Industry
In its annual review of insurance and reinsurance markets, Swiss Re predicts that the industry will continue to post profits in 2005, but the pace of growth will drop off as the market softens.In fact, profitability should continue into 2006, says Thomas Hess, Swiss Re chief economist. However, challenges remain, he adds, including capital markets […]
By Canadian Underwriter | December 1, 2004
1 min read
Risk
Canadian p&c insurers have earmarked $2 million to invest in strategies to win back public confidence following recent years of consumer backlash against the industry, says the outgoing chair of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).State Farm Insurance Cos. senior vice president Robert Cooke, in his final address as chair at the IBC’s annual general […]
2 min read
Stepping away from big-city insurer Kingsway General and into the agriculturally-based world of mutual insurers might have been a culture shock to some. But for Steve Smith, CEO of the Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan (FMRP), it was more like coming home. Now, with a combination of street smarts and respect for the mutual tradition, he […]
By Vikki Spencer | November 30, 2004
7 min read
Auto insurance regulators and product distributors are increasingly in favor of introducing customization into what has been a traditionally standard offering. Choice, however, implies a clear set of options and a knowledgeable consumer. Will Ontario's experiment provide meaningful and transparent choice in auto insurance coverage?
November 30, 2004
9 min read
Following fast on the heels of this year's four major Atlantic hurricanes - Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne - "Hurricane Spitzer" has sent the insurance industry reeling once more. At the sixth annual North American Insurance Conference (NAIC), speakers agreed that all of these forces of nature should, in the best case, pull the industry away from the temptations of competition and incite a continuation of insurance pricing discipline.
6 min read
"Cyclicality" in international insurance markets is said by some commentators to be inevitable. Whilst their argument has some obvious truth to it - risk premiums will always fluctuate somewhat according to the fundamentals of supply and demand - several factors today are mitigating the severity of future price swings. One of these is a supply factor: the much-welcomed disappearance of under-priced retrocession coverage. Its global extinction is already having a very important price-sustaining influence, as premium rates continue to ease in many insurance markets.
By Adrian Leonard | November 30, 2004
5 min read
How many times have you heard the phrase..."The customer is always right?" But, how many times is this phrase really understood?
By Alan Jervis | November 30, 2004
4 min read
With the “finishing line” for 2004 well in sight, insurers are upbeat that the year will prove to be a “banner event” in terms of industry profitability. But, in looking ahead, there appears to be uncertainty in company ranks to whether the industry will be able to maintain strong earnings growth through 2005. More importantly, […]
By Sean van Zyl | November 30, 2004
Earnings for broker consolidator Western Financial Group (TSX: WES) for the third quarter ending September 30, 2004 were up 53.4% to $795,000 ($0.03 per share) from $518,000 ($0.02 per share) a year earlier. Year-to-date net income is up a whopping 86.1% to $2.80 million ($0.11 per share) from $1.51 million ($0.07 per share) a year […]
Canadian insurers and brokers are responding to the U.S. controversy over broker commissions with a new “consumer code of rights and responsibilities”. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) released the code, along with guidelines for disclosure of broker commissions, fast on the heels of the investigation by […]
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