IIBAA CEO Panel I: No more quarterly results

It has been confirmed that the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) will no longer publicly release its quarterly financial data on insurers to anyone other than members. At the Independent Insurance Brokers of Alberta (IIBAA) conference, ING Canada CEO Claude Dussault said the decision was made because the information has been used against the industry, for example by Alberta trial lawyers pushing against auto reforms the industry is lobbying for. “We will not publicize the quarterly results because we believe it is misleading as an industry.” Broker association CEO Harold Baker says, “I’m glad to hear IBC is going away from quarterly reports. That does create some difficulty in the marketplace.” The disclosure came as part of the conference’s CEO panel where the industry’s “crisis of confidence” took center stage.Despite the industry’s concerns over its treatment at the hands of the media, CEO speakers were more than willing to accept their share of the blame for the current lack of trust from their customers. Specifically, they agree, the industry must control the wide price swings of the soft and hard market cycles.With the coming of the soft market, they add, insurers will need to stick to strict underwriting rather than focusing on marketshare if they are to maintain credibility. “We will have a hell of a time building credibility if we chase price down as an industry,” says Bob Fitzgerald, COO of Aviva Canada.