What’s New: In Brief (September 07, 2007)

The National Insurance Conference of Canada (NICC) has reported registering more than 300 senior executives from across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Bermuda for its inaugural conference in 2007.The conference will be held from Sept. 30-Oct 2 at Le Centre Sheraton Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The NICC has sold 100% of its room block in the Montreal Sheraton, though the hotel still has capacity outside the block, Joel Baker, the president and CEO of the NICC, announced in a statement.John Ibbitson, a Washington D.C.-based columnist for the Globe and Mail, will be the master of ceremonies at the conference.In addition to a full schedule of seminars, a session following lunch on Oct. 2 will feature George Cooke, CEO of the Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, in conversation with Pat Ryan, the executive chairman of Aon Corporation.The conference will open at 6 p.m. on Sept. 30 with a gala cocktail reception hosted by Swiss Re. Registrations for the event are still open, the NICC notes. For full details visit www.niccanada.com or email laura.viau@msaresearch.com

The ability to grow policyholder advocacy will be one of the most effective strategic weapons that an insurance company can use to help build a sustainable competitive advantage, according to a report by IBM Global Business Services.The report, Surviving climate change in the property & casualty by growing consumer advocacy, notes the policyholder base of many insurers is becoming increasingly segmented. For example, existing, aging policyholders are comfortable with traditional insurance models, whereas younger policyholders who are increasingly Internet savvy are looking for new ways to obtain their insurance.IBM notes insurers who wish to make things better for all policyholders sometimes fall into the trap of focusing more on internal service delivery processes such as cost reduction and streamlining rather than on addressing policyholder needs in a more integrated way.Insurers need an effective and practical approach, the report says, to incorporate policyholder perspectives into the evaluation of programs and improvements intended to drive service delivery, product innovation and subsequently, profitability.