Risk

Reinsurance Trends: Steady as It Goes

Canadian Underwriter Magazine recently asked Tom Hopkinson, the CEO of Guy Carpenter’s Canadian operations, to share his observations on the trends that affected treaty reinsurance year-end renewals, and his expectations for the upcoming season’s negotiations. According to Hopkinson, while reinsurance buyers face a tightening market, they can rest assured that reinsurers are by and large […]

June 30, 2001

4 min read

Canadian Insurance Congress 2001: A CULTURAL CRISES

“We haven’t seen [adverse financial] conditions such as this in the last 50 years,” says the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC) chief economist Paul Kovacs. As one of the opening speakers at this year’s Canadian Insurance Congress, Kovacs points out to the CEO attendees, “the industry is in trouble. We’re seeing numbers [company results] that […]

June 30, 2001

11 min read

Vice or Virtue?

Following the great “premium chase” of recent years, Canada’s property and casualty insurers have finally woken up to a reality: “we have sinned”. This was the underlying conclusion reached and admitted to by presidents of some of the lead ranking companies represented at this year’s Canadian Insurance Congress. While the negative impact of inadequate pricing […]

June 30, 2001

3 min read

Stock Insurers: Setting the Pace

With the recent introduction of new insurance-related stocks on the American market, and the movement of Canadian stock companies onto exchanges south of the border, it would seem insurers are playing in the equities market spotlight. Speculation that the downfall of the technology sector could spur a return to more tried and true performers is coupled with recognition that hardening rates will bring a return to confidence in the insurance sector. But who among the Canadian players will come out on top? CU asks analysts and public company management what the key to stock market success will be.

June 30, 2001

9 min read