Specialty risk auto insurer Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSE: KFS) delivered a sterling 13.1% return on equity for the first quarter of this year. Net income for the latest reporting period rose 138% year-on-year to $10.6 million (1st quarter 2000: $4.4 million). The significant jump in earnings – which clocked in at 27 a share […]
May 31, 2001
2 min read
New Insurance Brokers of Toronto Region president David Forster (right) presents a plaque commemorating the service of immediate past president Michael Freedman at the association’s annual general meeting recently. Douglas G. Hogemboom has been appointed president and CEO of Empire Life Insurance Company and Concordia Life Insurance Company. He also joins the boards of E-L […]
April 30, 2001
1 min read
The writing is on the wall. The insurance industry must move online, and sooner rather than later. Or must it? And what form should this "movement" toward the Internet take? Speakers at the recent Strategy Institute P&C Super Summit offered a range of views on the potential for online success and disaster.
April 30, 2001
6 min read
At the time of writing this article, less than two weeks remained before voters in British Columbia will be asked to choose a new provincial government. And, in the lead-up to B.C.'s provincial election set for May 16, polling results suggest that the current ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) will likely garner less than 20% of the popular vote, while the opposition Liberal Party seems to be favored by 80% of the province's voters. As media reports in B.C. point out, it is not a case of whether the Liberals will win, but by how much. What does this have to do with the insurance industry? A change in government in B.C. this year - particularly with the Liberals in the driving seat - could herald the beginning of deregulation of the province's $2.6 billion "basic auto" insurance marketplace which for the last 27 years has been legislatively protected and underwritten by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).
April 30, 2001
10 min read
The term “voets toets” originated from the early Dutch farm settlers in the “Cape of Good Hope”, and today is a recognized legal term in contracts within South Africa. After some extensive but mostly unrewarding “Internet research” by myself to try tie down the origin of the term’s use, the best I could establish is […]
April 30, 2001
4 min read
A recent decision by the Newfoundland Public Utilities Board has created the platform for a “sure victory” for the property and casualty insurance industry’s Facility Association (FA). This development has also produced a heady start for Stan Griffin, the current president of the FA. After a long career with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Griffin […]
April 30, 2001
6 min read
At the recent Ontario Risk Management and Insurance Society (ORIMS) professional development day, a host of speakers expressed the need for expanding the knowledge and influence of risk managers in the corporate structure. With new approaches to risk financing and control at their disposal, today’s risk managers have a key role to play in both […]
March 31, 2001
5 min read
The prospect of a growing tornado loss potential due to underlying increases in exposed insurable equity coupled with the historical frequency associated with tornadoes do not bode well for the insurance industry's future.
March 31, 2001
5 min read
Do you need to show your employer that as a risk manager you are bringing value-added services to your organization? Do you need to create a sense that you are virtually indispensable? Would you like to know one process that will allow you to know more about your company than the CFO, CEO or anyone else? Ask any continuity planner and they will quickly tell you the answer - build your company's recovery plan.
March 31, 2001
5 min read