Moves & Views (January 01, 2011)

1     McLarens Canada has acquired Upper Canada Adjusters Inc. Upper Canada Adjusters Inc. was established in 1995 and has a broad client base ranging from commercial insurers to self-insured corporate clients. Specializing in the high-end property and commercial liability market, Upper Canada Adjusters Inc. is now McLarens Upper Canada. The McLarens Upper Canada team is led by former Upper Canada Adjusters principals Greg Madill and John Valeriote. McLarens describes the acquisition of Upper Canada Adjusters as consistent with its aggressive growth strategy, with McLarens having tripled in size over the past four years.

2     XL Insurance Company’s Canadian branch has launched two new products offering cyber-liability protection for Canadian businesses. XL Eclipse offers the following coverages under one policy form: network security liability; media content services liability; privacy liability; extortion threat; crisis management; business interruption; credit monitoring; privacy notification costs; and regulatory fines. XL EclipsePro offers the aforementioned cyber-liability coverages. In addition, it incorporates technology Errors and Omissions (E&O) to address the professional liability needs of technology products and service providers.

3     Catlin Canada has hired Dave McAuley as its manager of risk engineering. He will be working from the insurer’s Calgary office. He most recently worked at Marsh Calgary’s Marsh Risk Control, where he did risk engineering consultation and surveys for energy risks. McAuley began his career in 1970 with the loss prevention department of Marsh & McLennan (Toronto). Nine years later, he transferred to Marsh Calgary to take over as manager for M&M Protection Consultants and became involved with energy risks. He also spent 17 years with Gerling Calgary, where his responsibilities included risk engineering review of submissions, risk surveys and claims review.

4     Scott B. Clark [4a] will serve as the president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) in 2011. Clark served as RIMS secretary in 2010 and has been a member of the RIMS board since 2000. He is a founder of RIMS Greater Miami Chapter, where he served as president in 1992 and again in 2003. Joining him on the RIMS 2011 board of directors are:• Deborah M. Luthi (Vice President): Luthi is the risk manager, assurance and internal controls at San Fransisco’s Public Utilities Commission;• John R. Phelps (Secretary): Phelps is the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s director of business risk solutions; and• Carolyn M. Snow (Treasurer): Snow is Humana’s director of insurance risk management. New and re-elected Canadian members of RIMS board include:• Kim Hunton [4b], the City of Ottawa’s corporate risk manager; and• Nowell Seaman [4c], the University of Saskatchewan’s manager of risk management and insurance services.

5     The CG&B Group Inc. has acquired D.M. Edwards Insurance Group Limited and Car Insurance Brokers of Canada Inc. In a release, The CG&B Group says: “Edwards Insurance and Car Insurance Brokers have been pioneers in the use of the Internet for marketing insurance through their very successful Web site carinsurance.ca.” Denny and Claire Edwards and staff will continue to operate the brokerages under the Edwards Insurance Group and Car Insurance Brokers of Canada Inc. names. Plans include integrating the operations within CG&B’s Markham and Mississauga office. This is the 14th acquisition made by The CG&B Group in the last 12 years. Including this acquisition, The CG&B Group will have 195 employees and an annual premium volume expected to reach $160 million this year. With offices in Markham and Mississauga, The CG&B Group Inc. is a full-service insurance brokerage, offering all lines of property and casualty insurance in addition to life, group, health, and accident and sickness insurance .

6     The KRG Scholarships program expanded in 2009-10 to include awards to youth in the Durham Children’s Aid Society and the Kawartha-Haliburton Children’s Aid Society. These awards are above and beyond the KRG Scholarship awarded to a Toronto youth. The Children’s Aid Foundation received $10,000 from KRG Insurance, a division of RRJ Insurance Group Limited, and the KRG Children’s Charitable Foundation. It directed the funds to the following students (last names were withheld):• $5,000 KRG Grant awarded to Kofi B. in Toronto, who graduated in June 2010 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from York University and has applied for a Masters degree in Neuroscience at McMaster.• $2,500 KRG Grant awarded to Jacqueline C., in the Durham Region, who recently completed her first year of an Honours BSC at Trent University, majoring in Psychology, as well as to Cassandra S., also in the Durham Region, who is working towards a Diploma in Food Services from Centennial College.• $2,500 KRG Grant was awarded to Anya H., in the Kawartha-Haliburton Region, who recently completed the first year of three in a diploma in Child and Youth Work at Loyalist College.

7     Greg Thierman, branch manager of Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.’s Kelowna, B.C. branch, is a recipient of the CIP Society’s 2010 Established Leadership Award. The award recognizes individuals who have shown exceptional leadership abilities and a strong commitment to upholding the CIP’s mandate of imparting knowledge and instilling professionalism within the insurance industry. Thierman is one of only three recipients to be named this year. “Greg has been a lifelong advocate of continuous learning and development, and the CIP Society has now officially recognized his success as a student, instructor and leader in the industry,” said Walter Waugh, vice president of operations for Western Canada. “His work with charities and fundraising for worthy causes is exemplary.”

8     Marsh Canada and TreoScope Technologies have launched an insurance program for liquor-serving venues, including nightclubs, bars and pubs. The TreoScope Insurance Program is available exclusively through Marsh Canada for current or future clients who adopt TreoScope’s EnterSafe software. Participants in the program receive a detailed risk assessment performed by Marsh Risk Consulting. The assessment benchmarks an organization’s procedures against established industry best practices. Clients also benefit from the EnterSafe’s ability to help organizations identify underage, violent or otherwise undesirable patrons. These services allow hospitality organizations to improve safety and reduce their total cost of risk, a Marsh Canada release says.

9     XL Insurance has promoted Bob Shine to chief underwriting officer of North America Property & Casualty. Shine most recently served as the chief casualty underwriting officer. His responsibilities have expanded to include underwriting oversight across all of XL Insurance’s property and casualty lines in Canada and the United States. He is based in New York. Prior to joining XL in June, he headed the Zurich North America Casualty Group, Specialty Business Unit. In this capacity, he managed the complete casualty business, including the three units of excess casualty, railroad and wholesale lines.