What’s New: In Brief (March 22, 2007)

TIC Travel Insurance Coordinators Ltd. raised almost Cdn$17,000 for charity this past holiday season as a result of the companys decision to donate to charity on behalf of customers rather than spending money on holiday gifts.Three charities benefited from the fundraising efforts, including OneChild, UNICEF and The David Suzuki Foundation.Throughout December, brokers and agents voted for the charity they preferred. TIC collected the votes and donated to the charities in proportion to the votes they received.TIC president and CEO, Ruth Simons, said she was incredibly happy with the results. She believed they showed the generosity and enthusiasm of TIC agents and staff. I think that people believe in helping charity these days more thanbefore, said Simons. We involved our agents in gift-giving by asking them where we should donate. TIC announced to their agents in their holiday cards that TIC would be donating to charity on their behalf rather than giving traditional holiday gifts. We thought that donating to charity was a better way of making a difference during the holidays and was more aligned with our company’s sustainability practices, said Ingeborg Carr, TICs branding marketing manager.

Reinsurers posted a 2006 Q4 average combined operating ratio [COR] of 94%, a vast improvement over the 129.4% COR it posted in the fourth quarterly following the hurricanes in 2005.The reinsurers 2006 Q4 loss ratio was 67.1%, compared with the 102.9% loss ratio reinsurers posted in 2005 Q4.The reinsurers’ 2006 Q4 data was posted in the recent quarterly report of the Reinsurance Association of America. The data includes the information obtained from 23 reinsurers.Net premiums written in 2006 Q4 amounted to US$25.8 billion. Over the same period in 2005, the same group of reinsurers posted net premiums written of US$25.3 billion.