St. Paul Travelers expands Canadian presence

St. Paul Travelers is expanding its Canadian operations with the addition of a new “national programs” unit based in Toronto.The new unit follows on the heels of an oil and gas unit created last year and based in Calgary. And a Montreal-based entertainment unit is also in the works.Rick Smith, president of global underwriting for St. Paul Travelers, says the national programs unit, which focuses on affinity business for groups of commercial clients such as franchises, will “leverage the learning” of the company’s U.S. operations. The company has seen great success with similar business south of the border and can borrow on the experience and knowledge gained there. “We know how to write this business and we’re ready to expand into the Canadian marketplace,” he says.The new unit will focus on small to mid-sized commercial groups. Specifically, Smith says, they will be targeting existing groups with three to five years of good loss experience.The entertainment unit, which is slated to begin writing business by this summer, will also find its own niche. “We really have focused on things other than blockbusters,” he says of the U.S. operations. Smith notes success has come writing coverage for independent films, documentaries, commercials and other television projects.He says the company wants to focus on growth in those areas it knows best. “We want to make sure we’re not going in with naive capital to the marketplace.”And, he says Canada is a “natural marketplace” given the more than 80-year history of the original St. Paul’s in this country and well as the established success of the recently merged operations under president Bob Fellows.