Industry
Zurich Financial Services Group is changing its Canadian identity to Zurich North America Canada. The operations are now included in Zurich’s North America Corporate Business Division, although they will continue to offer personal life and p&c insurance products, as well a corporate p&c products.The name change is part of broader reorganization of Zurich’s operations which […]
By Canadian Underwriter | September 4, 2001
1 min read
Specialty auto insurer Kingsway Financial Services (TSE: KFS) continues to see growth in premiums and earnings mid-way through 2001. In a press release, Kingsway CEO Bill Star notes that the company is reporting record profits, earnings per share and premium levels for the second quarter of the year, and in year-to-date totals. Net income increased […]
August 31, 2001
Rehabilitation healthcare costs associated with auto injuries have almost overnight become one of the biggest cost concerns for Canadian insurers. While the dramatic rise in treatment costs has much to do with attempts by the provincial governments over recent years to shift the spiraling healthcare cost burden onto the private sector, the greater injury to insurers lies in the myriad of unregulated service providers operating in the rehab sector and the ineffectiveness of the current "fee-for-service" payment system.
By Ian Campbell and Barbara Sulzenko-Laurie of the IBC | August 31, 2001
6 min read
Kingsway Financial Services CEO Bill Star (center) rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on July 11, celebrating the company’s first day of listing on the exchange. Star is joined, at his immediate right, by Kingsway CFO Shaun Jackson. With the listing, Kingsway becomes the first Canadian property and casualty insurer to […]
Kingsway Financial Services announces the appointment of Frank Amodeo as vice president. Amodeo has more than 20 years experience in the insurance industry, most recently heading up the Canadian branch of Winterthur International. David L. Emerson has been appointed a director to the boards of Royal & Sun Alliance’s five Canadian companies. Emerson is currently […]
After more than 10 years of heated debate and political positioning by various stakeholders, the new federal financial services legislation under Bill C-8 was proclaimed this past June. The new legislation was passed with the all-important block against the banks selling insurance products through their branches - this despite a delay in the bill's delivery due to the last minute general election call in the fall of last year. The fact that banking representatives made it clear before the Senate Financing Committee just prior to the passing of Bill C-8 that they expect financial services reform to be re-addressed incoming years, is a clear sign that independent insurance brokers cannot let up the pressure in their political lobbying campaign, says Ginny Bannerman, incoming president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC).
By Sean van Zyl, Editor | August 31, 2001
In this era of rapid growth and development, technology is the key that unlocks opportunity. Unfortunately, the insurance industry has been slow to adopt technology as a primary tool, preferring instead to simply replace manual tasks with automation, and upgrade the old technology, with new, fast, low-cost systems. It is not that the industry is […]
By Ivor Kaye, Grantech Systems Inc. | August 31, 2001
4 min read
The recent purchase of Edmonton, Alberta adjusting firm Leonard, Hirst & Miller (LH&M) has provided Crawford Adjusters Canada with a firm foothold in the west. Crawford CEO Glenn Gibson says the “fit” of LH&M’s professional expertise was a main attraction. “We looked primarily at the quality of the staff…this was the key driver from our […]
Following the disappointing financial returns Canadian property and casualty insurers produced for the first quarter of this year – a time which a year ago many in the industry had projected would see a recovery in earnings – the latest financial results up to the end of the first half of this year point to […]
3 min read
Canada’s property and casualty insurers came home with a meager 2.6% return on equity (ROE) for the 12-month period to end June this year. The latest quarterly financial figures released by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) show a 70% drop in the industry’s taxed earnings to $269 million for the first half of this […]
2 min read
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