyzes how much “economies of scale” and product mix influence a company’s efficiency, and whether low expense ratios lead to higher profitability in the current economic environment. By choosing appropriate peer groups, by size or business focus, insurers can evaluate their own expense trends against the industry. “Technology expenses have been growing faster than other expense categories,” said Steve Webersen, Head of Insurance Research at Conning. “Larger life insurers have lower expense ratios compared to smaller insurers and can absorb these expenses better...