BMS integration key priority for Wawanesa’s new Canadian P&C president

Broker management system (BMS) integration with the back-end systems of Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company is a top priority for the company’s new president of Canadian P&C operations.

Carol Jardine told Canadian Underwriter that a lot of the groundwork has been laid over the past two years to create new technologies through the application of the Guidewire InsuranceSuite in Canada, as well as work with brokers on new BMS integration and API (application programming interface) technology.

Wawanesa plans to have a BMS integration solution for new business in Alberta by November of this year.

“My goal is to align our products and services to help Canadians get our products through brokers as often as they want, and as frequently as the brokers can sell them,” she said in an interview Friday. “Now we really want to leverage those investments as an organization. We are doubling down on brokers, and really helping them to survive and thrive at a time in our industry when we are seeing strong competition from new players, digital players, and direct writers.”

Replacing legacy systems is a major project for any insurer, Jardine noted. But the benefit is that it allows the insurer to deal with brokers in real-time, using cloud-based technology. “We need to shorten the processes and times between us and the brokers, so that they serve their customers in real-time too. That will only happen with BMS integration.”

Jardine said brokers need a market “dedicated solely to their success” and one that will make investments to help brokers become more efficient and effective in their processes. “That’s what we’re going to do.”

As president of Wawanesa’s Canadian P&C operation, announced Thursday, Jardine is in charge of one of four of the company’s business units (the others being its U.S. operation, life operation, and the company’s acquisition of Western Financial Group).

“Wawanesa has always been known as a strong, stable insurer for brokers – one that has excellent relationships with our brokers,” she said. “Where we need to help our brokers is in innovation. How can we be innovative and help them be innovative in order to put our best foot forward for Canadians in digital strategies, in new products, in sophisticated pricing?”