Views (July 01, 2005)

Close to 240 clients and senior staff of Swiss Re Canada gathered for the company’s 20th Annual Monte Carlo Gala for Charity, enjoying an evening of dinner, entertainment, games of chance and prizes. The recipient of this year’s receipts was Street Haven at the Crossroads. Brian Gray, president of Swiss Re Canada, presented Street Haven’s executive director Margaret Jeffrey which a cheque for $37,175. The 20th Annual Gala will be Swiss Re Canada’s final charitable event in the “Monte Carlo” format. Plans are currently being made to come up with a newly formatted event for 2006 that will inject some freshness into what Swiss Re sees as one of its duties as a good corporate citizen. Over the 20 years, Swiss Re Canada’s Monte Carlo Gala has raised almost $600,000 for a score of charities.

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Canadian Underwriter Web Poll: June results

In response to Canadian Underwriter’s June web poll, which asked the question – “Moving ahead throughout 2005, do you expect that insurers will be able to maintain the same level of underwriting profit as was achieved in the first quarter this year?” – approximately one third of members of the insurance industry expect that insurers will not be able to keep up their current monetary status thorough the underwriting discipline. Tipping the scale by almost twofold, 66.30% of 365 respondents say “no” while an optimistic 33.70% say they do expect insurers to maintain their current levels of underwriting profit. To access archives and view results for previous months web polls please visit the current poll question at www.canadianunderwriter.ca.

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Industry claims veteran and Aviva Canada’s own Doug Hurlbut was recently honored by a couple of hundred industry reveler’s at the first annual “Dougstock.” The retirement bash was held at Toronto’s Pilot Tavern, an establishment Hurlbut says he supported over the years.

The evening’s entertainment featured performances by various bands and artists including Jeff Healey, Paul James, The Back Stabbers, Mary Dekeyzer & the Melody Ranch and special performances by Hurlbut himself. Ted Hellier, vice president of programs from the Insurance Institute of Canada made a special presentation and announced that a prize in Doug’s name will be awarded annually. The Douglas N. Hurlbut Prize will be presented to Ontario’s top CIP student who has completed five of 10 courses. Hurlbut, who began his career with The Co-operators in 1969 and served on the board of the CICMA, was described by speakers as a “relationship crusader” and the “kind of guy you want to live next door to.”

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Integro USA – an insurance brokerage firm offering brokerage and risk management services – recently appointed John Chippindale as the new managing director and president of Integro Canada. Chippindale is another ex-Marsh Canada employee the New York-based firm has recruited to its team. Most recently, Chippindale served for two years CEO of Global Consumer and Commercial Business at Marsh, New York.

Walter Farnam and Jack Sullivan have recently been appointed to the Kingsway Financial Services Inc.’s (TSX: KFS) Board of Directors. Since Farnam served as chairman of the board of the CGU Insurance Group in the U.S. Prior to June, 1998 Farnam was CEO of General Accident Insurance in Philadelphia. He also held the position of COO General Accident Insurance in the U.S. until 1985 August 1991. Sullivan has held various senior positions in the insurance and reinsurance business in the U.S., Canada and Europe. He was president of G.J. Sullivan, Co. in LA from 1985 to 1992 when he moved to the holding company of the Sullivan Companies as vice chairman. He retired in 1996 but continues to serve as the non-executive vice chair of the Sullivan Companies.

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Claims professionals from throughout Ontario recenlty descended on Waterloo, Ontario for the 2005 Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association OIAA Out-Of-Town Meeting, hosted by the Kitchener-Waterloo Chapter.

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Members from all walks of the film entertainment industry gathered at Toronto’s historic Carlu events theatre for the B.F. Lorenzetti & Associates first annual meet and greet night “A celebration for Hollywood North. Networking over drinks, and jazzy tunes, guests from legal, finance, producer, director and insurance sectors were able to finally put a face to the many names of the service providers leading the eclectic industry. In addition to saying hello, BFL’s winning event was meant to mark the film industry’s bright future, leaving behind the issues such as SARS, a strong Canadian dollar and insufficient tax credits, that plagued the industry over the past two years. As one of the leading Canadian entertainment insurance brokers, BFL also took the opportunity to promote their membership with Film Ontario through the fabulous fete.

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Imperial Collision Centres and Oaktown Collision Centres have partnered to operate under one capital structure dubbed Assured Automotive, a new company which will boast the reputation of “largest corporate owned collision repair organization in eastern Canada.” This strategic move was implemented by a unanimous decision by the Board of Directors and shareholders of each company at a meeting on April 5, 2005. In the merger’s first phase, the newly formed company will focus on the consolidation of all back office functions and business services required to support the more than $30 million throughput. Desmond D’Silva, the company chairman and CEO, says the three fundamental motivators fuelling the merger “an alignment of core values, the opportunity to improve collision repair economics and the development of a unique and differentiated value proposition for our key insurance partners.” The multiple store ownership business model gives a single ownership group the control and accountability to manage outcomes.

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Custom Software Solutions Inc. and Applied Systems Canada, Inc. have integrated Custom Software Solution’s IntelliQuote (IQ) rating and underwriting product with Applied Systems’ agency management systems, The Agency Manager (TAM) and TAMOnline. Custom Software will integrate IQ with the current version of TAM by using Applied Systems’ Applied ConneXion software. The Integration Module will allow a two-way exchange of data between TAM and IQ. Mutual and prospective clients will be able to take full advantage of the benefits of the integration of two leading automation tools. “This integration will allow Brokers to further their capabilities in communicating electronically with insurance companies,” Scott Andrew, CEO of Custom Software Solutions, says, “not only do brokers get the benefits of a rating and underwriting system integrated into their accounting system they also combine the benefits of Applied’s Warp and Custom Software’s I-Biz technologies.”

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CARSTAR Collision Repair Centres across Canada raised $50,115.86 for local chapters of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and local fundraising groups at the second annual CARSTAR “Soaps it Up for Cystic Fibrosis” National Car Wash held Saturday, June 4, 2005. “Giving back and contributing to the community is a very important part of what CARSTAR stands for,” Sam Mercanti, president and CEO of CARSTAR Automotive Canada, says. “This year we raised over 50% more than last year.” Hundreds of volunteers and staff members washed 4,281 vehicles for the cause. Joshua Morrow, the soap star who plays Nicholas Newman on the Young & The Restless, was the celebrity guest on hand for the kick-off event at CARSTAR Collision Repair Centres in Ottawa and Montreal on Friday, June 3, 2005. Many other local celebrities and media personalities across the nation also helped raise profile for the event and even helped wash a few cars. To date, CARSTAR has helped raise over $1 million to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis.

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The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) unveiled its B.C.-based retrofitted, earthquake resilient home during Emergency Preparedness Week as part of its ongoing commitment to educate Canadian homeowners about disaster safety. Paul Kovacs, executive director of ICLR treated the media with a guided tour of the home. This is the third year that ICLR has retrofitted an existing home as part of Emergency Preparedness Week. In 2003, a home in London was made more resilient to tornadoes and last year a Halifax home was fortified to better withstand damage from hurricanes. “It is inevitable that a major earthquake will someday cause significant damage in British Columbia,” Kovacs says. “Disaster losses can be greatly reduced if people undertake appropriate preventative measures today. These actions are affordable and are showcased in this home.” The Burnaby home retrofit showcases a number of innovative devices to secure homes in the happenstance of catastrophic disaster including: anchoring to cabinets, office equipment, and bedroom furniture; bracing cabinets, television and refrigerator with appliance straps; securing the washing machine with armored supply hoses (see pic); strapping the furnace and hot water heater (see pic); tethering chandeliers with fishing lines; securing pictures to the walls with quake wax; applying safety UV film to the windows; and, installing a gas shut off valve at the gas meter outside the house and encasing the meter in a cage to protect it from the close proximity of the brick chimney (see pic).