Industry
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (TSX: FFH) has renewed efforts to acquire its own issued subordinate voting shares in a bid to boost shareholder value in the company’s listed equity. Fairfax says that, pending regulatory approval, it will purchase about one million subordinate voting shares that have been issued by the company from between September 22 […]
September 30, 2003
1 min read
In the current environment – where provincial auto insurance systems are being changed on a near-daily basis in response to political whim and consumer ire, commercial and personal lines coverage remains scarce while rates continue to climb – brokers could be forgiven for wearing negativity on their sleeves. In contrast, however, the atmosphere at this […]
By Vikki Spencer | September 30, 2003
4 min read
While the sharp rate increases introduced by insurers across nearly all lines of business in Atlantic Canada - with personal auto insurance having attracted the brunt of price hikes - are beginning to show positive signs of returned underwriting profitability for the region, the "public relations" cost incurred in the process may well prove that too much was done by the industry over too short a time. The political attention ignited by auto insurance pricing has presented a very real threat of government-run insurance systems being introduced in the region - the impact of which could be dire for insurers and brokers alike.
By Mike Brien, president of Macdonald Chisholm Insurance | September 30, 2003
5 min read
The Fairfax group’s reinsurance arm, Odyssey Re Holdings Corp. (TSX: ORH), increased net earnings for the second quarter of this year by more than three-fold to US$112.7 million compared with the US$32.8 million reported for the same period last year. The latest quarterly earnings equate to US$1.73 a share against the 50c a share shown […]
2 min read
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSX: KFS) has disclosed an adverse reserve development totaling $30 million for prior year claims leading up to the end of 2002. The adverse reserve development resulted from the insurer’s Alberta non-standard auto insurance business, as well as Ontario commercial auto and trucking claims, a company statement says. Kingsway says the […]
The industry lost a friend with the passing of Imre Strasser, FCII, on September 9. Born in Vienna, he came to Canada in 1957, continuing his career as an insurance underwriter begun in 1949. He was long-time member and supporter of the Speakers Club of the Insurance Institute of Toronto, most recently serving as club […]
A unanimous decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals, second circuit, is being lauded by insurers as a “devastating blow” to the lawsuit by World Trade Center (WTC) leaseholder Larry Silverstein.The court supported in part insurers’ contention that the destruction of the buildings in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks should be considered one event, […]
By Canadian Underwriter | September 30, 2003
Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp. says it will enter into a stock-for-stock deal to buy Boston’s John Hancock Financial Services Inc. worth $34.7 billion (US$25.6 billion). The deal will make Manulife the largest life insurance company in Canada, second-largest in North America.The announcement follows speculation last week from news sources that a merger was in the […]
U.S. property and casualty insurers increased net taxed income for the first half of this year to US$14.5 billion – representing a 3.3 times rise on the US$4.4 billion reported for the same period last year, according to data released by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII). As […]
3 min read
An association representing the condominium industry is set to look into the impact of insurance rates and policy changes to its members. The Canadian Condominium Institute (CCI) says it has established a task force to look at “unprecedented” changes to insurance policies that have taken a toll on condominium corporations and their clients. “We have […]
By Canadian Underwriter | September 29, 2003
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