Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

His past decision to not have his children vaccinated against the disease might very well have led to an outbreak

The group acting in support of cannabis patients has gained more allies as a key government announcement looms

Inappropriate application of diagnostic tests could create healthcare savings and improve outcomes for patients

Feb. 19–DeLand police said they arrested a woman for stealing more than $188,000 from her aunt. Brandie Woodward, 35, was charged with exploitation of the elderly and is being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail on $5,000 bail, city of DeLand spokesman Chris Graham said. According to Woodward’s arrest report, her 79-year-old aunt told police that she became suspicious after not getting bank statements in the mail for a month. After checking with her bank, the aunt discovered that her niece had put her address down to have bank statements sent to her that was why the aunt was not getting them in the mail, police said. Woodward also made herself the beneficiary of her aunt’s life insurance and transferred more than $165,000 of her aunt’s money into her account, a report states. The victim said she had initially given Woodward power of attorney in March 2017 but then revoked the authority in May 2018. Police determined Woodward stole the money between December 2016 and April 2018, a report states. ___ (c)2019 The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla. Visit The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla. at www.news-journalonline.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The post Florida Police: Niece Steals $188,000, Life...

The MFDA has fined De Thomas Wealth Management Corp. $40,000 plus costs in the amount of $10,000.

Canada has reached a tipping point in organizational cyber risk, says Brian Rosenbaum of Aon.

BMO Asset Management has launched three risk-based asset allocation Exchange Traded Funds. The new ETFs provide diversified exposures with quarterly rebalancing, says the company.

While Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is regularly acquiring new companies and expanding its gigantic Fortune 500 footprint, one January takeover generated particular notice. On Jan. 28, Gallagher announced the acquisition of Partners Advantage Insurance Services and AMZ Financial Insurance Services. The move marked the first substantial entry by Gallagher into the independent marketing organization channel of insurance distribution. An insurance giant based outside Chicago, Gallagher continues to expand. The third-largest insurance broker in the world, Gallagher entered the Fortune 500 list in 2016, coming in at 471. Since then, the company rose to 464 in 2017 and 454 in 2018. Gallagher is predominantly a property & casualty broker, with a growing benefits division. The company is sending signals that it plans to be more active with indexed life insurance and possibly annuities. “Part of our attraction is for the opportunity for product development that could be specific to our client base and we could deliver through our life business,” said Jeff Leonard, head of Gallagher’s North America Financial & Retirement Services division. “So it seemed like a pretty nice, unique skill set that we could add on and really help us leverage our business.” The company’s Financial & Retirement Services...

PARK RIDGE, Ill. (Feb. 18, 2019) — A new study, commissioned by MDRT and conducted online by The Harris Poll among over 2,000 U.S. adults, examines what consumers think of technology in financial services, clients’ perspectives on robo advisors and the technology they expect their advisor to incorporate. Whether they currently use a financial advisor or not, about the same percentage of Americans in each group agree it is important that advisors are both technologically savvy (95 percent each) and use updated technology-based tools in their practice (96 percent who have an advisor and 95 percent who don’t have an advisor). The majority of Americans (88 percent) say technology should complement, not replace, the services of a human financial advisor, with 85 percent of Americans stating they prefer working with a human financial advisor rather than a robo advisor. Only five percent of Americans believe financial planning should be managed entirely by technology-based tools and 36 percent strongly disagree that robo advisors could completely replace the role of human financial advisors in financial planning. The study found that, while 83 percent would trust a human financial advisor to effectively manage their financial plan, only 36 percent would trust the job...

Feb. 16–An accountant from Baton Rouge stole roughly $2 million that the historically troubled New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund gave to him to invest in life insurance policies — and then used the money to gamble, finance home improvements and pay off debts, federal prosecutors allege. Wayne Triche faces charges of wire fraud and falsely reporting his income on several tax returns in a 38-count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury Thursday. Triche didn’t immediately respond to a message left for him at his office Friday. According to the indictment, the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund loaned $5 million to a company that Triche co-founded so the firm could buy life insurance policies as investments that officials hoped would generate profits. Life insurance holders will sometimes sell their policies to investors who hope that the benefits paid out by the policy will be more than it cost to purchase and maintain it. Triche’s company received more than $6 million in benefits from life insurance policies purchased as investments on behalf of the Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund, the feds said. But less than $3 million of that made its way back to the fund....