Selectpath Insurance, a Navacord brokerage, has partnered with Myers Insurance to enlarge the southwestern Ontario presence of each brokerage. Headquartered in Wallaceburg, Ont., and with an office in Corunna, Myers Insurance is a second-generation multi-lines brokerage run by president Jim Myers. The business started with Myers’ father in 1944. Myers Insurance offers a wide variety […]
November 28, 2023
2 min read
Aviva Canada is acquiring Optiom O2 Holdings Inc., a managing general agent (MGA) that specializes in vehicle replacement insurance in Canada. The $170-million Cdn deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. Aviva Canada says the deal will expand its capital light businesses, which make up […]
November 27, 2023
2 min read
Car thefts began rising across Canada in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been climbing ever since – fuelled by organized crime rings using new technologies to steal key fob codes and take vehicles while their owners are asleep. It’s gotten so bad that in 2022, insurers paid more than $1 billion in auto […]
November 27, 2023
2 min read
Don Thompson has been appointed Westland Insurance Group’s new chief operating officer (COO), the brokerage announced. Thompson will assume the role effective January 1, 2024. He has over 30 years of experience in the P&C insurance industry and is currently Westland’s executive vice president, insurance and prairie operations. Prior to his role at Westland, […]
November 27, 2023
1 min read
Rising interest rates are changing the brokerage M&A environment and giving sellers a shorter timeline to produce the projected earnings. And chances are, if they haven’t produced reliable returns already, the buyers may balk on a purchase, said Yan Charbonneau, president of Synex Performance d’affaires, a brokerage consolidator based in Quebec. “In the crazy [low-interest] […]
November 24, 2023
4 min read
McDougall Insurance Brokers Limited announced it has merged with Ontario-based M.B. Kouri Insurance Brokers Ltd. The brokerage will join operations with McDougall’s insurance and finance team to operate as an independent brokerage, McDougall announced in a press release. McDougall has 66 offices in Ontario and Alberta, 850 employees and over $900 million in property casualty […]
November 24, 2023
1 min read
Ontario brokers are questioning the value of the Ontario government’s forthcoming new law allowing drivers to drop out of direct compensation property damage (DCPD) coverage for their cars. DCPD coverage is currently mandatory and protects policyholders in the event of a collision in which another driver is at fault. By opting out of DCPD coverage, […]
November 23, 2023
3 min read
Private equity interest in the Canadian P&C brokerage space is showing no sign of slowing down, industry observers said last week at KPMG’s 2023 Insurance Conference in Toronto. Private equity groups remain eager to acquire Canadian brokerages, said Andrew Mathias, senior vice president of corporate finance of KPMG in Canada. “There’s these gems that are […]
November 21, 2023
3 min read
Canada’s auto insurers say the country needs a National Task Force on Stolen Vehicles, and they are calling on the federal government to play a leadership role in tackling record-high auto thefts. While the feds should lead the charge, auto theft is an all-hands-on-deck issue, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) suggests in its release. Auto […]
November 20, 2023
3 min read
Reports of the death of brokerage mergers and acquisitions in an era of higher interest rates have been greatly exaggerated. Back in early 2023, Canadian Underwriter’s National Broker Survey noticed a curious phenomenon: brokers’ interest in M&A growth had dipped despite a busy year of deals in 2022. In a survey of 150 brokers across […]
November 20, 2023
3 min read