Post-Travelers merger, Definity aims to be Top 3 insurer in Canada

With the Travelers acquisition now closed and integration of that business properly underway, Definity will become a Top 5 Canadian insurer. So they upped the ante, president and CEO Rowan Sauders told a Feb. 13 earnings call, following the publication of its 2025 Q4 earnings last week.

“Our strong performance reflects discipline, underwriting and claims management, solid organic growth, and the returns on our digital technology investments as we pursue our updated goal of becoming a Top 3 P&C insurer,” he said last Friday.

Responding to a question during the call, he said the successful, on-time closure of the Travelers acquisition on Jan. 2 has proven to be a game-changer for the company, allowing it to pursue a loftier ambition.

“This places us in the Top 5, which was our goal before,” Saunders said. “We now set our mission [for] Top 3. It’s added a lot of capability and product to our specialty and commercial lines, and more scale.

“When you buy a business like [Travelers Canada], you’re buying it for the long term – 2026 is a transition year. What we’re really focused on here is the retention of the business, the conversion and getting it on to…our platform.”

Related: Travelers acquisition helps boost Definity’s 2025 Q4 premium growth

The complexion of Definity’s portfolio in the commercial lines area “is skewed towards the small- and mid-market business,” added Obaid Rahman, executive vice president for commercial insurance.

“[For] the small and mid-sized business here, what matters is speed, ease of doing business, service. And technology is really the differentiator we have buying commercial.”

For the specialty part of the business, investments have been made “in capabilities, in underwriting and claims, in risk prevention,” he adds. “We cultivated the broker relationships in that space and that continues to bear fruit. We’re gaining market share.”

During 2026, Rahman said that momentum should continue.

“The Travelers acquisition is bringing a host of new verticals and capabilities in the specialty space – things like ocean, marine, technology, cyber, financial lines, a leading cross border facility…just to name a few. And once we get these onboarded, they’re going to open up a new frontier of growth. They’re going to expand our addressable market.”

That’s important, given Saunders’ projection that personal lines (both auto and property) are expected to remain firm over the next 12 months. He’s said he expects the industry to stay diligent about underwriting and pricing actions needed to respond to loss events stemming from weather and climate risk.

“While we expect overall commercial lines market conditions to remain attractive, we are continuing to see more competition in their large account space,” he said.

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Related: Definity plowing ahead on plan to triple in size within the next 10 years 

A focus on growing commercial revenues can also be positive for brokers, because the connection and trust factors required by commercial clients helps them foster and maintain relevance.

“We think overall in commercial insurance, this is complex, these are big assets, and you need a lot of trust and advisory services to set those,” said Saunders.

He noted Definity’s market breakdown is 70% personal lines, which is similar to the Travelers’ Canadian business now being integrated, with the rest being commercial.

“They have a large small business area. They also have a large specialty area, which is of course what we like. So, the segment that’s really exposed to this more competitive, large commercial accounts is similar. It’s not a big piece. I think that the market conditions are less impactful.”

Phil Porado

Phil, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in financial topics, has been managing editor of Canadian Underwriter for more than three years.